Glorious Indian Diamonds

About the Book

India, for many millennia, was the diamond capital of the world and controlled the global diamond business. Indians were the first to discover, mine, curate and market diamonds in the world, and were the first to discover that diamond can be cut only by diamond, and can be polished with its own powder. Vedas, Upanishads and epics stand testimony to it. Diamonds were the quintessential luxury of the Indian royalty. Kohinoor, (Mountain of Light), Hope, Great Moghul, Orloff, Sansi, Hastings, Pigott and Akbar Shah-Jahangir Shah had unparalleled place in the annals of Indian and world history.

Till the seventeenth century, the Golconda Fort City in south India was the World Trade Centre of diamonds and was a dream destination for "who is who" in the diamond business. Though at present, diamond business is about $ 72 billion plus worldwide, India has very little to offer to this market size. New nations/countries are on the block and India has become a trivial entity in diamond production from the colonial period due to the monopolistic policy pursued by the British in favour of the new discoveries made in South Africa, and the socialistic policies of Independent India. Even the environmental concerns stood as stumbling blocks against the growth of Indian diamond mining industry.

The present study explores exhaustive data, based on a decade-long serious research, targeting common man. It brilliantly attempts to make one aware about the birth, history, glory, places of concentration, applications of diamond and about the present Indian diamond cutting and polishing industry. The book also introduces the readers into the reality of imitations, artificial diamonds, and discusses such products in detail. It delves deep into the identification and valuation techniques of diamond, and the tools used for the same. Efforts are also made to present many a superstition associated with diamonds, and to brief those diamonds that have some bearing on history.

After decades of Independence, India has failed to regain its lost splendour and leadership position. There is a need to bring changes in its approach to this industry to put it back on track and compete with the present world leaders. The author has given special attention to analyse the present diamond scenario in India and suggests remedies.

About the Author

Dr T.M. Babu is an exploration geologist with about 40 years of world-wide experience investigating diamonds, gold, tin, platinum, copper, and other rare metals in India, Russia, China, Japan, Indonesia, United Kingdom, DR Congo, Sudan and many African countries. He was associated with Government of India in Geological Survey of India and Planning Commission, United Nations Development Projects (USA), BRGM (France), WARDROP (Canada), Kyrgyzstan (Russia), Coronation International (UK), and several international and multinational organizations. He is known as - "tin babu" - for his vast research work, doctorate degree and discovery of tin deposit in Bastar, Central India. He wrote books on tin, diamonds, platinum and co-authored Mining and Metal Production Through Ages, published by British Museum, London. He is a recipient of National Mineral Award of Government of India and Narayanaswamy Award of Geological Society of India. Now he is working as Vice-President of African Resources Group, in Africa.

Foreword

There are several reports on diamonds in Indian history that date back more than 3,000 years. In 327 BCE Alexander from Greece came to India and his convoy took some diamonds back to Europe. At that time India was very active in diamond trade, exporting to Babylon, Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Arabian countries. The book Arthashastra written around 321 BCE by Chanakya mentions trading of diamonds in India and of producing revenue through customs duties and taxes. The sixth century CE Brihatsamhita touches on grading of diamonds, and scientists observe that the distinctive classification of colour and clarity was remarkably similar to those used in the current market. These examples should certainly make the reader more interested to know about the glory of Indian diamonds!

Many big stones were discovered from alluvial deposits in India including the Kohinoor, the Hope, the Akbar Shah, the Darya-e-Noor, the Orloff and the Regent. Their journey through time full of intrigue, high adventure and folklore is as interesting as if reading a Harry Potter story book.

After a long period of dominance new discoveries of primary diamond deposits in the rest of the world (South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Russia and Canada) pushed India into the background and currently India has only one single diamond mine with a small production facility.

Today, India is home to the world's leading diamond cutting and polishing centre providing eleven out of every twelve processed diamonds found in the jewellery around the world. The Indian diamond-processing sector employs around 1.3 million people.

This Coffee Table book aims to provide comprehensive information to the reader about the glorious past and the history of diamonds in India besides updating on the current status. The book touches on the diamond potential of India, the current exploration scenario and mining regulations. While India's diamond exploration and mining industry faces challenges, the author hopes the situation will improve allowing more of sustainable investment in the sector thereby paving the way for economic development of the country.

The book with its glossy paper and numerous illustrations surely would be a prized possession of readers. This publication has been very well accomplished thanks to the tireless efforts of the author based on his decade-long research. Dr T.M. Babu the author of this book, brought out an earlier publication titled Diamonds in India through the Geological Society of India that was well received by the academic community. Dr Babu is a distinguished geologist with several publications to his credit.

Rio Tinto is proud to be associated with the partial sponsoring of this book and we believe that the Indian diamonds and its glorious past will be rediscovered in the coming days!

Preface

DIAMOND, one of the most sought-after luxury products in the world, invoked keen interest throughout the history of mankind. Rulers decreed that diamonds were their sole property, denying ownership/possession to those who discovered or mined them. Countries were invaded, wars were fought, kings and emperors were tortured, disfigured and murdered for the possession of these priceless gems across continents. Mighty rulers were fallen for their eye-pleasing, heart- warming and mind-boggling beauty. They decorated their thrones, crowns, necklaces and rings with these envying gems as a symbol of might, prosperity and wealth, be it in Afghanistan, Great Britain, France, India, Iran, Iraq and Russia or in USA. They were (are) status symbols par excellence.

Diamonds made an estimated retail business of US $ 72 billion now. India for, many millennia, was the diamond capital of the world and controlled the global diamond business. Indians were the first to discover, mine, curate and market diamonds in the world. Also, Indians were the first to discover that diamond can be cut only by diamond and can be polished with its own powder. There are numerous mentions of diamonds in Indian Vedas, Upanishads and in the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. In Ramayana, Hanuman visits Sita, in captivity in Lanka, and shows to her a ring, studded with a diamond called Chudamani belonging to Rama, her husband, as an identity proof that he has come on the advice of her husband. In Mahabharata we see Lord Krishna engages in a battle for a diamond named Syamantak mani. When devas and asuras churned the ocean, there came up a beautiful diamond Kausthubam, symbolizing the tedious task for producing the gem stones. There are mentions in the Bible (e.g. Exodus 39:11) too. Romans in the early centuries of the first millennium CE wore diamond- studded gold rings to ward off evil spirits. Exchange of diamond-studded rings has now become an inevitable formality at the time of engagement and marriage across the globe. It is a lucrative and throbbing business.

An estimated 300 million women in the world spend $ 40 billion a year on diamonds. Apart from their jewel value, diamonds find industrial and medical applications as well.

Going back to the history, diamonds were the quintessential luxury of the Indian royalty. Kohinoor (the Mountain of Light) Hope, Great Moghul, Orloff (Kohitur or Mt. Sinai), Sansi, Hastings, Pigott and Akbar Shah-Jahangir Shah are some of the diamonds that had unparalleled positions - in terms of size and quality - in the annals of Indian and world history. Kohinoor, picked up from the Krishna River bank near a remote village Kollur, changed hands from common men to kings, queens and emperors, changed shapes, look, caused wars and travelled across continents to settle finally as a museum show piece in a glasscase in the Tower of London. Since the death of Emperor Aurangzeb, there were a number of attacks from foreign invaders like Nadir Shah who took away all these precious stones, and are now under the custody of many foreign governments. India's efforts to reclaim them could not make much breakthrough. Few of them were cut many a time and lost its look and original size. The whereabouts of some of them are unknown to the modern world.

Till the seventeenth century, the Golconda Fort City, in south India ruled the roost as the World Trade Centre of diamonds and was a dream destination for diamond merchants in the world. During 1364-1512, the city was at the peak of its glory and attracted foreign travellers, traders, historians, geologists and gemmologists. Maco Polo, Jean Baptise Tavernier, Henry Howard, Streynsham Master, Benjamin Heyne, Henry Wesley Voysey, Carl Ritter, William King, Valentine Ball, Thomas John Newbold, Alexander Walker, Sir Richard Francis Burton, M. Chaper and Robert Bruce Foote have visited the diamond mines, fort city and have left a wide account of Golconda diamonds. Indian gemmologist Pingali Venkayya and Nobel Laurate Dr CV Raman have detailed a lot about diamonds.

Golconda was so popular that many countries in the world like Brazil named their mines as Golconda. A county in Illinois, USA, was named after Golconda. Many companies in England were named after Golconda. There are roads named after Golconda in a few countries. As stated earlier, Golconda shot to fame as the diamond capital of the world due to its proximity to the diamond mines in the Krishna, Penner river basins, and other mines in south India. There were twenty-three major diamond mines around Golconda. Many historical diamonds like Kohinoor, Darya-e Nur, Hope, Nur-ul-Ain and Regent Wittelbach were believed to have excavated from the mines around Golconda. Panna in Madhya Pradesh, covering about 2,000 sq. km in area, was another diamond mining spot.

However, for the last four centuries India has witnessed a deep decline in its diamond mining industry. New leaders have arrived on the block and India has become a trivial entity in diamond production. The monopolistic policy pursued by the British in favour of the new discoveries made in South Africa, another British colony, and the socialistic policies of the Independent India were the major reasons for this downfall. Even environmental concerns stood as stumbling blocks against the growth of Indian diamond industry.

My first book Diamonds in India was published in 1998 keeping geologists as the target audience, and was technical in style and substance. The present volume focuses on general public, sans technology, and is presented with exhaustive data, based on a decade-long serious research. Attempts have been made to make one aware about the birth, history, glory and places of concentration of diamonds in India. There is a detailed account of the diamond cutting and polishing industry. Though the mining has taken a back seat, the polishing industry is very active in Gujarat and employs thousands of people, having imported raw diamonds as inputs. The different stages in the lapidary industry such as designing, cleaving, sawing, bruting, brinding and polishing are detailed. The book also introduces the readers into the reality of imitations, artificial diamonds and discusses such products in detail. Another topic - identification and valuation techniques, and the tools used for the same - is vividly explained. Efforts are also made to present many a superstition associated with diamonds. In the end, I have tried to brief those diamonds that have some bearing on history.

In the concluding chapter, special attention is given to analyse the present diamond scenario in India and to suggest remedies. There is a need for change in approach to this industry which employs around 100,000 people and also to put it back on track, thereby leaping forward to compete with the present world leaders. After decades of Independence, India has failed to regain its lost splendour and leadership position. Lack of dedicated research and a few environmental concerns have played the spoilsport. We have to find ways to overcome all these concerns with well-thought out plans and policies. I firmly believe that, as a nation, India can still rev up diamond production and regain the lost grandeur.

I am indebted to many who have extended help and support to me in different ways and means in bringing this volume out. The list is long and endless. It will be a gross violation of justice if I do not acknowledge them. My foremost thanks are due to Rio-Tinto India, the firm that generously extended financial support in publishing this book. I am equally grateful to Mr. Tony Harding, Exploration Head for the Foreword and to my friend Mr Venkat of Rio-Tinto, a geologist, who played a pivotal role in making this financial help possible. Mr Rajeev Wadhwa and the officials of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), who permitted me to take the photos of Panna diamond mines, are acknowledged. Ms Morgan Lowe Barret and the editorial team of the publishers have edited and gave many suggestions to improve the content quality. All their efforts are well appreciated.

Thanks are also due to all copyright holders who have given me permission to use copyrighted information from internet websites wikipedia, Google, Bing and other sources. Unfortunately, in spite of my best efforts, I couldn't reach out to some copyright holders due to paucity of time. I owe apology to them for this failure, and thank them through this page. With great regards, let me acknowledge Mr Susheel K. Mittal, Rajendra Agarwal and Ms. Shailee Mittal of D.K. Printworld, New Delhi for their untiring encouragement and support in bringing out this volume beautifully designed and printed.

I am indebted to my family members - Uma, Praveen, Rahul, Sutapa and Indu - for their constant encouragement tolerating my idiosyncrasies.

I have made sincere efforts to sieve out errors from this volume by checking and rechecking. However, I do not claim that it is flawless. It is my pleasure to request and welcome readers to pinpoint errors, if any, and give suggestions for further improvement. This book, though not intended as an encyclopaedia of diamonds in India, is expected to be useful to those involved in diamonds business from grass-root explorers, students, historians, traders, market leaders and policy makers to understand and appreciate the past glory of diamonds of India and to put in concrete efforts to regain the same in the immediate future.

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