Diamonds in India - Part I

Diamonds were found only in India before the discovery of the Brazilian deposits. The mining operations in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh dateback to the sixth century AD. The mines of Vindhya Pradesh now in the state of Madhya Pradesh, were said to have produced diamonds worth ten thousand dollars during the reign of Akbar the great. The kings of Golconda and Vijayanagar leased out the shallow mines in the seventeenth century on a royalty system and on condition that rough stones weighting over 25 carats be surrendered to the kings for their personal adornments. In 1662AD,

Mthold, Andreas Sorcery and Adolph Thomson reported that the king received $120000 from the mine operators and stones larger than 10 carats were given to the king. According to Tavernier, between 1632 and 1662 AD, Ramallakota and Kollur were the mining centers, the latter being the most productive in 1645. The quality of the stones was so good and the size so large that the east India Company even considered sending remittances to England in the form of diamonds. The Golapalli and Malavalli mines were most productive in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but by the nineteenth century production had declined. Though mining operations in Panna in Madhya Pradesh was interrupted for some time, in continues to this day.