HISTORY OF MYSORE SANDAL SOAP

The First World War marked the beginning of this soap’s fascinating storyline. A lot of sandalwood was sent to Europe from the kingdom of Mysore, which had the world’s highest production capacity. However, because of the conflict, most of the world’s supply of sandalwood was left unsent at that time.

In May 1916, Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV, who was then the Maharaja of Mysore, & Diwan Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was then the Diwan of Mysore, set up the Government Sandalwood Oil Plant in Mysore to turn sandalwood into the oil.

Sandalwood Oil Extraction Facility
Alfred Chatterton, the principal of the College of Engineering in Madras, was appointed Director of Industries. His inventiveness made him stand out. He was an early adopter of aluminium for common household items. He had held the position of Director of Industries in Madras State before.

Together with J. J. Sudborough & H. E. Watson, two chemistry professors at the Institute of Science in Bangalore, he launched the first experimental distillation of sandal oil in India. They tried a lot of different things before they figured out how to make pharmaceutical-grade sandal oil that would be acceptable to European customers.

A facility in Mysore that could produce 2,000 pounds of oil per month was established not long after the oil met even stricter criteria. In August 1916, Chatterton established the Mysore Sandalwood Oil Factory, from which high-quality sandal oil was being sent to London.
Another plant dedicated to the distillation of sandalwood oil started in Bangalore in the same year. Quickly, new steam plants & stills were put in place, & by the time a third, much larger facility opened in Mysore, production had gone up by a huge amount.

Creation
Two years later, a unique collection of sandalwood oil soaps was presented as a gift to the Maharaja. As soon as he realized this, he told Sir MV about his plan to mass-produce inexpensive soaps using the same ingredients. The ambitious team, which went on to design several projects whose benefits are still enjoyed today, all agreed that the state needed to become more industrialized.

Dewan Sir M.V. prioritized the growth of Bangalore’s manufacturing sector. He aimed to make high-quality soap at an affordable price for the masses. The Indian Institute of Science also hosted an invited technical expert from Bombay so he could conduct his tests there. At the same time, Sir M.V. recognized an exceptionally promising young researcher working at the Institute of Science named S.G. Shastry. In order to acquire the necessary knowledge for the government’s soap-making program, he was sent to England. There was a hiccup in England, but he eventually learned what he needed to know.

Mr. Shastry took the technology back to India, ushering in the first sandal soap to be produced in India, near Bangalore’s Cubbon Park, establishing the Government Soap Factory.

Gijo Vijayan — Author

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