Andersonpet: The ‘beer shop’ - An excerpt from my book KOLAR GOLD FIELDS DOWN MEMORY LANE. Two years after the establishment of the township of Robertsonpet, another township, Andersonpet, was established in 1904, just next to the mining areas of Champion Reefs and Mysore Mine/ Marikuppam to cater to the needs of the people living in these places. Andersonpet was also known locally as ‘beer shop’ because it had the only Government Licensed Liquor Store in the whole of KGF to sell beer in those days.
As per the Imperial Gazetteer of India - Mysore 1907-1909, “The right to vend and sell liquor throughout the province of Bangalore, Mysore and Kolar Gold Fields was only through individual shops under what was called the ‘separate shop system.’ The three breweries situated in the civil and military stations in Bangalore supplied beer or ale to the only tavern or ‘separate shop’ in Kolar Gold Fields situated in the new township of Andersonpet.”
The tavern later got a license to sell foreign liquors, brandy, wine and also the locally brewed liquor or arrack. Andersonpet is still called Beer Shop by people who don’t even know the origins of its name!
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