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The Kadamba Dynasty, famously known as the Kadambas of Banavasi, was an ancient dynasty which flourished in parts of South India between the fourth and the sixth century AD. Their kingdom was primarily constrained to the present day’s northern Karnataka and the Konkan region. The Kadambas successfully ruled between 345 AD and 525 AD with their capital situated at Banavasi, in the present day’s Uttara Kannada district.

The Kadamba Dynasty was founded by Mayurasharman in 345 AD. He is known to have defeated the Pallavas of Kanchi with the help of some native tribes of the region which gave birth to a new dynasty which flourished on parts of southern India till 525 AD. Kakusthavarman, the successor to Mayurasharman, successfully defeated the rulers of the Gupta Empire. The Kadamba rulers are believed to have been in continuous conflicts with the Gupta rulers. The early rulers of the Kadamba Dynasty had faith in Hinduism but King Shivakoti, a later descendent of this dynasty, adopted Jainism. The Kadamba Dynasty was a contemporary to the Western Ganga Dynasty and together they formed the earliest ancient kingdoms of the region which ruled with absolute autonomy. Later, the Kadambas ruled as a feudatory of the larger and more prominent Kannada empires which include the Rashtrakuta and the Chalukyaempires. They remained a feudatory for about next 500 years during which they were branched into the Hanagal Kadambas and the Goa Kadambas.

Prior to the establishment of the Kadamba Dynasty, Karnataka had been into the control of empires which essentially were not native to Karnataka. These empires include the Satavahanas, the Chutus and the Mauryan Empire. All these empires which previously ruled Karnataka had their capitals outside Karnataka. Hence, for this reason, the Kadamba Dynasty is sometimes recognized as the first ancient indigenous kingdom to have established in Karnataka, in its entire history. Under Kadamba regime, Kannada was recognized as an important regional language.