corundum, Burma.12, gems

A small group of French diplomatic documents preserved in the Correspondance politique Angleterre relating to the ruby mines of Burma during the period of increasing French commercial interest in the kingdom. The correspondence belongs to the broader context of French attempts in the early 1880s to obtain concessions from King Thibaw’s government, including proposals involving the celebrated ruby mines, developments that were watched closely by British officials in India. The documents may therefore be valuable primary evidence for the political and commercial history of the Mogok ruby mines immediately before the British annexation of Upper Burma in 1885. Contemporary evidence independently confirms French negotiations concerning Burmese ruby-mine concessions during this period.