THE GREAT MOGUL'S DIAMOND 335
by
a Portuguese who worked the mine at Wajra Karur in Bellary about the
beginning of the seventeenth century. It weighed, apparently, 434.7
carats. Nothing of its subsequent history is known ; but it cannot
have been the one presented by Mir Jumla to Shahjahan. It may, however,
have been the Pitt diamond, which, when offered to Pitt in 1701,
weighed 426 carats ; but if so, it remained uncut for nearly a century,
and the generally accepted story of the Pitt diamond is that it was
obtained at the mine at Partial.
We
may now pass to a brief summary of the facts contained in Tavernier's
several independent references to the Great Mogul's diamond—•
First,
in order of sequence, after describing the Mogul's jewels, he mentions
(vol. i. 315) its weight as being 319 1/2 ratis, or 280 carats, the
rati being 7/8 th of a carat. When first presented to Shahjahan by Mir
Jumla it weighed, he says, 900 ratis or 787 1/2 carats, and had several
flaws, but when he saw it it was round, rose cut, very steep at one
side, with a notch on the basal margin, and an internal flaw ; its
water was beautiful.1
Secondly,
when describing (vol. ii. 58) the mine of Kollur (Gani or Coulour) he
says that there was found in it the great diamond which weighed 900
carats (?) before cutting, and was presented to Aurangzeb (?) by Mir
Jumla. This account, as already pointed out, contains several mistakes.
Tavernier adds that the mine had been opened 100 years previously.
Thirdly
(vol. ii. 75), he states that the Great Mogul's diamond was of perfect
water and good form, and weighed 279 9/16 carats. Its value he
estimated as amounting to 11,723,278 livres, 14 sols, 3 liards, or
£879,245 18s. \\d. If it had weighed 279 carats only it would
have been worth 11,676,150 livres, and consequently the value of the
9/16th of a carat, owing to the geometrical method of calculation,
amounted to 47,128 livres, 14 sols, 3 liards, or £3,534 13s. 1 1/2\d.
Fourthly
(vol. ii. 97), he states that he was permitted to weigh the diamond,
and ascertained its weight to be 319J ratis, or 279 9/16 carats, and
adds, ' when in the rough it weighed, as I have elsewhere said, 907
ratis, or 793 5/8 carats'. Its form was as of an egg cut in two.
Tavernier's
figure of the diamond (see Plate II) has been referred to by Mr. King
as being carefully drawn. It is true that very neat representations of
it have appeared in works on mineralogy and precious stones, and glass
models have been made on the same lines, but the original figure can
only
1 The Ma'asir-nl-umara ii.
535, gives the weight of this diamond as 216 surkh, or 9 tank, and
values it at Bs. 216,000, or £21,600. Manucci says that it weighed 360
carats (Manucci, i. 237).
