Drought stress is a major abiotic stress which affects physiology of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plant in turn reduces crop growth and yield. An experiment was conducted using thirty Gossypium hirsutum genotypes grown in RBD design at Agricultural Research Station, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka. The genotypes were evaluated for drought tolerance by physiological parameters viz., specific leaf weight, water potential, SPAD values, rate of photosynthesis, conductance, transpiration rate, leaf temperature and yield during different growth stages of the crop. There was significant genotypic difference among the cotton genotypes for these physiological traits were observed. The genotypes GIHV-218, CNH-120MB, BS-279, ARB-9701, Sahana, KH-155 and RAH-101 cotton genotypes performed well for drought tolerant physiological attributes, and yield performance; hence these genotypes are drought tolerant cultivars. Whereas the genotypes L-761, L-763, and H-1353 performed least in physiological and yield traits, hence these are drought susceptible genotypes.