Wherever we are on earth, K.G.F is an inseparable part of our souls! We, the citizens of this golden city, have every reason to be proud, for we are children of K.G.F., - the 'Land of Pride' - and our hearts still beat for it.” - Citizens of K.G.F quoted in 'Kolar Gold Field -Unfolding the Untold' by Dr. S. Srikumar

Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) (also known as 'Little England') is a mining area in the Kolar district of Karnataka, southern India, 100 kilometers from Bangalore. It is estimated that gold has been mined here for over 2000 years, and while many people throughout history have tried their luck for gold, the modern success of Kolar Gold Field is generally due to the company John Taylor & Sons, after John Taylor III. . took control of the mines in 1880 and established what was once the deepest and most productive gold mine in the world. The mines were managed by the company until 1956 when they were taken over by the government of Mysore, who hired John Taylor & Sons as mining consultant.

At its peak, KGF was home to 30,000 miners and their families and was a multi-ethnic community with experienced miners recruited from all over the world, many of them from Cornwall. When the mine opened, locals didn't want to work there because it was extremely dangerous work. As a result, migrant workers from Tamil Nadu and Tamil have become the lingua franca used by most KGF employees. There was a large Anglo-Indian population at the KGF, many of whom assumed the role of British workers after India's independence in 1947.

The gold mined was sent back to England, making the British shareholder extremely rich. Inequality is widespread, British workers prefer spacious bungalows, while poorer Indian workers live in mud-built one-room huts that often house several families at once. with a certain number of mice. It is also the Indian workers who do the most dangerous work in the mines.

However, with the British, the infrastructure came and in the mining area they established hospitals, schools, social clubs, boating lakes, golf courses, swimming pools and gymkhana. These facilities are separate, from places like the KGF club specifically for European workers. Medical care at KGF is world class and free for all mine workers .The record of the kolar Gold Field over a period od more than 80 years is  a splendid eg of the civilizing influence of mining.

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