The Shah Diamond was found at the

Golconda Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...

mines in what is now

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

, probably in 1450, and it is currently held in the

Diamond Fund The Diamond Fund () is a unique collection of gems, jewelry and natural nuggets, which are stored and exhibited in the Kremlin Armoury in Russia. The Fund was opened in 1967 and its collection dates back to the Russian Crown treasury institute ...

collection of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin ArmouryOfficially called the "Armoury Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armoury Palace", the "Moscow Armoury", the "Armoury Museum", and the "Moscow Armoury Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. () is one of ...

Physical description

The Shah Diamond is not of the

first water In the gemstone trade, first water means "highest quality". The clarity of diamonds is assessed by their translucence; the more like water, the higher the quality. The 1753 edition of '' Chambers's Encyclopaedia'' states "The first water in Dia ...

, since it has a yellowish tinge due to a little

iron oxide An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is rust. Iron ...

at the surface. It is said to have originally weighed 95 carat, and that it lost 9 carats when being cut. Its present weight is 88.7 carats (18 g). It is an elongated

octahedron In geometry, an octahedron (: octahedra or octahedrons) is any polyhedron with eight faces. One special case is the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Many types of i ...

, the eight original faces of which have been replaced by fifteen facets. It is often described as the shape of a coffin. The cut of the diamond is technically called a lasque cut; typical of Indian diamonds. A groove has been cut round the stone to accommodate the thread by which it was formerly worn round the neck. Its most remarkable feature is that on three of its original faces the names of three of the rulers who owned it have been engraved in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, along with the Hijrī year. The names and dates of these three rulers are as follows: *Nizām Shāh: 1000 (1591 CE). *Jahān Shāh: 1051 (1641 CE). *Fath 'Alī Shāh: 1242 (1826 CE). It does not rank as one of the top diamonds of the world in beauty or size, but the inscriptions on it testify to its history and provenance.

History

It was rendered to the Nizām Shāhī court in

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...

. In 1591, Shāh Nizām ordered carving on one of the facets of the diamond: ''"Burhān Nizām Shāh the Second. Year 1000"'' (=1591 CE). That same year,

Akbar the Great Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor exp ...

, the Emperor of Mughal India occupied the

Ahmadnagar Sultanate The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a medieval Marathi Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur, ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty. It was established when Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor o ...

and seized the diamond. A number of years later Akbar's grandson, Shāh Jahān, came to the throne, and commanded that another inscription be carved: ''"Shāh Jahān, The son of Shāh Jehangir . Year 1051"'' (equivalent to 1641 CE). The son of Shah Jahān Aurangzēb hung the diamond above his throne and encircled it with rubies and emeralds. After visiting the court of Aurangzēb, the famous French jeweller Tavernier wrote: "On the side of the throne which is opposite the court there is to be seen a jewel consisting of a diamond of about 80 to 90 carats weight, with rubies and emeralds around it, and when the king is seated he has the jewel in full view." Because of its proximity to the throne, the diamond was also known as the "Throne Diamond". It was transferred to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1715 and kept here until 1738. In 1738, Nāder Shāh attacked India, seized the diamond, and took it back with him to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The diamond stayed in Persia for nearly a century until, in 1826, the third inscription was engraved on the third facet: ''"The ruler of the Qājār Fath 'Alī Shāh Sultān. Year 1242"''. In 1829, the Russian diplomat and writer

Alexandr Griboyedov Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (; 15 January 179511 February 1829) was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedy '' Woe from Wit''. He was Russia's ambassador to Qajar Persia, where he and ...

was murdered in the capital of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. The Russian government demanded severe punishment of those responsible. In fear, the court of Fath 'Alī Shāh sent the Shāh's grandson Khusro Mirzā to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he gave the diamond to the

Russian Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Nicholas I as a present. It was then kept among the Russian Crown Jewels in the Diamond Room at the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

in St. Petersburg, until the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and the overthrow of the

Romanov Dynasty The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Ni ...

on 2 March 1917. The diamond, along with the other treasures, was removed, taken to Moscow and placed in the Kremlin Diamond Fund. It remains there today in the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

, where it is exhibited as one of the seven famous gems.

References

{{Reflist Jewels of the Mughal Empire Iran–Russia relations Diplomatic gifts Golconda diamonds Diamond Fund

Physical description

History

See also

References