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CHAPTER III
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THE GROWTH OF THE DIAMOND TRADE
FOR
centuries, probably thousands of years, diamonds were a royal
perquisite. They blazoned the regal state of Oriental princes, and were
a sign of autocratic power. Ordinary trade in them was confined to
small and poor stones and the few fine ones which escaped the
requisitions of the rulers where they were found.
Little
is known of the ancient traffic in diamonds. It is said the the Arabs
and Phoenicians traded in them. They were not only used as jewels, but
as cutters and gravers for centuries B. C, therefore they must have
been carried far and wide throughout the Orient; but literature had
small space for commerce in those days. Though we read of the uses to
which they were put, we know little of the channels by which they were
gathered and distributed.
As
far as we know, they were found only in India, but later discoveries of
very ancient mining operations in Rhodesia, suggest that they were also
taken from Africa many centuries ago. The diamond fields of India were
confined to a comparatively small section of the country in the
southern central part of India back from the eastern coast; in the
Deccan, near the banks of the Godavari, Krishna and Pannar rivers and
the country lying between them; and a section farther north on the
banks of the Mahanadi, in the Panna district of
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