Bhatkal also called Batecalla in historical texts is a port town in the North Canara District of the Indian state of Karnataka. The town of Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Bombay and Cape Camorin, and has one of the major railway stations along the Konkan Railway line, which runs between Bombay and Mangalore This place is sometimes referred to as Mini Dubai. The people here have a lavish lifestyle. In its early days, Bhatkal belonged to followers of the Jain and Hindu religions and later acquired more religions and cultures. Bhatkal gets its name from the Jain Grammarian Bhattakalanka, who hailed from Hadwalli village. It is a town located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, with Sharavathi river few miles to its north. Bhatkal's location, although very strategic, was the main factor behind the erratic history of the countryside in the area. Bhatkal witnessed the rise and fall of several dynasties and rulers. It was a part of the Hoysala Empire from 1291 to 1343 before falling into the hands of the Vijayanagara Empire. After the disintegration of the latter, the much-coveted town of Bhatkal was brought under the control of the Saluva (Jain) rulers based in Hadwalli (a town on the state highway towards Jog Falls). Numerous temples and basadis were constructed during the Saluvas' reign. Vestiges of this period can be found in Mudbhatkal, where a few temples still stand as an old witness of that era. The Nawayaths came to the west coast of India from countries like Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco etc as traders of spices, leather, jewellery and arabian horses. They choose to settle down in here and married into another trading community of India, the Jains who had been converted to Islam more than 1,000 years ago. With this a new caste system emerged. Their face cuts of Arabs and the fair skin tone of Jains stands testimony to that. Chola emperors under Aditya I, his son Parantaka I and successor Sundara Chola, also known as Parantaka Chola II, initially invaded and conquered territories in Kannada country between Gangavadi on the Mysuru plateau and Bhatkal on the Sahyadri coast between 880 and 975. As a sign of their victory in Kannada country, they built the Solesvara Temple in commemoration of their conquest. Inscriptions there from successive kings, from Parantaka Chola I to Kulothunga Chola III, refer to their generals as 'Lords of the Konkana', and include inscriptions paying obeisance to Lord Solesvarar of Konkana. The Portuguese also made their presence felt in Bhatkal at the beginning of the 16th century. Krishnadevaraya allowed them to build a fort there in 1510. From the Keladi rulers, Bhatkal was passed on to Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Hyder Ali made Bhatkal the main base on the Canara Coast for his newly build Naval Force. Tipu Sultan made Bhatkal one of his important ports and a Mosque and an street named after him stands testimony to that. One of the wife of Tipu Sultan was from Bhatkal. Bhatkal passed on to the British Empire in 1799 after the death of Tipu Sultan while fighting the rascal British.
