Golconda Diamonds

diamond mines in Golconda Sultanate region.Published in 1725

A Golconda Diamond is a Indian diamond that is mined from a specific geographic area within the historic Golconda Sultanate—(Present day Telengana and Andhra Pradesh states of India). From mines Diamonds were transported to Golconda fort market to get cut, polished, valuation and trading. Golconda established it self as a diamond trading center and until the end of the 19th century Golconda market was the only source of finest and large diamonds in the world, thus the legendary name Golconda Diamond got synonymous with Golconda.

Some of the popular diamond mines were Amaragiri-(Present day Kollapur Mahbubnagar district), Vajrakarur-(present day in Anantapur district) and Kollur Mine-(present day in Guntur district), and other mines around the River Krishna in the South India. Along with diamonds, the region became trade center for metal ware, pearls, spices and textiles. According to The New Indian Express article published on 22 October 2016, "The city based historian, Mohammed Safiullah says such was the trade that the estimated output from all mines in Golconda was estimated to be around 12 million carats".

History

Golconda is located in between the two major sea routes of India, Surat and Machilipatnam, the town was developed as a trade center and under the patron of Qutb Shahi rulers, a thriving market particularly of Diamonds, was developed near Golconda fort that is know known as Karwan where cutting, polishing and trading was done. The medieval diamond trade drew travelers from the world, thus considering the travelers convenient with the patron of the rulers facilities were constructed and security was provided in Golconda for traders to stay and make trading, particularly to the traders travelling from Europe and central Asia. According to Manu S Pillai, as publish in The Hindu on 05 November 2016; Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, renowned French traveller and jeweller, claimed to have seen a flat diamond called Great Table diamond vaulted in some of the dungeons of Golconda.[1][2][3][4][5] Jean de Thévenot and François Bernier were also French traders in Diamonds who frequently traded with Golconda Diamonds.[6]

Notable diamond

Some of the most famous diamonds from Golconda are:

Gallery

Legends

Out of 38 diamond mines of India 23 mines were located under the Golconda Sultanate. Thus making it the "Diamond Capitial" of the past.[6] It was considered as a pride by any ruler to be the owner of any of the Golconda Diamonds. Top four pink diamonds of the world are from Golconda Diamonds.[7]


Notable personalities

As of now most of the world famous diamonds are Golconda diamonds, and most of the Royals, Monarchs and legendary personalities keep those as a mark of pride.

References

  1. ↑ Gomelsky, Victoria (20 March 2011). "The Market for Golconda Diamonds Has Mushroomed". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Shanker, K Shiva (22 October 2016). "Famed golconda diamonds may still fetch record prices". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Srivathsan, A; Venkateshwarlu, K (17 June 2016). "Golconda diamond fetches world record price". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Pilli, Manu S (5 November 2016). "Delving into the rich and often bloody history of Golconda Fort". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Is Telangana sitting on a bed of diamonds?". Zee News. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 Gupta, Harsh K (2000). Deccan Heritage. Indian National Science Academy and University Press. p. 141. ISBN 9788173712852.
  7. ↑ "Princie Diamond: Rare Indian gem sells for $39m". BBC News. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2016.

Other links

Diamond ranking
History of Kohinoor
The Koh-i-noor Diamond By Iradj Amini
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