Large and detailed map of the Raniganj Coalfields.

The Raniganj coalfields are considered to be the birthplace of coal mining in India. Surface mining of coal had taken place, piecemeal from the 1770s, but it was not until 1815, when the coal seam at Raniganj was discovered by Mr Rupert Jones, that mining began. So rich were the coalfields at Raniganj that by the publication of the present map, the fields were responsible for 3 million tonnes, half the total of Indian coal production for that year.

A key to the lower left provides information on the geological make up of the area, this includes: alluvium; laterite, pachetes, Raniganj or upper coal series, ironstone shales, Barakar or lower coal series, Talchir group, metamorphic rocks, band of Ironstone, outcrop of coal seams, fault, mica-peridotite dyke, and dolerite. Also marked are railways and tramways.

George A. Stonier the Chief Inspector of Mines in India during the early Twentieth century.

Scale: 1 inch to one statute mile.