Page:Travels in the Mogul Empire, A.D. 1656-1668.djvu/540

470 of the diamonds. One, which he gave in the sequel to the Mogul Emperor, was unparalleled in its kind. It is still the admiration of all connoisseurs.'

Tavernier tells us that the Great Mogul's diamond was obtained by the Amir Jumla, from the Coulour (Kollúr) mine (Travels, English Trans. by V. Ball, vol. ii., p. 74). Dr. V. Ball, now Director of the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, but formerly of the Geological Survey of India, when in that country traced out by means of the routes given to it by Tavernier, who visited it personally, the position of this mine, which, known by its modern name Kollúr, is situated on the Kistna river in N. latitude 16° 42' 30", E. longitude 80° 5', and on an old route from Masulipatam to Golconda (Haidarabad). This identification has since been further proved by the discovery of the remains of the old mining settlement at Kollúr. The exact date of the discovery of the gem is not known, but about 1656 or 1657 it was presented, while still uncut, to Shah Jáhan by Mir Jumla. It then weighed 756 English carats. Dr. Ball has shown that the carats used in his descriptions of stones by Tavernier were the Florentine, the lightest of all carats. Vide p. 17, footnote.

Tavernier was invited by Aurangzeb to see all his jewels, and among them the great diamond, which he was allowed to examine, make a drawing of, and weigh. He found it to weigh English carats. The loss in weight is thus explained by Tavernier (vol. i. p. 396):—'If this stone had been in Europe it would have been treated in a different manner, for some good pieces would have been taken from it, and it would have weighed more than it does, instead of which it has been all ground down. It was the Sieur, a Venetian, who cut it, for which he was badly rewarded, for when it was cut he was reproached with having spoilt the stone, which ought to have retained a greater weight; and instead of paying him for his work, the King fined him ten thousand rupees, and would have taken more if he had possessed it. If the Sieur had understood his trade well, he would have been able to take a large piece from this stone without doing injury to the King, and without having had so much trouble grinding it; but he was not a very accomplished diamond cutter.' By this latter phrase, Dr. Ball, in opposition to a view held by Mr. King and others, is of opinion that Tavernier meant, not that Hortensio might have defrauded the Mogul by taking off a large piece, but that he might with advantage have cleaved the stone instead of grinding it; the pieces so cleaved would then have been the property of the Mogul, not the perquisite of Hortensio. This, after a careful examination of the original text, appears to me also to be the correct reading.

In 1939 the diamond was plundered from Aurangzeb's descendant,