Kolar district is an administrative district in the south-eastern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. The district takes its name from its headquarters town, Kolar, and is historically associated with the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), one of the most famous gold-mining regions in the world during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The district lies on the border with Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and forms part of the Bayaluseeme (plains) region of Karnataka.
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| State | Karnataka |
| Region | Bayaluseeme (South Karnataka plains) |
| Headquarters | Kolar |
| Official language | Kannada |
| Type | District |
Kolar district is situated on the Mysore Plateau at a relatively high elevation, with a generally undulating terrain dotted with rocky outcrops and hillocks. The district is largely drought-prone and depends heavily on tanks, borewells and seasonal streams, as no major perennial river flows through it. Antaragange and Shathashringa hills are among the notable physical features in the district. Kolar shares borders with Chikkaballapur district to the north, Bengaluru Rural district to the west, and the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to the east and south.
The district is administered by a Deputy Commissioner and is divided into several taluks, including Kolar, Bangarapet, Malur, Mulbagal and Srinivaspur. Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) is one of the major urban centres in the district along with Kolar town. Until 2007, the present-day Chikkaballapur district formed the northern part of Kolar district before it was carved out as a separate administrative unit.
Kolar has a long recorded history and was a seat of the early Western Ganga dynasty, whose original capital is traditionally identified with Kolar (Kuvalala) before being shifted to Talakadu. Over the centuries the region passed through the control of the Cholas, the Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Bijapur Sultanate, the Marathas, the Mughals, and finally the rulers of Mysore, including Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. After the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, Kolar became part of the princely state of Mysore under the British paramountcy.
The Kolar Gold Fields, located in the Bangarapet taluk, were systematically mined from the 1880s by the British firm John Taylor & Sons, and remained in production for over a century before the mines were progressively closed in the early twenty-first century. KGF was among the earliest places in India to receive electricity, supplied from the Shivanasamudra hydroelectric project commissioned in 1902.
The district economy is predominantly agrarian, with crops such as ragi (finger millet), groundnut, pulses, mulberry for sericulture, and horticultural produce including tomato, mango and grapes. Kolar is widely known as a major producer and trading centre for tomatoes and mangoes in southern India. Dairy farming is also an important activity, supported by cooperatives linked to the Karnataka Milk Federation. Although gold mining at KGF has ceased on a commercial scale, ancillary industries and small-scale manufacturing continue to operate in and around the mining township.
Kannada is the principal language, while Telugu and Tamil are widely spoken, reflecting the district's location at the meeting point of three linguistic regions. Major communities include Vokkaligas, Kurubas, and Scheduled Castes, alongside significant Telugu- and Tamil-speaking populations, particularly in and around KGF, where workers from Tamil Nadu settled during the mining era.