[ 551 ] 
LIX.—ON THE MODE OF OCCURRENCE AND DISTRI- 
BUTION OF DIAMONDS IN INDIA, sy V. BALL, m.a., F.c.s., 
OF THE GEoLoGIcAL Survey oF Inpra, Hon. Secretary, Royar 
GEOLOGICAL Society oF JRELAND. 
[Read 21st June, 1880.] 
To say that India has for many years been famous for her 
diamonds would be to enunciate a truism with which everyone is 
familiar. It is not an easy matter however, to determine for how 
long this has been the case, still less so to fix with approximate 
accuracy any period of the world’s history as being that when the 
precious gem first came to be esteemed in the Hast. At least 3,400 
years have elapsed since the first account of it in the Mahabaratta 
(B.c. 1500) was written—and it may have been known long 
previous to that. By some it is thought that the Koh-i-noor 
belonged to King Vikramaditya (B.c. 56), a personage who seems 
to have been most ubiquitous, if a tithe of all that is said of him 
could be believed. 
I show below, when describing the diamond localities of 
Sambalpur that Ptolemy possessed a remarkable amount of 
information regarding them. Tavernier was of opinion that 
they were the oldest workings in India. 
In this paper I have attempted to give references to the most im- 
portant authorities on the subject of Indian diamonds,and diamond 
workings both ancient and modern, but my knowledge of the 
ancient literature of India is too limited to enable me to give a 
resumé of what may be recorded on the subject in native 
. writings. The late Professor Blochmann, had, I know, culled 
from many sources notices in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, on the 
subject of the mineral productions of India, but these have 
unfortunately, never been published. 
According to Captain Burton the Indian diamond was first 
made famous in Europe, by the French jeweller, Jean Baptiste 
Tavernier (born 1605, died 1689), who made six journeys to 
India in order to purchase precious stones. Previously to the 
year 1728, the production of diamonds was practically limited to 
India and Borneo, but in that year the first diggings were opened 
in Brazil. 
Scien. Proc., R-D.S. Vou. 1., Pr. vit. 2P 
