gems, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, cameo, intaglio, beads, India, Mesopotamia, trade, agate, quartz, Baba Ghor, Cambay, Ratanpur

According to the legend, Baba Ghor came from Mecca to fight the terrible Rakshisha. After he defeated the demon, he settled in Ratanpur and taught the people how to make agate beads. Legends are not the same as history, of course, but the Baba Ghor legend is a key to the history of one of the world’s most venerable industries. The agate beads of India have been an important commodity in international trade for millennia. For the last 500 years Baba Ghor has been honored as the patron saint of agate beadworking. Ratanpur miners pray to him before descending into their dark shafts, Cambay beadcutters flock to his annual festival and a stone is named for him. Babaghori is the banded agate which is commonly altered to make the ancient favorites, onyx and sardonyx. Given the antiquity of Indian agate beads, the Muslim saint could not have had anything to do with the founding of the industry, as the legend avers. But to fully understand the history of Indian agate beads, we must learn about Baba Ghor. Unfortunately, this is not easy, as there is no biographical data on him. However, by demythologizing his legend we bring the history of the industry into sharper focus.