338 THE GREAT MOGUL'S DIAMOND
Apart
from the discrepancy in the weights and in the size, as shown by
Tavernier's drawing, which was intended to represent the natural size
of the former, it is tolerably certain that the Orloff was obtained
from the temple of Srlrangam on an island in the Cauvery river, in
Mysore. It was therefore a possession of the Hindus, and it is most
improbable that it ever belonged to the Moguls.
Reference
has been made by some authors to the long historical chain which, they
say, connects Babur's diamond with the Koh-i-Nur. As to the length of
the supposed chain, it would extend over a period of 500 years at the
least; but as to the links composing it, there is this to be said—they
are all utterly unsound. In making so emphatic a statement I feel the
necessity of being very sure of the grounds of my argument, especially
as it is opposed to the views of many authorities, who, however, do not
agree with one another as to details.
In
deference to the opinions of Erskine, Professor Maskelyne, and General
Cunningham, it may no doubt with perfect safety be admitted that the
weight of Babur's diamond in 1526 was, as stated above, about 8
mishkals or 320 ratis, and that these were equivalent to about 186 or
187 modern English carats. But it must be at once plainly stated that
there is no direct evidence that any diamond of that weight was in the
possession of the Mogul emperors at any subsequent period, up to the
time of Nadir Shah's invasion. We know nothing as to the weight of the
Koh-i-NGr, as such, till about the time it was brought to England,
namely, the year 1850 ; and then, although its weight was 186 1/6
carats, the trustworthy evidence, as to its condition at that time, as
will be seen, is to the effect that it was not identical with Babur's
diamond.
In
order to put this clearly it is necessary to summarize what has already
been stated about other diamonds. Those mentioned by Garcia da Orta
were not apparently in the possession of the Mogul, and their weights
do not correspond to those of either the Mogul's or Babur's diamonds.
The diamond of 187| carats referred to by De Boot has been shown to be
mythical. Again, Tavernier did not see any stone of the weight above
attributed to Babur's diamond in the possession of the Great Mogul,
Aurangzeb, nor can we suppose that he heard of any such diamond being
in the possession of Shahjahan, who was then confined in prison, where
he retained a number of jewels in his own possession.1 If
either he or Bernier had heard of such a stone he would surely have
mentioned it. It is possible, that Babur's diamond may have been in
Shahjahan's possession when 1 See vol. i. 295.
