The Taj-i-Mah diamond gets it's name from the Persian
Shahs to whose ownership the diamond passes at one stage in it's history
after it's origin and stay in India for a certain period. Taj-i- Mah in the
Persian language means the "Crown of the Moon."
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond is a 115.06-carat, colorless (unknown grade),
Moghul-cut (Indian rose-cut), stone of exceptional clarity (unknown grade),
with dimensions of 32.0 x 24.3 x 14.7 mm.
According to the ancient Indian system, diamonds were
classified into 4 divisions, depending on their quality, which obviously
included color and clarity. The 4 divisions in descending order of quality
were (1) Brahmins (2) Kshatrias (3) Vaisyas (4) Sudras.
The highest quality diamonds were referred to as
Brahmins, the lowest as Sudras, the other two being of intermediate grades.
The classification could be applied either for rough stones or finished
stones. In keeping with this classification the Taj-i-Mah was undoubtedly a
Brahmin.
Early history
The diamond is undoubtedly of Indian origin, as evident
from it's shape, skillfully cut in the form of a rose-cut diamond, the style
almost universally adopted in Hindustan in ancient times. But there were two
possible sources for the origin of the diamond in India.
According to one version the diamond originated in the
diamond mines of Sambalpur, which extends over a fertile plane, 451 feet
above sea-level, between the Mahanadi and the Brahmani rivers, in the east
of the central provinces of India. Most of the diamonds known to ancient
Indians, seem to have originated in these mines. The diamond river,
mentioned by Ptolemy, has been identified as the Mahanadi river, in whose
banks the Sambalpur diamond mines were situated. Large stones are said to
have been discovered in these mines since ancient times, but according to
recorded history the largest diamond weighing 210.6 carats was found
in the island of Hira Khund on the Mahanadi river in 1809. The diamonds of
the Mahanadi were generally of very good quality and ranked among the finest
and purest of Indian stones.
Around this period another exceptional quality "Brahmin"
class diamond weighing 168 carats was also discovered in these mines
and entered the treasury of the Maharani of Sambalpur, Rullum Coher,
Subsequently troops of the adjoining Martha Confederacy of the Holkar or
Scindia dynasties attacked Sambalpur, and robbed the Maharani's gems, and
drove her into exile. Later these stones were deposited in the stronghold of
Asseeghur, which was captured by the British in the year 1819, at the
breaking up of the Maratha Confederacy. The 168-carat rough diamond, from
which the Taj-i-Mah seems to have originated, eventually found it's way to
Persia, but how and when it occurred according to this version is not clear.
According to the second version, the Taj-i-Mah originated
in the Kollur mines on the banks of the Kistna river, east of Golconda. The
discovery of the diamantiferous deposits at Kollur was made about 100 years
before Tavernier's visit to Golconda, probably around 1560 A.D. At the time of
Tavernier's visit in the 17th century, more than 20 mines were being worked, employing over 60,000 people.
The year of discovery of the Taj-i-Mah is not known, but
the diamond eventually found it's way to the court of the Mughal emperors,
before the arrival of Nadir Shah in 1739. There is no evidence to pin-point
exactly the Mughal emperor during whose rule the diamond entered the Mughal
treasury. But the diamond left India, together with a vast quantity of other
treasures looted by Nadir Shah's forces, during the reign of Muhammad
Shah. The value of the loot was estimated to be around 30 to 60
million sterling pounds. After Nadir Shah's assassination in 1747, the
diamond seemed to have been inherited by his grandson and weak successor,
Shah Rukh, together with other famous stones like the Darya-i-Nur and the
Nur-ul-ain. Later after the fall of the Afsharid State based in Khorasan,
Shah Rukh was captured by Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar, who was not satisfied
with the tally of the Afsharid's treasure declared by Shah Rukh . He
subjected Shah Rukh to the most horrifying and painful torture until he
surrendered all the hidden treasures, which included the Darya-i-Nur, the
Nur-ul-Ain and Taj-i- Mah. Shah Rukh died of the wounds inflicted on him
during the torture.
Agha Mohammed Khan Qajar, the founder and first ruler of
the Qajar dynasty of Iran did not live long, after crowning himself as the
Shahanshah (King of Kings) in 1796. The very next year in 1797, he was
assassinated by his own servants, while on an expedition to Georgia, the
second during his rule.
Later history
Agha Mohammed Khan Qajar was succeeded by his nephew,
Fath Ali Shah, who also inherited all the crown jewels. In the early 19th
century when Sir John Malcolm, the British administrator and diplomat
visited Persia, he was granted an audience with the Shahanshah Fath Ali
Shah, and was allowed to inspect the crown regalia. He thus relates the
incident in his "Sketches of Asia," published anonymously in 1827,....."The
King at this visit, appeared in great good humor with the Elchi, and
gratified the latter by showing him his richest jewels, amongst which was
the Darya-i- Nur (Sea of Light), which is deemed one of the purest and most
valuable diamonds in the world. Many of the others are surprisingly
splendid. Sir John Malcolm adds, "the Darya-i Nur weighs 186 carats and is
considered to be the diamond of the finest luster in the world. The "Taj-i-Mah
or "Crown of the Moon" is also a splendid diamond. It weighs 146 carats.
These two are the principal diamonds in a pair of bracelets, valued at
nearly a million sterling. Those in the crown are also extraordinary size
and value."
Doubts have been expressed as to the identity of the two
diamonds in the pair of bracelets mentioned by Sir John Malcolm, the
186-carat pink diamond Darya-i-Nur , and the 146-carat white or
colorless diamond "Taj-i-Mah." It has been suggested that the 186-carat
diamond in one of the bracelets was not the pink diamond "Darya-i-Nur," but
actually the colorless "Koh-i-Nur," which would form a matching pair with
the colorless "Taj-i-Mah." Moreover it had been stated by some
travelers
that the Koh-i-Nur was worn by Fath Ali Shah in one of his arm bands.
This suggestion is purely a conjecture, and does not have
any merits, as it is not supported by the chronology of events during this
period. It is well Known that by the time Fath Ali Shah succeeded to his
uncle, Agha Mohammed Khan Qajar's throne, in 1797, the Koh-i-Nur was already
in Afghanistan with the successors of Durr-i-Durrani (Pearl of the Pearls),
Shah Ahmad Khan Abdali, the king of Afghanistan, who was the former
commander of Nadir Shah's 4,000-man Afghan bodyguard, who died in 1772. The
Koh-i-Nur diamond fell into Khan Abdali's hands in the immediate aftermath
of Nadir Shah's assassination, amidst the confusion caused by the attempts
of his close associates and commanders to lay their hands at least on part
of his enormous treasurers.
In the year 1965, the Iranian Crown Jewels were studied
by a team of experts from the Royal Ontario Museum, who postulated that the
Darya-i-Nur, and the Nur-ul- Ain, both pale pink diamonds originated from
the same pink "Great Table Diamond" of more than 400 carats seen by the
French traveler and jeweler Jean Baptiste Tavernier, while in Golconda in
1642. The 186-carat Darya-i- Nur, is the major portion of the Great Table
Diamond, and the 60-carat Nur-ul-Ain is derived from the lesser portion. The
Darya-i-Nur was mounted by Shah Nasser-ed-Din (1848-96) on an elaborate
frame, surmounted by the Lion and Sun emblem of the Imperial Government of
Iran, and which also included 457 other smaller diamonds and four rubies.
this elaborate mount is preserved in it's original form up to this day. The
Nur-ul-Ain was mounted on a special tiara, designed by Harry Winston
in 1958, for empress Fara Diba on the occasion of her wedding to Shah
Mohammed Riza Phalavi. The Nur-ul-Ain is still preserved in the same setting
in the Iranian Crown Jewels . However the Taj-i-Mah as it is today remains
unmounted. It is the largest unmounted Indian diamond in the collection.
Present owners of the
diamond
The stone is still part of the Iranian Crown Jewels, and
one of the three legendary Indian diamonds in the collection, the other two
being the Darya-i Nur (Sea of Light) and the Nur- ul-Ain (Light of
Eye). The previous weight of the stone was 146 carats, and the stone seems
to have been recut after the early 19th century, when Sir John Malcolm
inspected it at Fath Ali Shah's palace.
Chemistry of colorless
diamonds
The Taj-i-Mah is a colorless diamond of unknown grade.
Absolutely colorless (D-Grade) diamonds are extremely rare and are
considered to be the purest of the pure of all diamonds, without any
impurities, such as Nitrogen or Boron, and perfectly formed crystals
without any plastic deformations. Such diamonds are only about 1-2% of all
naturally occurring diamonds, eg. Cullinan diamond, and the Koh-i-Nur. The
presence of extremely minute detectable quantities of Nitrogen can impart a
yellowish tinge to the diamond, if the nitrogen atoms are scattered singly
or in groups of odd numbers such as 3 atoms. This obviously reduces the
color grading of the diamond and it's value. But, sometimes the yellowish
tinge can be masked by a bluish tinge formed by fluorescence.
