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The Agra
The story of the Agra Diamond begins in 1526 when Babur the
first Mogul emperor (1483-1530) took possession of Agra
after defeating the Rajah of Gwailor in battle. Babur was
the son of Omar Sheik, King of Ferghana (now Turkestan), his
real name was Zahir al-Din Muhammed, but he was given the
name Babur, meaning 'the tiger.' He was both a brilliant
soldier and scholar, determined to become absolute ruler in
India. After his success on the battlefield, Babur sent his
son and successor, Humayun, to occupy Agra, a feat he duly
accomplished in the process capturing members of the family
of the slain Raja. Their lives were spared. It is said that
as an expression of their gratitude they presented their
captors with jewels and precious stones. Since it is
recorded that Babur wore the Agra Diamond in his turban, the
stone was probably one of those jewels.
It is likely that the Agra
remained in the ownership of following Mogul emperors
because Akbar (1556-1605), the 3rd emperor, was said to have
worn the diamond in his headdress and Aurangzeb (1658-1707)
had the stone safely lodged in his treasury. Later the Agra
may have been among the loot captured by the Persian, Nadir
Shah, when he sacked Delhi in 1739. If that were so, then it
must have been among the jewels recaptured when Nadir Shah
encountered difficulties during the homeward journey because
the diamond returned to India.
The story of how the pink diamond
thought to have been the Agra, left India was sold to Edwin
Streeter, the famous London jeweler and author, by the fifth
Marquess of Donegall in 1896. Lord Donegall stated that in
1857, the year of the Indian Mutiny, while he was serving in
India, the diamond was taken from the ruler of Delhi. At the
time he was secretary, and belonged to the same regiment as
the young officer who had gained possession of the stone.
The officers decided to smuggle
the diamond home to England rather than give it up, and
share the proceeds, but the question arose as to how to get
it there. Nobody seemed to be able to suggest a way that
would prove successful until the evening before the
departure of the regiment. During the course of the dinner
the youngest subaltern suddenly jumped to his feet and said
"I have it. We will conceal the diamond in a horse ball and
make the horse swallow it." The plan met with general
approval. A ball was secured, the inside scooped out, the
diamond inserted and the end stopped up. Finally the animal
was made to swallow it. When the regiment reached the port
of embarkment, the horse was taken ill and had to be shot.
The diamond was then removed from its stomach and taken to
England.
There seems to be no reason to
dispute the truth of these events, what would be the purpose
of creating them? However there is reason to cast doubt upon
the date it is said the events took place. It is known that
by 1844 the Agra was already in the possession of Charles,
Duke of Brunswick, one of the great jewel collectors of the
1800's, the man for whom the Brunswick Blue Diamond is
named. The Duke of Brunswick paid 348,600 French francs
(equal to about £13,670), a high price, for the Agra Diamond
on November 22nd, 1844, to Blogg, a name which appears in
the 1860 catalogue of the Duke's jewel collection. The
person was most definitely George Blogg, a partner in Blogg
& Martin, a well-known firm of diamond merchants in London
at that time. In addition the Duke bought three other
diamonds from Blogg that same day and had previously bought
four more from the same source on November 8th. A note in
the catalogue specifically drew specifically mentioned the
diamond having been taken by Babur in Agra in 1526 and to
its rank as being equal to 14th in importance among the
world's great diamonds...
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World's Famous Diamonds - Agra
