One of the more memorable pieces in Karnataka's history is the reign of Kings of Kannada origin, outside Karnataka. Like the "Sena" and "Mithila" dynasties of Bengal. The inscriptions found there speak of the Kshatriya Kings from Karnataka establishing their rule in Bengal. Inscriptions say that the founder of Sena dynasty, Veera Sena, was of Southern origin. They had overthrown the "Pala" dynasty to gain control of Bengal. They were instrumental in implementing the Shaka calender of Karnataka in Bengal. King Naanyadeva, also known as "Karnataka Kalabhushana" established his empire in Tirhat or Tirabhukthi, near the end of 11th century. He made Champaran or Simarapura as his capital. King Malladeva's reign is Nepal is mentioned in the shasanas. His brother, Gangadeva, defeated the Palas & the Senas to gain control of the empire. The last emperor of this dynasty Harisimha(1285 AD - 1313 AD) was defeated by Muslim rulers and thus ended the Karnataka rule in the region.

The Chalukya King Vinayadtya, Rashtrakuta’s Govinda-III and Krishna-III conquered Sri Lanka and established rule there. The Gangan coins found in Sinhala give evidence of Ganga rule there. The Vijayanagar kings Devaraya-II, Krishnadevaraya and Ramaraya had all ruled over Sri Lanka. During this time, the entire South India was united. The cultural achievements of the Vijayanagar Kings are outstanding in Indian History. After the defeat of the Vijayanagar kingdom in the battle of Talikot, Karnataka split into many regions like Mysore, Kerala etc. that were ruled by smaller kingdoms. Amongst these, the Mysore Wodeyars continued the traditions of the Vijayanagar empire. The advancement made in Mysore during the Hyder-Tipu reign came to a halt with the death of Tipu Sultan and the defeat of Mysore in the Anglo-Mysore war. The divided Karnataka state became unified after Independence, in 1956.

There are inscriptions that prove that Karnataka had friendly relations with other states. The Tulu coins that were found in Haprappa-Mohenjudaro shows how advanced Karnataka already was in Commerce. “Aiyavale Inoorvaru” mentions the trade dealings Karnataka had with other parts of the world. Pleeni’s book “Natural Geography” illustrates how Karnataka’s influence reached till Rome because of the similarities in the folk culture of Karnataka and Rome. Ma Huan has written about the Chinese traveler Huen-Tsang visiting the Chalukya King  Pulikeshi’s empire and about Chinese seafarers docking in Kochi and Calicut during the Vijayanagar reign.

The influence of Kannada in Burma has been discovered by the script expert Siad Kol. Persian ambassadors’ and Arab traveler Sulaiman’s visit to the Rashtrakuta kingdom shows that there were cordial relations with these nations. Persia’s Abdul Razak, Portugal’s Paes and Italy’s Nicolo Conti visited Karnataka during the Vijayanagar reign. The Bahamani army had soldiers from Turkey, Arabia and Persia. The art and sculpture of these times have Turkish & Persian influence.

The fact that Karnataka had dealings with various countries shows the progress it had made in foreign relations. Karnataka’s superiority in art, tradition and culture is an experience to behold. To read about it’s historical literature is wonderful & to learn about it is our duty.