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XVII
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Diamonds of Fate
O
ne of
the greatest gems of the world was the "Great Mogul". Only a
particularly magnificent piece is worthy of such a title, and in every
way it was worthy of its name.
It
was called after Shah Jehan, the fifth in succession to Baber, founder
of the so-called Mogul Dynasty in Hindustan. We have a description of
the stone from the pen of one who was singularly well qualified to
speak, for not only was he an intrepid traveller, one of the world's
foremost dealers in precious stones in his generation, but also he was
gifted with a flair for the uncommon, the rare, the exquisite. This was
the Frenchman Tavernier, supplier of gems to the "Rot Soldi", Louis
XIV. Tavernier gives the weight of the Great Mogul as 319-1/2 carats,
which corresponds to 280 European carats, because the rati or
Indian carat was only seven-eighths of our own carat weight. In shape
it is said to have been round, rather high on one side and of the cut
called rose cut, which I have already described. We know from the
records that have come down to us
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