At that time Tavernier wrote in his Six Voy
ages: “The first piece that Akel Khan (Chi-
ef 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 ⅞th of a carat.”

The Great Mogul Diamond’s story begins
around 1650 with its discovery as a rough diamond,
most probably in the Kollur Mine
in the Golconda region of southern India.
Weighing in at a whopping 787 ½ carats,
the diamond’s impressive size
made it a perfect gift of diplomacy
when Emir Jemla, a very wealthy general,
used it in seeking an alliance
between two great families.

Nadir Shah, the Persian ruler returned with the stone
to his home in Isfahan in 1739.
However, Nadir Shah’s ownership proved shorted-lived.
He was assassinated in 1747
and the stone disappeared.
There are many legends regarding its fate.
Some believed it to be the stone
from which the Koh-i-noor was cut,
or perhaps the Darya-ye-noor,
but most popularly it is speculated to be the Orlov Diamond
because its bluish tinge and rose cut
are similar to the Great Mogul Diamond.
A more probable explanation is that
it was stolen and cut into smaller gems to disguise its origin.
No one knows for sure.

This is the kind of story
that would make a great Indiana Jones movie
– solving the mystery of the Great Mogul Diamond.
Its last owner murdered,
the famed gem has not been seen for centuries
and to this day its whereabouts remain unknown.
Still, theories swirl about its fate.
Who stole the gem?
Is it now part of someone’s private collection?
Perhaps it is truly lost,
patiently waiting somewhere on this earth
to be re-discovered.
Or maybe it has gone under the knife,
cut down to disguise its identity.