The name of this diamond is Imperial Diamond, it is now with the Reserve Bank in MumbaiDue to this the Nizam had to go to court and a long case went onThe merchant who sold this diamond was a famous person during the British Raj, who got ruined
We have all heard about the famous Kohinoor diamond, which is currently kept in the Tower of London. Did you know that another diamond twice the size of Kohinoor still exists in India?
This diamond belonged to the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was once the richest man in the world. But what makes this diamond interesting is that the Nizam used to run away from this diamond so much that he hid it in one of his old shoes so that it would not be noticed. This diamond became more popular by the name of Jacob Diamond. There is a story behind this too. He got this diamond from a mysterious merchant whose name was Mr. Jacob.
Mr. Jacob himself was very mysterious. He called himself a jeweler, astrologer, magician, scholar, writer and businessman. Let us know his whole story.
Three characters from the story of Jacob Diamond
The story of the Jacob Diamond is the tale of three very interesting characters, Mahbub Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, his chief Armenian servant Albert Abid, and a mysterious jeweler named Alexander Malcolm Jacob. The diamond stirred up a lot of controversy in the 1890s.
Then there was a mysterious valley of diamonds in Andhra Pradesh
It is said that once upon a time India was called the diamond capital of the world. However, this is a very old story. Diamonds in the country are mentioned in the book Arthashastra written by Chanakya or Kautilya from the 4th century BC. It is said that there was a hidden valley near the Krishna river around Hyderabad in India, which was called the Valley of Diamonds. It seems that most of the diamonds were found in the Krishna-Godavari delta, which is in present-day Andhra Pradesh.
The Amazing Story of Jacob Diamond.
This valley of diamonds was also mentioned in the best seller book The Adventures of Sindbad. Poisonous cobras lived in it. There are stories of how clever traders used to drop large pieces of meat in the valley so that the diamonds would stick to the meat. They used to send eagles after them. These trained eagles used to pick up the pieces of meat and bring them back to the traders. To which the diamonds were stuck.
Golconda diamonds used to be famous
Marco Polo, a Venetian traveller who visited India, visited the Andhra region in 1293 AD. He also mentioned the diamonds here. By the 16th century, Indian diamonds were popularly known as ‘Golconda diamonds’ after the Qutub Shahi kingdom of Golconda. Many people found diamonds in the rich alluvial soil along the Krishna river. However, the king had made a law that any diamond that was larger than a certain size had to be deposited in the treasury.
And Nizam became the richest person in the world
By the 18th century, the Krishna Valley delta had run out of diamonds. This was the time when Mir Qamaruddin Khan, the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan, established his own semi-independent kingdom. In 1724, he declared himself the first Nizam of Hyderabad. The immense wealth of the Deccan made his descendants, the Nizams, the richest men in the world.
![](https://images.AnyTV.com/ibnkhabar/uploads/2024/06/Nizam_Mahboob_Ali_Khan-2024-06-33a9a47cca10ea16bf40484e239c2cdb.jpg)
Mahbub Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad (WikiCommons)
The sixth Nizam was fond of collecting diamonds
Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad ascended the throne of the richest and most powerful state of Hyderabad in 1869. Many stories are told about him. Nizam Mahbub Ali loved the good things in life and was particularly fond of collecting diamonds.
The servant earned so much that he opened a big departmental store
Mehboob Ali Khan’s right hand man was his servant, an Armenian named Albert Abid. Famous Hyderabadi historian DF Karaka has written, ‘Every time Mehboob Ali Pasha unbuttoned or changed clothes, Abid was present there. He had to help the Nizam. He would then handle and look after the Nizam’s clothes, shoes, watches, jewellery and other belongings.
Since the Nizam never wore the same suit twice, Abid took full advantage of this. He would either buy it himself or sell it to the Nizam after a few days. Abid earned so much money by cheating the Nizam that he opened a big departmental store in Hyderabad, which was known as Abid. Now this store is no more but the name of this place in Hyderabad is definitely Abid Square.
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Nizam’s servant Abid fooled him and made a lot of money and opened a big departmental store “Abid’s” in Hyderabad in the second decade of the 20th century. (WikiCommons)
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Abid also charged a hefty commission to any merchant who gave him access to the Nizam. The protocol was that the Nizam would utter only one word when the items were presented to him – either ‘ Pasand ‘ (accepted) or ‘ Naapd ‘ (rejected). The former would be purchased regardless of the price, while the latter would be taken for nothing.
And that mysterious gem merchant of Shimla
While all this was going on in Hyderabad, in Shimla to the north there was a famous gem and antique dealer named Alexander Malcolm Jacob. He was famous throughout British India as an eccentric man who had deep secrets. No one knew where he came from or what he did. Some people called him a Russian spy. In the eyes of some he was a magician who knew secret arts. He also built his famous house in Shimla. He used to sell jewels and antiques to high ranking British officers and kings.
![](https://images.AnyTV.com/ibnkhabar/uploads/2024/06/mr-jacob-2024-06-94dc483397f11e1c8b7c2a6328538fae.jpg)
In a book written on the mysterious businessman Jacob, he was pictured like this.
Jacob plans to sell the big diamond to the Nizam
Nizam was also among Jacob’s buyers. In 1891, Jacob was preparing to make the biggest deal of his life. He planned to buy the 184.75 carat ‘Imperial’ diamond mined in South Africa for Rs 21 lakh and sell it to Nizam for Rs 50 lakh. He promised to give Abid a commission of Rs 5 lakh if the deal was finalized.
Nizam gave an advance of Rs 23 lakh for the diamond
The Nizam told Jacob that he would buy the diamond if he liked it but with the condition that the Nizam would be free to decide whether he liked it or not. The Nizam transferred Rs 23 lakh to Jacob’s bank account as an advance so that the diamond could be brought to India. When Jacob brought the diamond to Hyderabad, the Nizam took one look at it and said only one word – ‘dislike’.
Then a long and famous case was filed on this
After this, a big controversy arose. The Nizam demanded his advance money back. A case was filed. This case was long and expensive. It created a sensation in the international media. This diamond remained with the Nizam in case he could not return the advance money. But it was considered ‘unlucky’ or ‘unlucky’ in Hyderabad. Jacob was acquitted in the case but he neither got the remaining amount nor the diamond. The court considered the Nizam’s ownership over it.
Nizam considered this diamond to be inauspicious and unlucky
The Nizam was so unhappy with this diamond and considered it unlucky that he wrapped it in a dirty cloth and kept it in an old shoe and pushed it behind the drawer so that it would not even have to be seen. Later, the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan used this diamond as a paperweight. In fact, the sixth Nizam felt so bad that he had to go to court because of it.
Now it is with the Reserve Bank in Mumbai
Decades later, the Jacob Diamond was transferred to a trust. In 1995, the Government of India acquired it. It is now kept safe in the vaults of the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai.
Alexander Jacob not only lost money but also his reputation in the Jacob Diamond case. Most of his customers left him. He sold his shop. He spent the rest of his life as a nomad.
Tags: Andhra Pradesh, Diamond mining, Hyderabad, Telangana
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 26, 2024, 18:10 IST