Robertsonpet is a township in the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Kolar Gold Fields Kolar Gold Fields (K.G.F.) is a mining region in K.G.F. taluk (township), Kolar district, Karnataka, India. It is headquartered in Robertsonpet, where employees of Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) and BEML Limited (formerly Bharat Earth Move ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is one of the first planned residential areas in modern-day India. The township was planned and built to accommodate the increasing population of the city of Kolar Gold Fields. The town hall popularly known as King George Hall is lavishly built in Victorian style with an impressive lawn and garden in front of it. Robertsonpet was established in 1902 and named after Sir Donald Robertson the

British Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indir ...

of the

Princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

. It is considered to be one of the premier well-planned townships in Modern India.

History

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the mining industry expanded under the John Taylor and Sons Company. In its peak period, it employed 4500 employees, and the waste rocky terrain was developed into a township. The township was first established in 1901 as New Town, to house the population working in the KGF Mines. On 15 August 1903, the township was renamed as Robertsonpet. The town got its name at the insistence of the

Maharaja of Mysore The maharaja of Mysore was the king and principal ruler of the southern Indian Kingdom of Mysore and briefly of Mysore State in the Indian Dominion roughly between the mid- to late-1300s and 1950. In title, the role has been known by differe ...

, who named it after Sir Donald Robertson the

. As the township grew, tradesmen such as bakers, confectioners, jewellers, pawn brokers, barbers, timber merchants, tailors, etc. migrated and set up shop in Robertsonpet. A town hall (similar to town halls in Australia) was built in Victorian architectural style with arches, canopies and large gardens, and was named as the King George Hall. The KGF Club in Oorgaum and the King George Hall Cosmopolitan Club were established providing faculties for badminton, tennis, cards, carom, snooker, etc.

Sir Donald Robertson

Sir Donald Robertson is credited with starting the hydro-electric plant at

Shivanasamudra Shivanasamudra Falls is a waterfall on the border of Malavalli taluk, Mandya district and Kollegala taluk, Chamarajanagara district of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated along the river Kaveri, which forms here the boundary to the Ch ...

, which supplied electricity to the KGF Mines. Robertson served as the British Resident of the Mysore Darbar in the 1900s, and during his tenure drafted the Constitution of the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

. He worked towards providing amenities to the population of KGF, even to those who were not employed by the mines, and is largely credited for establishing the KGF mining towns. In recognition of his services, His Highness the

Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar; 4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 1902 until his death in 1940. He is popularly called ''Rajarshi'' ( sa, rājarṣi, lit ...

renamed New Town as Robertsonpet. After retirement from government services, Robertson joined the mining enterprise John Taylor and Sons Company. He died on 13 October 1930.(p. 291)

Demographics

There is also a substantial

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

population at KGF, descendants of the English mine supervisors. Robertsonpet is a melting pot of cultures with people of different communities: Anglo Indian, Tamil, Telugu, Marwari, Kannada Muslims, etc., living in the township.

External links

Official City Government Website

References

{{reflist Cities and towns in Kolar district Cities in Karnataka