Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1885 — GEMS OF THE ORIENT. [ARTICLE]

GEMS OF THE ORIENT.

,«\ 1 1 ' Three Bethels of Diamonds Found Inside an Idol. The history of the gems in the East is the.history of the governing Prinoes, i for so often has the course of history in the Orient been affected by intrigues about preoions stones that they assume a state important. The traditional diamond in the East is the Great Mogul. The original weight of this stone was 787 carats, but by cutting it was reduced to 297 carats. The stone disappeared at the last Tartar invasion, whenfltreasnres to the value of $350,000,000 were captured by the Nadir Shah. It is believed to be at present hidden away in some obsenre fortress in Asia Minor, and it may be recovered at some fntnre time. Some idea of the abundance of precious stones in the East may be gained from the faot that when Mahmoud, in the eleventh centnry, captured Sumnat, an idol statue was broken open and found to contain three bushels of diamonds, rabies, and emeralds. Ala-ud-deen obtained from the Bajah of Mahrattas fifty ponnds of diamonds and rubies, and 175 pounds of pearls. Shah Jehan, the greatest of the Mogul sovereigns, left a treasure of incalculable value at his death, a throne valued at $30,000,000, and a crown worth $12,000,000. The throne was the celebrated peacock throne, so called from the images of two peacocks which stood before it s each made of precious stones so matched in color and in position as to resemble tho natural colors of the bird. The throne was six feet long and four feet wide, of solid gold and ernsted with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Steps of silver led up to it, While a canopy of gold fringed with pearls, supported by twelve pillars emblazoned with gems, surmounted the whole. On each side was a saored umbrella made of velvet, embroidered with pearls, the handle being of solid gold inlaid with diamonds. It was the most costly Work of art ever made. Its only rival was the cerulean throne of the house of Bahmeuee in the Nisam. This was built in the* 1 seventeenth century, was nine feet long by three feet wide, was made of ebony covered with plates of gold crusted with gems, and was valued at $20,000,000. A late traveler in the East, Mr. Eastwick, has recently given a graphic account of the magnificence of the Persian Crown jewels. In the jewel room he found treasures valued at $35,000,000, among them the crown, a mass of diamonds surmounted by a ruby as big as a hen’s egg. The King’s belt is a wonder of barbaric magnificence, weighing about twenty pounds, and composed of a solid mass of diamonds, rabies, and emeralds. As Persia is the native land of the turqnois, it is but natural that the finest stones of this description is to be found in its collection. This royal specimen is fonr inches long, perfect in color, and without a flaw. When the Shah was in Europe, some years ago, he wore a variety of diamonds and other precious stones that kept the detectives in a constant fever of fear lest he should be robbed of some of them, for one, even of the smallest, would have been a fortune for a half dozen thieves. The buttons of his coat were five in number, and each button was a diamond larger than the Kohinoor, while every part of his clothing seemed to be useful, not as a covering for his body, but as places to hang diamonds on. —Auqastus Hamiin, in “Leisure Hours Among the Gems."