According to Lady Burton, it is believed to bring ill-luck to
its possessor.
The 'Nizam' is the name of a stone said to have been found in the once
famous diamond-mines of Golconda. Sir William Hunter, however, gives us
to understand that there were really no diamond-mines at Golconda, and
that the place won its name by cutting the stones found on the eastern
borders of the Nizam's territory, and on a ridge of sandstone running
down to the rivers Kistna and Godavery, in the Madras Presidency.
However that may have been, both regions are now unproductive of
valuable stones. The 'Nizam' diamond is said to weigh 340 carats, and to
be worth £200,000; but we are unable to verify the figures.
The 'Great Table' is another Indian diamond, the present whereabouts of
which is not known. It is said to weigh 242-1/2 carats, and that 500,000
rupees (or at par, £50,000) was once refused for it. The 'Great Table'
is sometimes known as 'Tavernier's' diamond. It was the first blue
diamond ever seen in Europe, and was brought, in 1642, from India by
Tavernier. It was sold to Louis XIV. in 1668, and was described then as
of a beautiful violet colour; but it was flat and badly cut. At what
date it was re-cut we know not, but, as possessed by Louis Le Grand, it
weighed only 67-1/2 carats. It was seized during the Revolution, and was
placed in the Garde Meuble; but it disappeared, and has not been traced
since. Some fifty years later, Mr Henry Hope purchased a blue diamond
weighing some 44-1/2 carats (now known as the 'Hope' diamond), which it
was conjectured may have been part of the 'Great Table.' It is preserved
in the Green Vaults, Dresden, and is regarded as one of the most superb
coloured diamonds known.
Another famous Indian diamond is the 'Great Mogul,' which appears to
have been found about 1650, in the Kollur mine, on the Kistna. It was
seen by the French jeweller Tavernier at the court of Aurungzebe in
1665, and is described as a round white rose-cut stone of 280 carats.
Its subsequent history is unknown, and it is probable that at the
sacking of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739 it was stolen and broken up. Some
authorities have sought to identify the Great Mogul with the Koh-i-nur,
and others with the Orloff.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD: _a_, Great
Mogul; _b_, Star of the South; _c_, Koh-i-nur; _d_, Regent; _e_, Orloff.
All actual size.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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