Port · The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Mangalore

The Alupa port on the Netravati and Gurupura mouths, with the Mangaladevi temple (the town's namesake), the Kadri hill with its Nath-Shaiva shrine and Buddhist heritage, and the Kulashekhara temple (an inscription of 1159).

Alupa coins with the double fish are struck here. Ships come for rice, pepper, areca and coconut; horses go the other way.

Who holds it

Name
The Alupa king (not named for this year) as Ballala II's feudatory
Title
lord or governor
Confidence
low

Lord in 1200

The Alupa king (not named for this year) as Ballala II's feudatory

What the town holds

Alupa since the early middle ages.

Allies and rivals

Kolathiri across the Chandragiri to the south; Kadamba of Goa to the north.

How things stand that morning

An Alupa port under light Hoysala overlordship; the sailing season runs October to May.

Communities

Tulu-speaking Brahmin, Jain and Bunt households; Muslim merchants attested as a trading presence (we did not read a source for their strength in 1200)

Militia

Alupa levies; no numbers

Walls and castle

Port and bazaar quarter; no wall recorded

Trade and crafts

Rice, pepper, areca and coconut export; horse imports; shipbuilding; the mint

Places of note

  • Kulashekhara temple, Mangalore: temple with a 1159 inscription

Where the sources disagree

  • The campaign board entry puts Mangalore under the Kadambas of Goa; it is an Alupa town.

Evidence: Alupa coinage and temples are well attested; officials and shipowners are not named.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

Primary sources for Hoysala kingdom

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
  • Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.
  • Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions relating to the Yadava Kings of Devagiri, Various (Yadava chancery), edited by J. F. Fleet (inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries; edited 1876). The first collected edition of the Yadava (Seuna) records, with texts and translations, from the Indian Antiquary. Read online
  • South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Alupas, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
  2. Hoysala Empire, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
  3. OMNIA board notes for the place (a lead, checked against the other sources)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.