A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar by Robert Sewell (read a book TXT) 📖

As regards the diamond “as large as a hen’s egg,” said to have been found at the sack of Vijayanagar and presented to the Adil Shah (above, p. 208), Couto (Decade VIII. c. xv.) says that it was a jewel which the Raya had affixed to the base of the plume on his horse’s head-dress. Garcia da Orta, who was in India in 1534, says that at Vijayanagar a diamond had been seen as large as a small hen’s egg, and he even declares the weights of three others to have been respectively 120, 148, and 250 MANGELIS, equivalent to 150, 175, and 312 1/2 carats (Tavernier, V. Ball, ii. 433).

Dr. Ball has gone carefully into the question of the diamonds known as “Babar’s,” “the Mogul’s,” “Pitt’s,” “the KOH-I-NUR,” and others, and to his Appendix I. I beg to refer those interested in the subject.

It is clear that this hen’s egg diamond could not be the fame as Sultan Babar’s, because the former was taken at Vijayanagar in A.D. 1565, whereas Sultan Babar’s was received by his son Humayun at Agra in 1526, and could not have been, forty years later, in the possession of the Hindu king of the south.[651]

Dr. Ball has shown that probably the KOH-I-NUR is identical with the “Mogul’s diamond.” Was, then, this “hen’s egg” diamond the same? Probably not. If we had been told that the “hen’s egg,” when found in the sack of Vijayanagar, had been cut, the proof CONTRA would be conclusive, since the KOH-I-NUR was certainly uncut in A.D. 1656 or 1657. But there is no information available on this point.

The “hen’s egg” was apparently taken by the Adil Shah to Bijapur in 1565, and it is not likely to have found its way, still in an uncut state, into the possession of Mir Jumla in 1656.

The KOH-I-NUR was found at Kollur on the river Krishna, probably in A.D. 1656. Mir Jumla farmed the mines at that time, and presented it uncut to the emperor, Shah Jahan. It is said to have weighed 756 English carats (Ball, ii. 444). It was entrusted to a Venetian named Hortensio Borgio, and was so damaged and wasted in his hands that, when seen by Tavernier in Aurangzib’s treasury in 1665, it weighed not more than 268 1/2 English carats. In 1739 Nadir Shah sacked Delhi and carried the stone away with him to Persia, conferring on it its present immortal name the “Mountain of Light.” On his murder in 1747 it passed into the hands of his grandson, Shah Rukh. Four years later Shah Rukh gave it to Ahmad Shah Durani of Kabul, and by him it was bequeathed to his son Taimur. In 1793 it passed by descent to his son Shah Zaman, who was blinded and deposed by his brother Muhammad; but he retained possession of the stone in his prison, and in 1795 it became the property of his brother Sultan Shuja. In 1809, after Shuja became king of Kabul, Elphinstone saw the diamond in his bracelet at Peshawur. In 1812, Shuja, being dethroned by Muhammad, fled to Lahore, where he was detained as a quasi-prisoner by Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Panjab. In 1813 an agreement was arrived at, and Shuja surrendered the diamond to Ranjit Singh. Ranjit often wore the stone, and it was constantly seen by European visitors to Lahore. Dying in 1839, the KOH-I-NUR was placed in the jewel-chamber till the infant Dhulip Singh was acknowledged as Ranjit’s successor. In 1849 it was handed over to Sir John Lawrence on the annexation of the Panjab, and by him was sent to England to Her Majesty the Queen. In 1851 it was exhibited at the first great Exhibition, and in 1852 it was re-cut by an Amsterdam cutter, Voorsanger, in the employ of Messrs. Garrards. The weight is now 106 1/16 carats.

It would be interesting to trace the story of the “hen’s egg” diamond after its acquisition by the Bijapur sultan, Ali Adil.

H. de Montfart, who travelled in India in 1608, saw a very large diamond in the possession of the Mogul emperor Jahangir at Delhi,[652] but this had been pierced. “I have seene one with the great MOGOR as bigge as a Hen’s egge, and of that very forme, which he caused expressly to bee pierced like a pearle to weare it on his arme…. It weighteth 198 Mangelins.”

CHAPTER B

The Wealth of the Dakhan in the Fourteenth Century A.D.

When Malik Kafur, in the year 1310 A.D., during the reign of Ala-ud-Din Khilji of Delhi, carried out his successful raids into the Dakhan and to the Malabar coast, sacking all the Hindu temples, ravaging the territory of Maisur, and despoiling the country, he is said to have returned to Delhi with an amount of treasure that seems almost fabulous. Firishtah writes: “They found in the temples prodigious spoils, such as idols of gold adorned with precious stones, and other rich effects consecrated to Hindu worship;” and Malik presented his sovereign with “312 elephants, 20,000 horses, 96,000 MANS of gold, several boxes of jewels and pearls, and other precious effects.”

When we come to estimate the amount of gold we are met with a difficulty, as there are many varieties of MANS in India, the variation being as much as from 19 lbs. in Travancore to 163 1/4 lbs. in Ahmadnagar. The Madras MAN weighs 25 lbs., the Bombay MAN 28 lbs. Hawkins, writing in 1610, gives 55 lbs. to the MAN,[653] Middleton, in 1611, 33 lbs.[654] Now Firishtah had more to do with Ahmadnagar than any other part of India, and if his estimate was based on the MAN of that tract. Malik Kafur’s 96,000 MANS of gold would have amounted to the enormous sum of 15,672,000 lbs. weight. It is hardly likely that Firishtah would have had in his mind the Travancore MAN. Even if he was thinking of the Madras MAN, which is not likely, his estimate of the weight of the gold carried off amounted to 2,400,000 lbs.

Whether we accept these amounts or not, there can be no manner of doubt that the richness of the temples was very great, and the reason is easy to see. The country had always been subject to Hindu kings, and treasures had year by year accumulated. The Brahmans exacted gifts and payments from the people on all occasions. Kings and chiefs, merchants and landowners, vied with one another in presenting rich offerings to their favourite places of worship; and when it is remembered that this practice had been going on from time immemorial, it need be no matter for wonder that the man who first violently despoiled the sacred buildings departed from the country laden with an almost incredible amount of booty. Colonel Dow, in his translation of the works of Firishtah (i. 307), computes the value of the gold carried off by Malik Kafur at a hundred millions sterling of our money.

CHAPTER C

Portuguese Viceroys and Governors of Goa

(A.D. 1505 TO 1568.)

— 1509

Afonso de Albuquerque (GOVERNOR) 1509

— 1515

Lopo Soares de Albergaria (GOVERNOR) 1515 — 1518 Diogo Lopes de Sequeira (GOVERNOR) 1518

— 1521

Dom Duarte de Menezes (GOVERNOR) 1521

— 1524

Dom Vasco da Gama, Conde de Vidigueria (VICEROY) 1524 Dom Henrique de Menezes (GOVERNOR) 1525

— 1526

Lopo Vaz de Sampaio (GOVERNOR) 1526

— 1529

Nuno da Cunha (GOVERNOR)

1529 — 1538

Dom Garcia de Noronha (VICEROY) 1538

— 1540

Dom Estevao da Gama (GOVERNOR) 1540

— 1542

Martim Affonso de Sousa (GOVERNOR) 1542

— 1545

Dom Joao de Castro (GOVERNOR AND CAPTAIN-IN-CHIEF) 1545 — 1547 ,, ,, (VICEROY) 1547 — 1548 Garcia de Sa (GOVERNOR)

1548 — 1549

Jorge Cabral (GOVERNOR)

1549 — 1550

Dom Affonso de Noronha (VICEROY) 1550

— 1554

Dom Pedro Mascarenhas (VICEROY) 1554

— 1555

Francisco Barreto (GOVERNOR) 1555

— 1558

Dom Constantino de Braganza (VICEROY) 1558 — 1561 Dom Francisco Coutinho, Conde de Redondo (VICEROY) 1561 — 1564 Joao de Medonca (GOVERNOR)

1564

Dom Antonio de Noronha (VICEROY) 1564

— 1568

[The above List is extracted from Mr. Danvers’s work, “The Portuguese in India” (vol. ii. p. 487). The author continues the List to the present day.]

NOTES

[1] — Translation of the “Chronica dos reis de Bisnaga”, written by Domingos Paes and Fernao Nunes about 1520 and 1535, respectively, with historical introduction. Includes bibliographical references.

[2] — The letters from China were copied by a different hand.

[3] — Barros was apparently never himself in India, but held an official position in the India Office in Lisbon. His work was completed in four Decadas. Couto repeats the fourth DECADA of Barros, and continues the history in eight more DECADAS. The first three DECADAS of Barros were published in A.D. 1552, 1553, and 1563, bringing the history down to 1527, under the title of DOS FEITOS QUE OS PORTUGUESES FIZERAM NO DESCUBRIMENTO E CONQUISTA DOS MARES E TERRAS DO ORIENTE. His fourth DECADA, published by Couto, dealt with the period A.D. 1527 to 1539, and contained an account of the events that occurred during the governorships of Lopo Vaz de Sampaio and Nuno da Cunha. Couto’s own eight DECADAS covered the subsequent period down to 1600. The combined work is generally called the DA ASIA. Couto completed his publication in 1614. The fourth DECADA was published in 1602, the fifth in 1612, the sixth in 1614, the seventh in 1616, the year of his death. Couto spent almost all his life in India, for which country he embarked in 1556.

[4] — CHRONICA DOS REIS DE BISNAGA, by David Lopes, S.S.G.L. Lisbon, 1897: at the National Press. The extract given is taken from his Introduction, p. lxxxvi.

[5] — Firishtah was a Persian of good family, and was born about 1570 A.D. Early in his life he was taken by his father to India, and resided all his life at the Court of the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar, rejoicing in royal patronage. He appears to have begun to compile his historical works at an early age, since his account of the Bijapur kings was finished in 1596. He appears to have died not long after the year 1611, which is the latest date referred to in any of his writings.

[6] — According to tradition the wealth carried off was something fabulous. See Appendix B.

[7] — It is highly probable that amongst the hills and crags about the upper fortress of Anegundi there may be found remains of a date long prior to the fourteenth century; and it is much to be regretted that up to now no scientific examination of that tract, which lies in the present territories of Haidarabad, has been carried out. Want of leisure always prevented my undertaking any exploration north of the river; but from the heights of Vijayanagar on the south side I often looked wistfully at the long lines of fortification visible on the hills opposite. It is to be hoped that ere long the Government of Madras may place us in possession of a complete map of Vijayanagar and its environs, showing the whole area enclosed by the outermost line of fortifications, and including the outworks and suburbs. Hospett and Anegundi were both part of the great city in its palmy days, and Kampli appears to have been a sort of outpost.

[8] — Nuniz erroneously gives the date as 1230. The error will be commented on hereafter.

[9] — Scott, i. 45, 46.

[10] — Delhi.

[11] — The Portuguese historians often mistook “Cambay” for the name of the country, and “Gujarat” for one of its dependencies.

[12] — SIC. The meaning is doubtful.

[13] — There is evidently a confusion here between tales of the doings of Muhammad Taghlaq and much older legends of Rama’s Bridge and his army of monkeys.

[14] — Mallik Naib. (See the chronicle below, pp. 296, 297.)

[15] — “Your honour” was probably the historian Barros (see preface).

[16] —