Alupas - Land

Land

Although Alupas controlled part of Uttara Kannada and Shimoga of Karnataka and northern part of Kerala during the zenith, the core region consisted of the modern Tulunadu which comprises Mangalore and Udupi district (earlier it used to be a single district Dakshina Kannada, also known as South Canara. In the ancient times, the region was referred as Alvakheda and during the later part of the reign, the region was referred as Tulunadu. The term Tulunadu is still practised today while referring to the region.

1. Alvakheda
The term Alvakheda could be seen in several of ancient inscriptions of the Alupas. The region of Alvakheda encompassed the modern Tulunadu and part of Uttara Kannada up to Ankola on the coastal north and Banavasi on the interior west of Uttara Kannada District. Also, the region of Humcha in the Shimoga district, and the land of Kasaragod in Kerala up to the Payasvini river was the boundary in the south. The term Alvakheda is not seen in the inscriptions during the Vijayanagara period, when the region of Barakuru and Mangalore were two separate provinces under the administration of Governors who started controlling the territory without interfering in the autonomy of the Alupas.

2. Tulunadu
The region stretches from Mangalore in the south all the way to Baindoor in the north. On the west is the Arabian sea and on the east is the Western Ghat that fences the land like a fort that formed a heaven for the ruler. More than it, number of rivers that criss crossed near Mangalore, Udyavara and Barkur made this land fertile. The western ghats, the thick forests and the towns along the shoreline of Arabian sea established several sea ports for trade with the Romans and Arabs. Trade routes from with the Romans were well established as early as the 2nd century C.E and with the Arabs around 7th century C.E. The Netravati in Mangalore and Seethanadi in Barakur are the main rivers that run in the capital cities of Alupas. Other rivers such as Suvarnanadi, Shambhavi in Karkala and Mulki, Gurupura river, Pavanje, Nandini and numerous streams all running from east to west. The region of Puttur, Sullia, Belthangady and Puttur, Karkala are the Malnad region and supported as an agricultural backbones of the kingdom and the region of Mangalore, Udupi and Kundapur are the coastal regions that supported more of marine activities though agriculture is the other occupation.