34 V. Ball — On the Diamond Mines [No. 1, 



Identity of the Great Mogul Diamond with the Koh-i-nur. 



As the identity of the Great Mogul or Kollur diamond has been the 

 subject of much controversy I think it well to include the following note 

 here since it properly comes under the head of Gani-Coulour or Kollur. 

 Tavernier states that not only it, but many other large stones were pro- 

 duced there, and he adds, that, in his time the miners still continued to find 

 large stones in the same mines. 



I shall first quote verbatim and then analyze what Tavernier has 

 written regarding this diamond. Having gone to take leave of the Great 

 Mogul (Aurangzeb) on the 1st of November 16(35, he was invited to return 

 on the following morning to see the Emperor's jewels. He says,* " The 

 first object which Akel Kan (the Custodian of the Jewels) put in my hands 

 was the great diamond, which is a rose, round, very convex (? haute) on 

 one side ; at the edge of one side there is a small notch (cran) with a flaw 

 in it. The water is perfection and it weighs 319| ratis which are equal 

 to 280 of our carats the rati being -§- of a carat. When Mirgimola who 

 betrayed the king of Golconda, his master, made a gift of this stone to 

 Shah Jehan from whom it is descended it was uncut and weighed 900 

 ratis which are equal to 787i carats and it had many flaws. If this 

 stone had been in Europe it would have been differently treated, for some 

 good pieces would have been taken from it and the stone left much larger, 

 as it is it has been almost polished away. It was Sieur Hortensio Borgio, 

 a Venetian who cut it, for which he was badly paid. They reproached him 

 with having spoilt the stone which ought to have remained heavier and 

 instead of paying him, the Emperor made him pay a fine of 10,000f 

 (rupees) and would have taken still more if he had possessed it. If 

 Hortensio had known his work better he might have taken some good 

 pieces off without doing injury to the king and without having expended 

 so much trouble in polishing it, but he was not a very accomplished dia- 

 mond-cutter." 



It is now believed by some authorities that very large pieces, inclu- 

 ding the Orloff diamond were as a matter of fact cleaved off from the 

 original Great Mogul. Certainly cleavage had as much to do with the 

 shape of the Koh-i-Nur as polishing. 



In the chapter on his visit to the mines at Coulour,J he says that 

 the Great Mogul diamond was found there. If this be true and also that 

 the mine was only discovered about 100 years before his visit, which 



* Voyages, Vol. II, Livre, 2, p. 249. Paris Ed. 1677. 



f Even this item is variously stated by compilers who seem to have been the cause 

 of much of the confusion that exists about the weights &c, of this historical gem. 

 % 1. c, p. 305. 



