Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Journey of the author to other mines, and concerning the method of searching for diamonds.
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

While the Messers. Fremlin and Francis Breton were Presidents at Surat on behalf of the English Company, a Jew named Edwards Ferdinand, a free merchant, that is to say not subject to any Company, combined with these two gentlemen, a short time after the mine was discovered, to purchase a stone. This stone was clean and of good form, and weighed 42 carats. Edward went to Europe, and Messers. Fremlin and Breton placed the stone in his hands to sell to the best advantage, and render an account to them. On his arrival at Leghorn he showed it to some Jew friends, who offered him 25000 piastres for it. But as he asked 30000 he was unable to let them have it, and took it to Venice to get it cut. It was well cut, without any injury, but upon being put upon the wheel it immediately broke into nine pieces. I myself was on one occasion deceived by one of these stones, which weighed 2 carats; it broke into small pieces on the wheel when it was only half finished.

A continuation of the Author’s Journeys to the Diamond Mines

I now come to the third mine, which is the most ancient of all, and is situated in the Kingdom of Bengal. You may call it by the name Soumelpour, which is a large town near to which the diamonds are found, or rather by the name Koel, which is that of the river in the sand of which they are found. The country through which this river has its course belongs to a Raja who was formerly a tributary of the Great Mogul, but withdrew from his allegiance during the wars between Shahjahan and Jahangir his father. Immediately on his coming to the throne Shahjahan sent to demand tribute and arrears of it from this Raja, and the Raja, as his property was not sufficient to discharge the whole, quitted the country and took refuge with his subjects in the mountains. Upon the news of the Raja’s first refusal, Shahjahan, who did not know that purposed to abscond, but believed that he intended to defend himself, sent an army into his country, where he was persuaded that he would find an abundance of diamonds. It happened otherwise, however, for those who were sent into the country of the Raja found neither diamonds, inhabitants, nor food, as the Raja had ordered all the grain which his subjects could not carry with them to be burnt, and this was so effectually done that the greater portion of Shahjahan’s army perished of famine. The final result of the matter was, that the Raja returned to his country on agreeing to pay a light annual tribute to the Great Mogul.

The following is the route to be followed from Agra to this mine: from Agra to Halabas, 130 coss; Halabas to Banarous, 33 coss; Banarous to Saseron, 4 coss. From Agra to Sasaram you travel eastwards, but between Sasaram and the mine you turn to the south and come first to a large town—21 coss. This town is that of the Raja of whom I have just spoken, to whom the country belongs which is traversed by the river in which the diamonds are found.

After this town the traveler reaches a fortress called Rohtas—4 coss. It is one of the strongest places in Asia, situated upon a mountain having six great bastions and twenty-seven pieces of cannon, with three trenches full of water in which there are good fish. There is but a single path by which to ascend the mountain, where there is a plain of half a league or so in area, on which corn and rice are cultivated. There are more than twenty springs which irrigate the soil, and all about the mountain from the base to the top, there are precipices covered for the most part with jungle. The Rajas ordinarily held this fortress with from 700 to 800 men, but at present it belongs to the Great Mogul, who acquired it by skill of that great Captain Mir Jumla of whom I have so often had occasion to speak. The last Raja left three sons who betrayed each other; the eldest was poisoned, the second attached himself to the court of the Great Mogul, who gave him the command of 4000 horse, and the youngest maintains his position in the country by paying tribute like his father. All the Kings of India, successors of Tamerlane, have besieged this place without being able to take it, and indeed two of these Kings died in the city of Sasaram.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)