From Jahangir’s lost gold coins to a temple’s stashed wealth, 5 times governments went on treasure hunts

Secret places lost to the world thousands of years ago, perhaps a shipwreck or a hidden chamber in a labyrinth of a palace full of booby traps and the one thing that everyone wants – treasure, pots of gold, precious stones, overflowing jewellery, all dating back to innumerable periods of time, priceless in worth. 

It sounds like the stuff of movies, like Lara Croft of Tomb Raider on the hunt for treasure in Cambodia or the Pirates of the Caribbean looking for the Aztec gold. However, the movies are inspired by real life. And it’s not just some rogue archeologists and mafia looking for the treasure troves, but also governments; and the Indian government is on one such treasure hunt now. 

Jahangir’s gold coins: After nearly 35 years of a treasure trail gone cold, the Indian government has revived the search for the world’s biggest coins ever minted. The Centre is looking for gold coins weighing 12 kg that were minted by Emperor Jahangir in the 16th or 17th century. Each of the coins is said to be around 11,935.8 gm in gold and priceless in worth. 

The gold coins were passed down in the family and came into the possession of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. After the last Nizam, the coins were passed down to his grandson, the titular Nizam VIII of Hyderabad Mukarram Jah. They were last seen with Jah. 

The Indian government learned of the coins in 1987 when they were listed for auction in Geneva by Mukarran Jah. Back then, the CBI investigators went on a treasure hunt to Europe posing as historians, trying to collect information on the lesser-known artifact. However, they came short of trying to recover the coin. No one knows what happened to the coins thereafter. 

But they did learn a few facts about the coins:

1. One of the coins was valued at $16 million in 1987
2. While there were two coins, one of them was presented to Yadgar Ali, ambassador of the Shah of Iran.

This is not the only treasure hunt that the Indian government went on or will be resuming. Here are 5 times governments went digging for historical treasure: 

1. Treasure in Dreams

In 2013, Union Minister ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to look for lost treasure based on the dreams of a local seer. The treasure hunt was ordered in Daundia Khera, a village in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. Authorities went digging a hole beside a palace in ruins, in hopes of recovering some 1,000 tonnes of gold buried by the 19th-century king, Raja Rao Ram Baksh Singh. They didn’t find anything and the excavation was stopped after a few months. 

2. The secret houses in Karnataka 

In 2017, a man wrote to the then Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claiming that he’s a descendant of the Sri Kirisomeshwara kingdom, which was established 700 years ago. He said that he dreamed of two secret houses, where his ancestors buried an unfathomable amount of wealth and wanted the government to use it for the state’s welfare. This letter was enough for the Chief Minister to ask authorities to check the veracity of the claims by going on a hunt for whether the houses existed or not. In this case too, they didn’t find anything. 

3. The hidden chambers of a temple

Not all treasure hunts by the Indian government were futile attempts. In 2011, authorities discovered nearly Rs 1,00,000 crore of wealth stashed inside the unopened chambers of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The treasure came to light when some of the unopened chambers (reportedly six) were opened for inspection. Thousands of golden chains, gold crowns, numerous gold staffs, gold plates, gold coins, diamonds, cat’s eye, rubies, emeralds, a gold idol of Mahavishnu studded with rubies and emeralds, golden coconut shells, and much more was found. It is said that this is still only part of the wealth stashed inside the temple. 

4. Finding iron

In 2011, the Indian government also unearthed some treasure buried at Odisha’s Emar Mutt inside the Shri Jagannath Temple. Just last year, the authorities unearthed some more of the treasure. So, another treasure hunt was launched. Unfortunately, the treasure hunt ended this year without any substantial recovery except for a piece of iron. 

5. World War II exploits

In 2012, the Andhra Pradesh government initiated a treasure hunt near a 100-year-old school. During some construction work, the labourers discovered a secret tunnel and a chamber at the site. Apparently, a few curious school children who peeped through the keyhole to the secret door said they saw almirahs full of treasure. However, the eye witnesses told the authorities almost a year late, out of fear. And upon inspection, nothing was found. It is said that during World War II, rich families of the area stashed their wealth in bunkers to escape air strikes by Japan. It was hoped that the treasure would be worth Rs 20,000 crore. 

Finding buried treasures in villages is a story told by most of our parents and grandparents. The Indian law also provides for an act called, The Indian Treasure- Trove Act, 1878, which defines what is a treasure, and most importantly to whom it will belong once found. 

Do you think there’s a treasure, belonging to a long-lost kingdom, buried in your backyard?