2600:1700:3800:3020:DFC:3C80:D69D:CF44 at 23:38, 16 June 2021

2021-06-16T23:38:26Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox diamond
| image = Great Mogul Diamond copy.jpg
| caption = A replica of the ''Great Moghul Diamond''
| name = Great Mogul
| carats = 280
| grams = 56.0
| color =
| cut =
| mine = [[Kollur Mine]]
| country = [[India]] {{flagicon|India}}
| cutter =
| found =
| original_owner =
| owner =
| value =
}}
[[File:Grand Mogol d'apres Tavernier.gif|thumb|Drawing of the Great Moghul diamond, by Tavernier in 1676]]
[[File:Croquis du diamant d'Orloff.png|thumb|130px|Sketch of the Orlov diamond from the book ''Precious Stones'' by Max Bauer, 1904]]

'''Great Mogul''' is believed to have been discovered around 1650 most probably around [[Kollur Mine]] in the Golconda region of southern India. [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier|Tavernier]] described the diamond as "The stone is of the same form as if one cut an egg through the middle".<ref name=shipley>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100527220823/http://www.gia.edu/research-resources/gems-gemology/back-issue-archive/spring-1941.pdf Spring 1941, Important Diamonds of the World - The Great Mogul; Star of South Africa (or Dudley), Robert M Shipley, p. 143, 2pp.]</ref>

==History==

The {{Convert|787|carat}}<ref name=shipley/> rough diamond was gifted by Emir Jemla to [[Shah Jahan]], the 5th [[Mughal emperor]], as part of diplomacy between the two families.<ref>[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/g-j-george-john-younghusband/the-jewel-house--an-account-of-the-many-romances-connected-with-the-royal-regal-ala/page-9-the-jewel-house--an-account-of-the-many-romances-connected-with-the-royal-regal-ala.shtml George John Younghusband - The jewel house : an account of the many romances connected with the royal regalia, Page 9]</ref><ref>http://www.langantiques.com/university/index.php/Great_Mogul_Diamond</ref>

Jemla described it as "that celebrated diamond which has been generally deemed unparalleled in size and beauty."<ref>Orpen, Mrs. Goddard. Stories about Famous Precious Stones Boston: D. Lothrop Company, 1890. pp. 204</ref>

A Venetian [[lapidary]] named Ortensio Borgio was assigned to cut the stone. It is believed that the Great Mogul Diamond exhibited several [[Inclusion (mineral)#Gemology|inclusions]]. Rejecting the idea of cutting the diamond into several fine stones, Borgio decided to address the inclusion problem by grinding away at it until the unwanted flaws were gone. Much to the horror of the Emperor, Borgio’s work yielded very poor results, including a great loss of weight. Shah Jehan spared Borgio’s head, instead fining him 10,000 rupees (all the money he had) for his ineptitude. Originally this story was believed to refer to the [[Koh-i-Noor|Koh-i-Noor Diamond]]; recent research appears to indicate that it instead refers to this stone.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38218308|title=Koh-i-Noor: Six myths about a priceless diamond|date=9 December 2016|work=BBC News.|access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref>

Around 1665 the Shah’s son, [[Aurangzeb]], showed the stone to the famous jeweler and world traveler [[Jean Baptiste Tavernier]]. At that time Tavernier wrote in his Six Voyages: "The first piece that Akel Khan (Chief Keeper of the King's jewels) placed in my hands was the great diamond, which is [[rose cut]], round and very high on one side. On the lower edge there is a slight crack, and a little flaw in it. Its water is fine, and weighs 319-1/2 ratis, which makes 280 of our carats, the rati being ⅞<sup>th</sup> of a carat."<ref>Streeter, Edwin W. The Great Diamonds of the World: Their History and Romance London: George Bell and Sons, 1882. pp. 69-72</ref>

Later, the Great Mogul Diamond was transferred to [[Lahore Subah]] and became part of the spoils of war when [[Mughal India]] was invaded and [[Lahore]] and then [[Delhi]] sacked by the Persian ruler [[Nadir Shah]]. Nadir Shah returned with the stone to his home in [[Isfahan]] in 1739 from the Nawabs of Punjab. However, Nadir Shah’s ownership proved short-lived. He was assassinated in 1747 and the stone disappeared. {{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Most modern scholars are now convinced that the Great Mogul is actually the [[Orlov (diamond)|Orlov Diamond]], today part of Catherine the Great's imperial Russian sceptre in the [[Kremlin_Armoury|Kremlin]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38218308|title=Koh-i-Noor: Six myths about a priceless diamond|date=9 December 2016|work=BBC News.|access-date=16 November 2020}}</ref>

==The Great Mogul in fiction==
*Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel ''[[The Sign of the Four]]'' has the ex-convict Jonathan Small stealing the Great Mogul twice—once in 1857, and finding and stealing it again in 1888—only to throw it into the River Thames before being captured by Sherlock Holmes and the police.

==See also==
*[[Orlov (diamond)|Orlov Diamond]]
*[[Koh-i-Noor]]
*[[Darya-ye Noor]]
*[[List of famous diamonds]]

Anna Malecka, The Great Mughal and the Orlov: One and the Same Diamond? The Journal of Gemmology, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 56–63 ;

https://search.proquest.com/openview/9d9af4a10dc0f510b7c28430d78baa37/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2041200

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.langantiques.com/university/index.php/Great_Mogul_Diamond The Great Mogul Diamond]
*[http://www.gia.edu/research-resources/gems-gemology/back-issue-archive/spring-1941.pdf Spring 1941, The Great Mogul; Star of South Africa (or Dudley), p. 143, 2pp.]

[[Category:Jewels of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Hyderabad State]]
[[Category:Golconda diamonds]]

Great Mogul Diamond - Revision history

2600:1700:3800:3020:DFC:3C80:D69D:CF44 at 23:38, 16 June 2021