THE "MOGUL'· DIAMOND. 77
(under
the names of others) the diamond mines of that region, where he
prosecuted the works with the utmost' vigour, and amassed Diamonds " by
the sackful." He likewise on his own account overran the Carnatic, and
despoiled its most ancient temples of incalculable treasures. But his
wealth roused at last the jealousy of his master, which was inflamed to
fury by the discovery of Mirgimola's amour with the queen-dowager, and
he openly threatened to destroy him. But the vizier, apprised in timo
of his master's intentions by one of his creatures at the court, was
able to escape with all his treasures to the camp of Prince Aurungzeb,
then governor of the neighbouring provinces, who, acting upon his
advice, by a secret expe dition surprised and all but captured the king
of Gol-conda, and blockaded him for two months in his fortress, until
he was, through the intrigues of his brother and sister, recalled by
letters from Shah Jehan, just as he was on the point of starving the
garrison into a surrender. Mirgimola, on his introduction to the Great
Mogul, gained his favour by magnificent presents, foremost amongst
which figured the unexampled Diamond in question.*
When
the wily Persian, having thus so neatly " wrought his great revenge "
upon his former sovereign, in the most literal sense made himself
friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness by sacrificing his
unparagoned Diamond to his new" patron, Shah Jehan—its weight, says
Tavernier, was no less than 787-1/2 carats. The stone however, as was
unavoidable in one of suoh magnitude, was full of flaws, to get rid of
which (as it would seem) the imperial jeweller,
