Ajay Kumar at 17:17, 24 August 2023

2023-08-24T17:17:47Z

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{{Short description|Diamond mine in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2017}}
{{Location map+ | India
| width = 220px
| float = right
| border= yes
| caption = Location of mine within India
| alt = Map of India showing the location of Kollur Mine
| relief = 1
| places =
{{Location map~ | India
| label_size = 70
| mark = Disc Plain blue.svg
| marksize = 6
| label = [[New Delhi]]
| lat_deg = 28.6138889
| lon_deg = 77.2088888888889 }}
{{Location map~ | India
| mark = Disc Plain blue.svg
| marksize = 6
| position = left
| label = [[Hyderabad]]
| label_size = 70
| lat_deg = 17.37
| lon_deg = 78.48 }}
{{Location map~ | India
| mark = Locator_Dot.png
| label = Kollur Mine
| lat_deg = 16.7166667
| lon_deg = 80.033 }}
}}
'''Kollur Mine''' was a series of gravel-clay pits on the south bank of the [[Krishna River]] in the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref name="kurien">{{cite book|author=T. K. Kurien|title=Geology and Mineral Resources of Andhra Pradesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r20IAAAAIAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Geological Survey of India}}</ref> It is thought to have produced many large [[diamonds]], known as [[Golconda diamonds]], several of which are or have been a part of [[crown jewels]].

The mine was established in the 16th century and operated until the 19th century.

==History==
Kollur Mine operated between the 16th and mid-19th centuries,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ralf Tappert|author2=Michelle C. Tappert|title=Diamonds in Nature: A Guide to Rough Diamonds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAdZRzY3ciYC|year=2011|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-12572-0|page=55}}</ref> and was one of the largest and most productive diamond mines on the [[Indian subcontinent]]. At the height of production, around 30,000 – 60,000 people worked there, including men, women, and children of all ages.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Howarth|title=The Koh-i-Noor Diamond: The History and the Legend|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHvWAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Quartet Books|isbn=978-0-7043-2215-8|page=60}}</ref> Kollur itself had a population of around 100,000.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Arun Kumar Biswas|author2=Sulekha Biswas|title=Minerals and Metals in Ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lnbAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=D.K. Printworld|isbn=978-81-246-0183-9|page=25}}</ref>

Golconda mines were owned by the king, but operation was leased to diamond merchants, either foreigners or Indians of the [[Vishwakarma (caste)|goldsmith caste]]. As well as rent, the king also received 2% from sales and he was entitled to keep all diamonds weighing over 10 carats.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Karin Hofmeester|author2=Bernd-Stefan Grewe|title=Luxury in Global Perspective: Objects and Practices, 1600–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eu6SDQAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-10832-5|pages=59–60}}</ref>

Mining at Kollur was crude, labour-intensive, and dangerous. Miners wore [[loincloth]]s, slept in huts covered with straw, and were often given food instead of money. The pit walls had no timber supports and caved in after heavy rains, killing dozens of men at a time (women and children worked above ground).<ref name="linden">{{cite book|author=Karin Hofmeester|editor1=Marcel van der Linden|editor2=Leo Lucassen|title=Working on Labor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ze8yAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|year=2012|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-23144-3|pages=26–28}}</ref>

The area was evacuated in the 2000s to make way for the [[Pulichinthala Project|Pulichinthala irrigation project]] and is submerged by {{convert|50|ft|m}} of water for most of the year.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/in-the-quest-of-yet-another-koh-i-noor/article18192252.ece|title=In the quest of yet another Koh-i-noor|author=Appaji Reddem|date=22 April 2017|access-date=30 November 2017|website=The Hindu|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015303/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/in-the-quest-of-yet-another-koh-i-noor/article18192252.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Geology==
The gravel-clay pits were a maximum depth of {{convert|4|m|ft}} due to the high [[water table]].<ref name="kurien"/> The diamond-bearing [[Stratum|seam]] was approximately {{convert|1|ft|cm}} thick.<ref name="scalisi">{{cite book|author1=Philip Scalisi|author2=David Cook|title=Classic Mineral Localities of the World: Asia and Australia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKyCAAAAIAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.|isbn=978-0-442-28685-9|page=54}}</ref> Alluvial workings covered an area {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} long and between {{convert|500|m|mi|}} and {{convert|800|m|mi}} wide.<ref name="diamond">{{cite book|author=Geological Survey of India|title=Diamond: A Collection of Papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duhRAQAAMAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Manager of Publications|page=177}}</ref> It was bounded to the east by an outcrop of the [[Nallamala Hills]] and to the north and west by a [[meander]] of the River Krishna.<ref name="joih">{{cite book|title=Journal of Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwS2AAAAIAAJ|volume=9|year=1931|publisher=University of Kerala|pages=362–63}}</ref> Most of the pits have since been filled up with scree, boulders, and [[eluvium]] from neighbouring hillsides.<ref name="diamond"/>

==Notable finds==
The [[Tavernier Blue]] diamond was purchased by [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]] from the Kollur Mine in the mid-17th century.<ref>{{cite book|title=Travels in India|author=Jean-Baptiste Tavernier|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2012}}</ref> [[King Louis XIV]] of France bought the diamond from Tavernier, but it was stolen during the [[French Revolution]]; it reappeared and has been re-cut as the [[Hope Diamond]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mineralsciences.si.edu/collections/hope/history.htm|title=The History of the Hope Diamond|author=National Museum of Natural History|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309075727/http://mineralsciences.si.edu/collections/hope/history.htm|archive-date=9 March 2013}}</ref> Other diamonds thought to have originated at Kollur include the [[Koh-i-Noor]],<ref name="kurien"/> the Great Mogul,<ref>Howarth, p. 62.</ref> the [[Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond|Wittelsbach-Graff]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,674059,00.html |author=Matthias Schulz |title=Schleifstein der Schande |publisher=Der Spiegel |language=German |date=25 January 2010 |accessdate=30 January 2010 |archive-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202081106/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,674059,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Regent Diamond|Regent]], the [[Daria-i-Noor]], the [[Orlov (diamond)|Orlov]], the [[Nizam Diamond|Nizam]], the [[Dresden Green]], the [[Nassak Diamond|Nassak]].{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

==Location and maps==
Kollur Mine's location on the south bank of Krishna River is indicated at latitude 16° 42' 30" N and longitude 80° 5' E on several maps created in the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.181213/2015.181213.Travels-In-India--Vol-1#page/n245/mode/2up|title=Travels in India|volume=1|page=172|author=Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
|editor=Valentine Ball|year=1889|publisher=Macmillan}}</ref>

All memory of its position was lost, until it was rediscovered in the 1880s by [[Valentine Ball]], a geologist who helped to create this map of Golconda mines.<ref name="Kurin2017">{{cite book|author=Richard Kurin|title=Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EI3cDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT42|year=2017|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|isbn=978-1-58834-419-9|page=42}}</ref> In his annotated English edition of gem merchant [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]]'s book ''Travels in India'' (1676), Ball notes that ruins of houses and mine workings could still be found at Kollur.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/travelsinindia00tavegoog#page/n97/mode/2up|title=Travels in India|volume=2|page=73|author=Jean-Baptiste Tavernier|editor=Valentine Ball|year=1889|publisher=Macmillan}}</ref>

In the 1960s, Kollur Mine was pinpointed more accurately as being {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} due north-east of Kollur village{{efn|Not to be confused with [[Kollur, Guntur district]].<ref name="joih"/>}} on the south bank of River Krishna at latitude 16° 43' N and longitude 80° 02' E, and extending for {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} all the way up to Pulichinthala village.<ref name="diamond"/>

<gallery>
File:Golconda Diamond Mines 2.jpg| Golconda diamond mines map (left) with locations of mines
File:Golconda Diamond Mines 1.jpg| Golconda diamond mines map (right) with map key
File:Diamond Fields of India.jpg|1904 map of diamond fields in India
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Golconda Diamonds]]
*[[Placer mining]]

==Notes==
{{Noteslist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}

{{Coord|16|43|N|80|02|E|type:landmark_region:IN-AP|display=title}}

[[Category:Diamond mines in India]]
[[Category:Geography of Guntur district]]
[[Category:Mining in Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Former mines in India]]

Kollur Mine - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 17:17, 24 August 2023