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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s6.t1: Gold

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s6.t1

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English

Gold

v1.c11.s6.t1.1

Apart from iron, the most widely distributed and most useful metal in India is gold. The sands of the majority of its rivers have yielded gold though usually in very small quantities when washed. In fact, gold washing has been practised in the past in every province of India. The stream of the Dharwar district of Bombay have for instance yielded gold, and traces of old workings are to be seen in the Sangli state and near Hosur. In Hyderabad (Deccan) ancient workings have been noticed at Hutti, Topuldodi and Wondalli. All these areas have since been mined on a large scale. In Madras, old workings have been found in Anantapur, Coimbatore, Hadabanatta, Kavudahalli, Wynaad and near Porsegaundanpalay. The old workings in S.E. Wynaad were made by a mining community known a Karumbars. Eastwick has endeavoured to show that the great sources of gold, reported to have been seized by the former invaders of India, came from the Wynaad mines. He in fact identifies India as the land of Ophir. In Mysore, old workings are widely distributed and gold has been found in every district except that of Bangalore, where Kolar provides now over 90 per cent of India's production.

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In Afghanistan, gold occurs 3 miles north of Kandahar. It is obtained in small quantities also from the north side of the Hindukush. Other reported sources are the streams during the Kuh-i-Baba, streams in Kohistan and above Laghman and Kunar. Apart from that there were other countries from where gold was obtained, i.e., Persia, Tibet, China, Arabia etc.

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∗ Views of Pascoe quoted by Marshall and MS-II, pp. 674-85.

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Now the point is that although there are many possible sources for the gold of Mohenjo-Daro, the chances seem more in favour of Southern India. The gold of India is said to have been worked upon for at least twenty-five centuries, although Afghanistan, Western Tibet and parts of Persia are nearer. So southern India would seem to have been the most accessible area. (MS-II, 674-75)

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