Founded by Mayurasharma after defeating a Pallava army, the Kadambas of Banavasi were the earliest native dynasty to rule northern Karnataka and the Konkan, pioneering Kannada as an administrative language.
Weakened by succession splits and pressure from the Chalukyas of Badami, who absorbed most Kadamba territory by the early 6th century (a later Kadamba line re-emerged as Chalukya/Rashtrakuta feudatories).
John Keay's acclaimed single-volume history of India places this dynasty within the sweep of the subcontinent's past.