Leisure hours among the gemsHamlin, Augustus C. (Augustus Choate)
Science
Leisure hours among the gems
Hamlin, Augustus C. (Augustus Choate)
Gems; Precious stones
Other famous diamonds besides the Mogul are missing; and modern history
is unable to account for them. What has become of the splendid flat
diamond weighing two hundred and forty-two karats, which Tavernier
examined in Golconda; or the immense Agrah of six hundred and
forty-five karats, in the rough, which the same traveller saw in India?
Were they also gathered by the followers of Nadir, and divided in the
spoliation of the property of the conqueror? We know that Persia,
enriched by the last conquest of India, is immensely rich in precious
stones of all descriptions; but the number, the character, and the
value of them, are as shadowy as those of Turkey. However, we have a
ray of intelligence from Bernier, who hastily estimated the value of
the Persian jewels at thirteen and one half milliards of francs.
This prodigious estimate has been strengthened by the gorgeous
appearance of the last Persian ambassador to France. The costume of
this Emir fairly blazed with the brilliancy of the most costly gems,
and recalled the departed glory of the last Prince of Esterhazy. The
presents sent at the same time by the Sultan to the Empress Eugenie
were most magnificent, especially the diamond bracelets, and were
glorious emblems of Oriental favor.
Among the diamonds possessed by the Persian Crown, besides the
Daria-i-noor, which is said to weigh two hundred and thirty-two karats,
we have information of three others of remarkable size and beauty.
They are named the Taj-Mah, or Crown of the Moon, of one hundred and
forty-six karats; the Sea of Glory, of sixty-six karats; and the
Mountain of Splendor, of one hundred and thirty-five karats, valued at
$729,000.
Dr. Beke, at the meeting of the British Association, in 1851, read a
paper on a new diamond that had lately come into the possession of
Persia. He referred to the diamond slab of one hundred and thirty
karats that had been captured at Coocha, in 1832, and which he thought
might have been a part of the Koh-i-noor when in its natural state.
The only account of its history the Persians could obtain, was the
statement that it was found in the possession of a poor man, a native
of Khorasan, who used it for the purpose of lighting his fires, by
striking it against steel [the mineral does not possess the property],
and that it had thereby sustained some damage. The gem was presented by
Abbas Murza to his father, Futteh Ali Shah, and is presumed to be now
among the crown jewels of Persia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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