Before 1860, Dakshina Kannada was part of a district called Kanara, which was under a single administration in the Madras Presidency. In 1860, the British split the area into South Kanara and North Kanara, the former being retained in the Madras Presidency, while the later was made a part of Bombay Province in 1862. Kundapura taluk was earlier included in North Kanara, but was re-included in South Kanara later.
During the Reorganisation of States in 1956, Kasaragod was split and transferred to the newly created Kerala state and Dakshina Kannada was transferred to Mysore state (present day Karnataka).
Later, the Karnataka Government, for the purpose of administration, split the greater Dakshina Kannada district into Udupi and present day Dakshina Kannada districts on 15 August 1997. Three taluks of former DK district namely Udupi, Karkala and Kundapura were made into new Udupi district.
The district is famous for red clay roof tiles (Mangalore tiles), cashew nut & its products, banking, education (professional and non professional) and of course for its exotic cuisine
