Travels in India (Tavernier) 59: The Great Mogul orders all his jewels to be shown to the Author.
Travels in India (Ball) 59
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The Great Mogul orders all his jewels to be shown to the Author.
59.1
On the first day of November 1665 I went to the palace for the purpose of taking leave of the King, but he said that he did not wish me to depart without having seen his jewels, and until I had witnessed the grandeur of his fete. The day following the great morning five or six officers from the King, and others on behalf of Nawab Zafar Khan, came to tell me that the King had sent for me. Immediately on my arrival at the Court the two custodians of the King’s jewels, of whom I have elsewhere spoken, accompanied me into the presence of his Majesty; and after I had made him the ordinary salutation, they conducted me into a small apartment, which is at one of the ends of the hall where the King was seated on his throne, and from whence he was able to see us. I found in this apartment Akil KhAn, chief of the jewel treasury, who, when he saw us, ordered four of the King’s eunuchs to go for the jewels, which were brought in two large wooden trays lacquered with gold leaf, and covered with small cloths made expressly for the purpose — one of red velvet and the other of green brocaded velvet. After these trays were uncovered, and all the pieces had been counted three times over, a list was prepared by three scribes who were present. For the Indians do everything with great circumspection and patience, and when they see any one who acts with precipitation, or becomes angry, they gaze at him without saying anything, and smile as at a madman.
59.2
The first piece which Akil Khan placed in my hands was the great diamond, which is a round rose, very high at one side. At the basal margin it has a small notch and a little flaw inside. Its water is beautiful, and it weighs three hundred and nineteen and a half (319½) ratis, which are equal to two hundred and eighty (280) of our carats — the rati being ⅞th of our carat. When Mir JumlA, who betrayed the King of Golconda, his master, presented this stone to ShAh JahAn, to whose side he attached himself, it was then in the rough, and weighed nine hundred (900) ratis, which are equivalent to seven hundred and eighty-seven and a half (787½) carats; and it had several flaws.
59.3
If this stone had been in Europe it would have been treated in a different manner, for some good pieces would have been taken from it, and it would have weighed more than it does, instead of which it has been all ground down. It was the Sieur Hortensio Borgio, a Venetian, who cut it, for which he was badly rewarded; for when it was cut he was reproached with having spoilt the stone, which ought to have retained a greater weight; and instead of paying him for his work, the King fined him ten thousand (10,000) rupees, and would have taken more if he had possessed it. If the Sieur Hortensio had understood his trade well, he would have been able to take a large piece from this stone without doing injury to the King, and without having had so much trouble grinding it; but he was not a very accomplished diamond cutter. After I had fully examined this splendid stone, and returned it into the hands of Akil Khán, he showed me another stone, pear-shaped, of good form and fine water, and also three other table diamonds, two clear, and the other with little black spots. Each weighed fifty-five (55) to sixty (60) ratis, and the pear sixty-two and a half (62½). Subsequently he showed me a jewel of twelve diamonds, each stone of 15 to 16 ratis, and all roses. In the middle a heart-shaped rose of good water, but with three small flaws, and this rose weighed about 35 or 40 ratis.
59.4
Also a jewel with seventeen diamonds, half of them table and half rose, the largest of which could not weigh more than seven (7) or eight (8) ratis, with the exception of the one in the middle, which weighed about sixteen (16). All these stones are of first-class water, clean and of good form, and of the most beautiful kind ever found. Also two grand pear-shaped pearls, one (weighing) about seventy (70) ratis, a little flattened on both sides, and of beautiful water and good form. Also a pearl button, which might weigh from fifty-five (55) to sixty (60) ratis, of good form and good water. Also a round pearl of great perfection, a little flat on one side, which weighs fifty-six (56) ratis. I ascertained that to be the precise weight, and that Shah Abbás II, King of Persia, sent it as a present to the Great Mogul. Also three other round pearls, each of twenty-five (25) to twenty-eight (28) ratis, or thereabouts, but the water of which tends to yellow.
59.5
Also a perfectly round pearl of thirty-six and a half (36½) ratis, of a lively white, and perfect in every respect. It is the only jewel which Aurangzeb, who reigns at present, has himself purchased on account of its beauty, for the rest either came to him from Dara Shah, his eldest brother, and which he had appropriated, after he had caused his head to be cut off, or they were presents made to him after he ascended the throne. I have elsewhere remarked that this King has no great regard for jewels, priding himself only on being the great zealot of the law of Muhammad. Akil Khan also placed in my hands (for he allowed me to examine all at my ease) two other pearls, perfectly round and equal, each of which weighed twenty-five and a quarter (25¼) ratis. One is slightly yellow, but the other is of a very lively water, and the most beautiful that can be seen. It is true, as I have elsewhere said, that the Prince of Arabia, who has taken Muscat from the Portuguese, has a pearl which surpasses in beauty all others in the world ; for it is perfectly round, and so white and lively that it looks as though it was transparent, but it only weighs fourteen (14) carats. There is not a single monarch in Asia who has not asked this Prince of Arabia to sell him this pearl.
59.6
Also two chains, one of pearls and rubies of different shapes pierced like the pearls ; the other of pearls and emeralds, round and bored. All the pearls are round and of diverse waters, and from ten to twelve (10 to 12) ratis each in weight. In the middle of the chain of rubies there is a large emerald of the “ old rock,” cut into a rectangle, and of high colour, but with many flaws. It weighs about thirty (30) ratis. In the middle of the chain of emeralds there is an Oriental amethyst, a long table, weighing about forty (40) ratis, and the perfection of beauty. Also a balass ruby cut in cabuchon, of fine colour and clean, pierced at the apex, and weighing seventeen (17) melscals. Six melscals make one once (French). Also another cabuchon ruby of perfect colour, but slightly flawed and pierced at the apex, which weighs twelve melscals. Also an Oriental topaz of very high colour cut in eight panels, which weighs six melscals, but on one side it has a small white fog within. These, then, are the jewels of the Great Mogul, which he ordered to be shown to me as a special favour which he has never manifested to any other Frank; and I have held them all in my hand, and examined them with sufficient attention and leisure to be enabled to assure the reader that the description which I have just given is very exact and faithful, as is that of the thrones, which I have also had sufficient time to contemplate thoroughly.