Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 5.6.3

5.6.3

but I can assure you that there is a confusion of diamonds, as well as other jewels, and that the throne, to the best of my recollection, is valued at four Kourours of Roupies, I observed elsewhere that a Lecque is one hundred thousand roupies, and that a Kourour is a hundred Lecques; so that the throne is estimated at forty millions of roupies, worth sixty millions of pounds [livres] or thereabouts. It was constructed by Chah-Jehan, the father of Aureng-Zebe, for the purpose of displaying the immense quantity of precious stones accumulated successively in the treasury from the spoils of ancient Rajas and Patans, and the annual presents to the Monarch, which every Omrah is bound to make on certain festivals. The construction and workmanship of the throne are not worthy of the materials; but two peacocks, covered with jewels and pearls, are well conceived and executed. They were made by a workman of astonishing powers, a Frenchman by birth, named who, after defrauding several of the Princes of Europe, by means of false gems, which he fabricated with peculiar skill, sought refuge in the Great Mogol's court, where he made his fortune.