The fields of rich ore were located at the southern portion of a gold-bearing region that extended for about 60 kms. In 1875, he made one last-ditch effort, armed with an exclusive lease from the Maharaja of Mysore, which gave him the right to prospect for gold in Kolar. On this prospecting expedition, he came on horseback carrying basic equipment and food and tents in bullock carts. Finally, he came to Bangalore (now Bengaluru), determined to stay until he found his golden vein. He made several trips to the area without finding anything of value. It took Lavelle and a British consortium of investors, whom he persuaded, to start seriously prospecting for gold. And then there is the story of Tipu Sultan, who, while galloping through the area, found his horses hooves were covered with gold dust.īut these are apocryphal tales. When Rama killed Mareecha, the rakshasa who had assumed the form of a golden deer, every drop of gold he spilled is supposed to have become golden ore.
There is even a tale from the Ramayana associated with this gold. The Harappa and Mohenjodaro excavations unearthed some coins made of gold which could be traced to this region. Or, when he realized all the gold was going out, could he have cancelled the lease? Did he not bother because he was getting a good royalty from the company and knew he could not work the mines on his own? But who was to blame? Should the Mysore Maharaja, who had leased the land to the British in the 19th century, have been more thoughtful when signing the contract? After all, it was barren useless land at that point. The best ore had left the country a couple of decades ago. A drastic drop from the 47.51 GPT at its peak. The GPT (grammes per ton) was less than 10.23 in 1956. Many were happy that at last we had got our valuable asset back, depleted though it was. The government had just nationalized some “holes in the ground,” another scoffed. Many years later, I read newspaper reports of that milestone event in the archives. Nijalingappa, the then chief minister of Mysore state, took over the mines with all their assets and liabilities from John Taylor and Company.
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