KGF chapter 1

Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) (also known as 'Little England') is a mining area in the Kolar District of Karnataka, South India, 100 km from Bengaluru. It is estimated that gold has been mined there for over 2000 years, and whilst many people over the course of history tried their luck at finding gold, Kolar Gold Field's modern success is generally attributed to the firm John Taylor & Sons, after John Taylor III took control of the mines in 1880 and established what was at one time the deepest and most productive gold mine in the world. The mines were run by the company up until 1956 when they were taken over by the Government of Mysore who employed John Taylor & Sons as mining consultants.

At its peak KGF was home to 30000 mine workers and their families and was a multi ethnic community with experienced miners recruited from around the world, a large proportion of which were from Cornwall. When the mines opened the local people were reluctant to work there as it was extremely dangerous work, so workers migrated from Tamil Nadu and Tamil became a common language spoken by most people at KGF. There was a large Anglo-Indian population at KGF many of whom took on the roles of British workers after Indian Independence in 1947.

The mined gold was shipped back to England, making the British shareholder's incredibly wealthy. Inequality was prevalent, the British workers enjoyed sprawling bungalows, whilst the poorest Indian workers lived in mud floored one room huts which often housed more than one family at a time along with a number of rats. It was also the Indian workers who carried out the most dangerous work at the mines.

With the British however came infrastructure and in the mining area they established hospitals, schools, social clubs, a boating lake, a golf course, a swimming pool and a gymkhana.These facilities were segregated, with places such as the KGF club exclusive to the European workers. Medical care at KGF was world class, and free to all mine workers and their families.

Subsequently further towns (known as civil areas) were developed and named after British officers; Bowringpet (now Bangarapet), 'Robertsonpet', 'Andersonpet'. The main mines at Kolar Gold Fields were; The Mysore Gold Mine, Champion Reef Mine, Nudydroog Mine, Ooregum Mine, Tank Block Mine, Balaghat Mine, Coromandel Mine, Nine Reefs Mine.

One of John Taylor & Sons greatest achievements was to bring electricity to the mines in 1902, in an ambitious scheme that saw power being transported 140km from the Cauvery Power Plant. Power was harnessed from the waterfalls at Shivasamudram and ensured KGF was the first mining region in the word to use electric power.

Kolar Gold Fields was a multi ethnic, multi religious society with the different groups living side by side. The Cornish Wesleyan influence was clear, with many Wesleyan chapels being established at KGF.

The 'Kolar Gold Fields News' regularly reported news from the mines and these reports were reprinted in Cornish Newspapers. They shared important news, quantities of gold produced, plague statistics and details of when Cornish miners returned home on leave and when they traveled back to KGF. They also reported on concerts held at KGF, social events, Christmas festivities, and featured extensive reports on weddings and funerals.

The mines at KGF closed in 2001 and with them went the jobs that had sustained families for generations, resulting in many of its inhabitants now travelling 4 hours a day to work in the city of Bengaluru. There is still a great sense of pride among the people of KGF in their home and its remarkable golden past,