corundum, ruby, sapphire, India.12, quality.10, crown jewels, gems, Indian lapidary

N. Viswanath surveys the reputed wealth of India’s Mughal emperors, concentrating on the treasures associated with Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. The article combines reported inventories, valuations and court anecdotes to illustrate the accumulation, display, administration and dispersal of imperial riches, while acknowledging that subsequent plundering prevents a reliable assessment of their total value. An inventory attributed to Jahangir records large holdings of gold and silver bullion, uncut diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, together with jewelled weapons, precious-metal furniture and elaborate thrones. Shah Jahan is portrayed as an accomplished judge of gemstones who enjoyed first choice of diamonds from the Golconda fields, with only rejected stones entering the market. The author links imperial collections both to access to mineral production and to tribute and military conquest, recounting offerings of jewels, richly equipped animals and other valuables from subordinate rulers. Accounts of royal generosity and discernment include the presentation of a diamond-set gold candelabrum as a religious gift and the rejection of an overpriced object represented as a unicorn’s horn with protective properties. The Peacock Throne is described as a means of converting an overflowing treasury into a magnificent work of craftsmanship, completed after seven years of labour. Further examples of court expenditure include gold and silver tableware, costly textiles and specially imported Chinese porcelain. The administration of the collections included the division of diamonds into twelve categories and pearls into sixteen grades. A lengthy anecdote concerning Aurangzeb’s response to the accidental breakage of a porcelain dish illustrates the exceptional importance attached to complete sets of luxury objects and the severe consequences attributed to failures within the imperial household. Treasure was also distributed among fortified repositories throughout the empire rather than concentrated solely at Delhi; Lahore is identified as the principal store of bullion and Agra as the favoured repository for jewels. The concluding comparison extends to the Nizam of Hyderabad, whose reputed possessions included pearl textiles, diamond-studded garments and the Jacob diamond, used as a paperweight. Throughout, the article emphasizes the extraordinary scale of royal consumption and the difficulty of translating unique treasures into realizable monetary wealth.