354 GOLKONDA AND BIJAPUR DIAMOND MINES
partly
to prevent large stones becoming too common, and partly to avoid
exciting Aurangzeb's cupidity. The mines were—1. Ramulconeta
[Rammalakota, i.e. Tavernier's Raolconda] ; diamonds of a mangelin
weight were seldom found there, generally they were much smaller.
Broken diamonds, called shemboes, were found there. 2. Banugun-napellee
[Banaganapalle, 37 miles SE. of Karnfll]. 3. Pendekull [Pendekallu]. 4.
Moodawaram [? Muddavaram, 7 miles ESE. of Rammalakota]. 5. Cumerwille
[Coomroly of A.S. close to Gooramankonda]. 6. Paulkull [?]. 7. Workull
[? Oruvakal]. 8. Lungeepoleur [Langapolur, 5 miles S. of Karnul], 9.
Pootloor [Polur]. 10. Punchelingull [Panchalingala, left bank of
Tungabhadra]. 11. Shingarrampent [?]. 12. Tondarpaar [Tandrapad, left
bank of Tungabhadra]. 13. Gundepelle [?]. 14. Donee [Dhone]. 15.
Gazerpellee [this is close to Baswapur].
I
would venture to commend the identification of those mines which are
unplaced in the above list to someone with local knowledge.1
We
are told in the Earl Marshal's paper that in Golkonda the miners and
merchants were much oppressed, and in a miserable state of poverty,
from having to submit to tyrannical squeezing and heavy duties on
provisions, tobacco, and betel. With extraordinary inconsistency,
although the King of Golkonda, 'Abdulla Kutb Shah, and the King of
Bijapur, 'Adil Shah, had agreements with the miners that all diamonds
above a certain weight were to be reserved for them, still they would
not only pay highly for large stones conveyed to their capitals
secretly by the merchants, but would bestow dresses of honour upon
those who brought such stones to them for sale.2
APPENDIX III
The Diamond Mines of Bengal.
Although it
is possible that many persons in India may be surprised at the
statement that there were formerly diamond mines of considerable
importance and value in the region of Bengal, which is about to be
described ; and although it is probably the case that many who have
resided for long periods in the very District itself have never heard
of the
1
There is a mountain in the kingdom of BIjapur ' where they dig out
diamonds, whioh mountain is a league distant from the city, and is
surrounded by a wall, and is kept by a strong guard' (Varthema, 118).
2 Major Leonard Munn has published an interesting paper on' Ancient Mines and Megaliths in Hyderabad', Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, vol. lxiv (1921), part ii, No. 5.
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