Mangalore, Karnataka’s sultry and vibrant coastal town, has a long history. It also goes by several other names. Tulu people call it Kudla; Konkani people call it Kodiala; Malayalam people call it Mangalapuram; and Beary people call it Maikala. Around the sixth century AD, Arabian traders preferred the term Maikala for Mangalore. It could have been an Arab word. However, there is very little written history.

There is a reference to an Oloikhera in early Christian Greek literature, which has been interpreted as the Greek version of the name Aluva Kheda.

In Greek reports, neither Mangalur nor Kudla are mentioned. Instead, the port of Nitria is mentioned. Nitria was most likely a port on the Netravathy River’s estuary. Nitria must have been derived from an Indian word, possibly Netra or Netria. According to geological evidence, an eye-shaped island existed near the confluence of the rivers Netravathy and Gurpur. The Greek historians must have referred to this eye-shaped half-island (small peninsula) as Netra (=eye) or Netriya. In that case, the River Netravathy’s name must have been derived from the shape of the island as well. Netriya or Netra If this deduction is correct then the earliest known name of Mangalore appears to be Netra or Netriya.

Mangalore is an anglicised version of MangaLooru. Premilla, a Malabari queen, renounced her throne and became a disciple of Matsyendranath of the Nath cult. She travelled with her Guru to Kudla (or Mangalore), but she became ill on the way and had to stop near Bolar. She eventually died there, and the locals erected a temple in her honour. The temple was later renovated in 968 AD by an Alupa ruler named Kundavarma. As a result, the town became known as Mangalapura.

The term Mangala also means fort, and some believe the name came from an ancient fort. In fact, the name Mangalapura can be found in inscriptions dating back to the time when the Mangaladevi temple was built, in 968 AD. The Mangaladevi temple in the city’s south reminds us that the city was named after the goddess Mangaladevi. During the Vijayanagar period, Mangalapura was renamed Mangalooru. Mangalur Rajya was the name given to it.

Kudla is a native geographic term that refers to the confluence of two rivers. The words KooD or KooDi (joined)+ala (=rivers) have been transformed into (1) kooDala > Kudla and (2) koDiala > koDiala. In other words, Koodla or Kudla is Tulu for the Sanskrit word sangam. Kannada has the word koodala as well. Since the time of Basaveswara, the social reformer, the Kudalasangama river confluence has been well-known. Similarly, Kudli is the township in Shimaoga district located at the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers.

Several significant geographic changes have occurred in the Mangalore area throughout history. Currently, the River Nethravathy flows westward and joins the Arabian Sea south of Mangalore and north of Ullal. The other river, the Phalguni (Gurpur), flows west to Tannirbavi, near New Mangalore Port. River Phalguni takes an abrupt southerly turn near Tannirbavi, very close to the beach, hardly 500 metres from the beach-sea interface, and flows southward until it joins the River Nethravathy north of Ullal.

This geographical situation was very different in the past. The rivers Phalguni and Nethravathy flowed through Mangalore’s current city limits before joining the sea near Alake-Bokkapatna.