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VALUES AND COMMERCE OF PEARLS 335
It would be extremely interesting if we could find at this early date (sixth century a.d.) an
indication of the use of the system of computing the value of pearls
by the square of their weight as expressed in some weight unit, and it
is singular that the three valuations given for the weight in gunjas
are graduated in accordance with this system. A pearl weighing 2-1/2
gunjas and valued at 35 kârsâpanas would have a base value of 5.6
kârsâpanas. Estimated at this ratio we would have the following figures
:
Now,
the .values actually given are 50 and 90 kârsâpanas, respectively, and
these figures are easily obtained by rejecting the fraction that is
less than one half and counting the fraction that is in excess of one
half as a unit. After this, however, the progression becomes
irregular. A pearl weighing 1 mâsaka (5 gunjas) is valued at 135
kârsâpanas, while the equivalent according to the system would be 140.
However, it is possible that the writer may have changed this figure
intentionally so as to add exactly one half to the preceding valuation
(90 + 45 = 135 ). The succeeding values bear no relation to the system
and appear to be entirely arbitrary. Still, it can scarcely be due to
hazard that the first three figures are practically in exact accord
with the system and the fourth in close approximation. As the change
seems to come when the weight is expressed in mâsakas instead of
gunjas, we are tempted to think that the system may have been used for
single pearls weighing less than twelve grains (1 mâsaka = 1134
grains), while the·value of those over that weight was estimated in a
different way.
In
a much later Hindu treatise, by Buddhabhatta, after certain values have
been given for pearls of the best quality, a pearl of this class is
described as follows :
White, round, heavy, smooth, luminous, spotless, the pearl gifted with these qualities is called qualified (gunavat). If it be yellow, it is worth half this price; if it be not round, a third; if flat or triangular, a sixth.1
One
of the earliest records we have of a system of prices for pearls is the
treatise on precious stones written in the year 1265, by Ahmed ibn
Yusuf al Teifashi, who was probably a native jeweler of Egypt. In his
time pearls were sold in Bagdad in bunches of ten strings, each string
comprising thirty-six pearls. If one of these strings weighed one sixth
of a miskal (four carats or sixteen grains), the ten strings
1Finot, "Les Lapidaires Indiens," Paris, 1896, p. 22.
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