A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c22.s1.12

c22.s1.12

The *Koh-i-nûr* was found at Kollûr on the river Krishnâ, probably in A.D. 1656. Mîr Jumla farmed the mines at that time, and presented it uncut to the emperor, Shâh Jahân. It is said to have weighed 756 English carats (Ball, ii. 444). It was entrusted to a Venetian named Hortensio Borgio, and was so damaged and wasted in his hands that, when seen by Tavernier in Aurangzîb's treasury in 1665, it weighed not more than 268½ English carats. In 1739 Nadir Shâh sacked Delhi and carried the stone away with him to Persia, conferring on it its present immortal name the "Mountain of Light." On his murder in 1747 it passed into the hands of his grandson, Shâh Rukh. Four years later Shâh Rukh gave it to Ahmad Shâh Durâni of Kâbul, and by him it