Southern Origin Theory

According to this theory Halenadu Karnatakas originated in South Karnataka comprising Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar of modern Karnataka state. Some people identify the region to include northern part of Tamil Nadu which was ruled by Pandyas of Madurai in their peak period. Many HKB families have settled in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu indicates this. There is also a belief that Halenadu Karnatakas were in the court of Pandya kings. However, no concrete evidence is available so far to confirm this.

The biggest argument which supports this theory is that almost all Halenadu Karnatakas were settled in South Karnataka including Hassan district in the beginning of the 19th century. The other supporting argument in favour of this theory is that historically HKB occupied prominent positions in the court of kings and regional chieftains in South Karnataka. HKB were backbone of the administration and occupied various official and quasi-judicial positions in the kingdom of these regional chieftains including Wodeyars of Mysore. Normally only local Brahmin communities were appointed by kings/chieftains to do this work because the local chieftains and kings used to trust only local Brahmin communities who have lived there for centuries. Since almost all villages in Halenadu region had HKBs as administrators, accountants etc. it is very likely that Halenadu Karnatakas are the natives of South Karnataka. This view is strongly supported by Tagaduru Ramachandra Rao, veteran freedom fighter and prominent leader of community in his book on the MKB community.

There is an incident which shows some light on the origin and elevation in the status MKBs in society in medieval period.

During the rule of Mysore Wodeyars in the 17th century, the Brahmins in the court of then Mysore King had a scholarly debate. One group of 64 Brahmin scholars lost the debate. These 64 Brahmin scholars wanted to regain their prestige in the court after the loss. So, they went in search of a vedic scholar. There was a scholar by the name of Jagannatha Acharya who was well versed in vedas and also believed to have intuitive powers. The '64 Brahmins' learnt vedashastras under Jagannatha Acharya for several years and became scholars. After returning to Mysore, they invited other Brahmins who had won against them for another debate in the court. This time 64 Brahmins could win the debate on vedashastras. The king was pleased after their victory and granted many gifts, positions and other facilities for these 64 Brahmins. As a result this group of 64 Brahmins elevated in the status and occupied key positions in the administration and also they were identified separately as Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins. The name of MKBs do not occur in any records or epigraphs till the 18th century. The records in Sringeri Mutt and Mysore Gazetteer of British mention the name of HKBs only from the 18th or early 19th century onwards. It is not clear whether MKBs were known as MKBs before the 19th century or it was the name given to '64 Brahmin scholars' after they demonstrated their knowledge in the royal court.

North Karnataka Origin

Some community members believe that they were earlier residents of northern Karnataka and migrated towards South Karnataka after the fall of Vijayanagar empire. They support their arguments by referring to Kuladevatas of their families which are located in north Karnataka. But there is not much support to this theory as only a small percentage of Halenadu Karnatakas worship deities located in north Karnataka as Kuladevathas. However, it is likely that when Vijayanagara kingdom was at its peak many HKBs were spread across north Karnataka and later migrated towards South Karnataka.