68 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
from
the alliance of Aurung-zeb and Jemla, Bernier tells us in the passage
above referred to by Brock that, " Jemla, who had by his address,
contrived to obtain frequent invitations to the Court of Shah Jehan,
repaired at length to Agra, and carried the most magnificent presents,
in the hope of inducing the Mogul to declare war against the Kings of
Gol-conda and Viziapür, and against the Portuguese. On this occasion it
was that he presented Shah Jehan with that celebrated diamond which has
been generally deemed unparalleled in size and beauty." The diamond in
question, to which this passage contains the earliest known allusion,
all are agreed in identifying with the " Great Mogul," and it is
impossible that it could have been the Koh-i-Nür ; for that gem, as
will be seen further on, had already been in the possession of the
Mogul emperors ever since the time of Baber himself.
The
next and last distinct reference to the Great Mogul is by Tavernier,
who saw it at the Court of Aurung-zeb in 1665, apparently about ten
years after it had passed out of the hands of Emir Jemla, and just one
year before the death of Shah Jehan, at that time a prisoner in the
fortress of Agra. In his Six Voyages* Tavernier refers in three
places to this gem, and as his statements are often incorrectly
repeated by writers who have not taken the trouble to consult the
original work, it will not be amiss here to quote
