HOARDS OF GOLD IN INDIA
By Alan Hassell
Copyright 30/7/93 all rights reserved
It might come as a surprise to many, but India and its population are considered to be the largest hoarders of Gold in the World. During the reading of a paper written by the late Mr. William Topley, F.G.S. (of the geological Survey of England & Wales) in Manchester, U.K. 1887, and the question of the amount of precious metals hoarded by the natives arose.
Mr. Topley stated, 'It is unlikely that India will ever contribute to the Worlds stock, sufficient native gold to influence world production. A far more important is the amount of gold being hoarded in India. Most estimates concerning gold are ludicrously vague, but on the question of vagueness is unavoidable.
It is known that ?130,000,000 of gold has been taken into India since 1835; practically none of this is in circulation. Silver being the standard and the coinage of India.
How much was hoarded in the centuries proceeding 1835; no one can say. If it only equals the amount since, we have ?260,000,000 or nearly 13 times the Worlds present (1887) annual production.
The original source of this gold and the ways it reached India would be an interesting subject of inquiry. Since 1851 it is the gold of the world, mainly sent through England; but in long past times it was probably in part of native production, in part the gold of Europe, sent over the old trade routes in return for manufactured articles of India.
It is commonly accepted that at least as much silver is hoarded in India as Gold. If so, the value of gold and silver hoarded in India since 1835 nearly equals in value one third of the total amount of gold and silver coin in circulation in the World. Famines set free some of this gold, and we may perhaps anticipate that the diffusion of Western ideas will free some of this gold, but it is unlikely that gold will come from this source in sufficient quantities to influence the annual production of the Worlds gold.
Over the centuries, wealthy natives having no banks preferred to hide their wealth rather than risk it being stolen. It has been written that the people of India have such a phobia of burying their gold, silver and jewels that they seldom trust their own children and the whereabouts of their hidden assets and often carried the secrets with them to the grave. India is reputed to contain some of the World's most valuable hoards.
The Maharaja of Jaisinghi of Jaiper buried an enormous hoard of gold and jewels valued at ?3,000,000,000 in a secret compartment specially constructed in his palace in Rajasthan. A gypsy gave tax officials a document confirming the burial in 1733. Scientific tests conducted on the parchment confirmed the paper and ink was between 200 and 250 years old, but to this date the cache has never been recovered.
During centuries of invasion, the native rajahs, emperors, Kings and merchants of bazaars have all resorted to burying their valuables in the ground, under rocks or even in lakes, ponds and wells.
A wealthy merchant, reputed to be a millionaire died in 1931 without leaving any trace or clues to a hoard of gold bullion and valuable artefacts he buried underground somewhere between Rajputana and Mount Abu. In 1927 restoration work was taking place at the Palace of Kumher in Central India when worker's repairing one of the walls in Durbar Hall exposed Jewels worth ?15,000,000.
Two years later in 1929 a huge cache of jewels were found in a shrine of the Hindu Goddess Bhavani in the old ruins of Fort Pertabgarh near Poona. Every day of every year Indians wash their clothes and themselves in the Sacred River Ganges. Many women adorn themselves with gold in the form of rings, bangles and chains, not only on the neck and hands but also on their ankles. Some of this gold gets lost in the muddy waters. Although most readers will never visit India in a lifetime, it's nice to know that treasures are there, if you want to be audacious enough to look for it.
keep on hunting lol
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