248 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



The large Indian diamonds are often supposed to be of very ancient discovery, the 

 majority, however, probably do not date back to very early times. No definite information 

 can be gleaned from ancient writings, but it is a well-established fact that the diamonds in 

 the possession of the Romans were all of small size. 



Probably the largest of Indian diamonds is the Great Mogul, the history of which 

 is very obscure. This was seen in the treasury of the Great Mogul, Aurungzebe, in 1665, 

 by Tavernier, who both drew and described the stone in detail. This diamond had then the 

 form of a very high and round rosette (Plate X., Fig. 2), and was of good water. It weighed 

 319^ ratis, which Tavernier calculated to be equivalent to 280 carats, assuming 1 rati = 

 I carat. By authorities, who consider this value of the rati too high, the equivalent is given 

 as 188 carats. The rough stone is supposed to have been found between 1630 and 1650, in 

 the mines at Kollur, and to have originally weighed 787^ carats, a weight which would make 

 it unquestionably the largest of Indian diamonds. 



The considerable disparity between the weight of the rough stone and its weight when 

 cut, has been attributed to the unskilful manner in which it was cut by Hortensio Borgis, 

 the Venetian diamond-cutter, who at that time was domiciled in India. The subsequent 

 history of the " Great Mogul " is a complete blank ; it has been variously supposed to have 

 been lost or destroyed, to be in existence under another name, such as the " Orloff" diamond, 

 or the " Koh-i-noor," to be in the possession of the Shah of Persia, or to be lying forgotten 

 among the jewels of some Indian prince. 



Another large diamond of the same weight, namely, 320 ratis, is described in the 

 memoirs of Baber, the founder of the Mogul dynasty. According to this account the stone 

 had long been famous in India, and had formed part of the spoils of war of many an Indian 

 prince, finally passing into the possession of Baber in 1556. This stone is regarded by 

 Professor Story-Maskelyne as being identical with the diamond seen at Delhi, and described 

 as the " Great Mogul " by Tavernier, and identical with the stone at present known as the 

 " Koh-i-noor "; this view is very generally accepted. 



The Koh-i-noor was appropriated in 1739 by Nadir Shah, the Persian conqueror of 

 the Mogul Empire ; in 1813 it passed into the possession of the Rajah of Lahore, and after 

 the British annexation of the Punjab, became the property of the East India Company, 

 which in 1850 presented it to Queen Victoria. The stone had then the form of an irregular 

 rosette (Plate X., Figs. 4a, 46), with numerous facets above, below a broad cleavage surface, 

 and on the side a second smaller cleavage surface. The weight of the Indian-cut stone was 

 186xV carats, which agrees closely with the weight of 320 ratis, recorded long before as the 

 weight of the stone described by Baber. In order to improve its form, which was very far 

 fri)m perfect, it was re-cut in England in 1852 by the diamond-cutter, Voorsanger, of the 

 Amsterdam firm of Coster ; the work of re-cutting occupying thirty-eight days, of twelve 

 hours each. 



The " Koh-i-noor " is now a stone of considerable beauty, weighing 106xV carats ; 

 its. new form (Plate X., Figs. 5a, 5b, 5c,) is, however, too thin for a perfect brilliant; 

 moreover, it is not of the purest water, and the colour is slightly greyish. In spite of these 

 blemishes it is valued at <f 100,000. The (juestion as to the identity of the " Great Mogul " 

 with the "Koh-i-noor" can scarcely now be decided. Tennant regarded them as identical, 

 and suggested that the "Koh-i-noor" and the "Orloff" are both parts of the rough stone 

 of 787^ carats, mentioned by Tavernier, and that the third and remaining portion of it is 

 the plate of diamond weighing 132 carats, often mentioned as having been taken by Abbas 

 Mirza with other jewels from Reeza Kuli Khan at the capture of Coocha, in Khorassan. 

 Tennant constructed models of these separate portions in fluor-spar, a mineral which has the 



