About the Ahmedabad Diamond and Its Short History

THE AHMEDABAD.

A Name that excites Unpleasant Reflections--Incidents of British Warfare in India--The Assault and Capture of Ahmedabad--The Opportunities of Collectors.

AHMEDABAD is not a pleasant name to British ears. A French officer, the Chevalier St. Lubin, acting secretly with some Mahratta chief, following up in the Ghauts the schemes he had only two successfully adopted in Mysore, produced the disasters attending the war of Hyder Ali with the Madras Government. Governor-General Warren Hastings directed that a force should be sent to assist the Government of Bombay. The Peishwa of Poonah was an infant, and the chief authority was thrown into the hands of Rugonath Raw.

Without waiting for the support of the troops from Bengal, the Government of Bombay commenced hostilities. The troops of the former Presidency moved slowly, harrassed by the Mahrattas, and before a general action was attempted Colonel Kay and Captain Stewart fell in a skirmish.

Colonel Egerton was compelled to relinguish the command, and the British troops commenced an illconsidered retreat. On the 11th January, 1779, this retreat degenerated into a rout. So little power had the British in Bombay reserved to themselves, that when their ally Rugonath Raw was demanded to be surrendered by the Poona minister, the panic-stricken Government of Bombay would have given him up, had he not made his escape to Scindia. The British, by the help of Scindia, made a convention with the Mahratta Government of Poona, by which the Island of Salsette was to be ceded, and the fort and government of Baroach were to be added to Scindia's kingdom, two hostages being left to secure the performance of that engagement from the British. This arrangement cost England 41,000 rupees as presents for the good offices of some powerful Hindoos.

The Bengal contingent was intercepted by native chiefs, and so little progress had Colonel Leslie made in five months that the Governor-General recalled him, and appointed Colonel Goddard to succeed to the command. After this the Bengal contingent was very soon marched into Bombay, and in 1780 Colonel Goddard put his army in motion, and Ahmedabad was taken by assault. From its position, at the eastern end of Gujerat, both Scindia and Holkar were threatened with check, and these two chiefs advanced to give battle to Goddard, when the British general at once accepted the challenge. Scindia used all the eastern arts to avert the engagement he had challenged, but Goddard brought the matter to an end by an attack upon the enemy's camp, which proved successful. In the meantime a small force under Captain Popham attacked Lahar, 50 miles from Calpie, and, to the astonishment of Sir Eyre Coote, carried it by storm. If possible, it was an object of great importance to take Gwalior, deemed by the Indian military authorities impregnable. Popham sat down to consider how to deal with the "exceeding high rock-scarped nearly all round" and garrisoned by a thousand men. He saw his point, and actually determined personally to attempt the capture, and after midnight he was in the fort. This gave Bombay a respite and a lesson.

Such bandits as the Mahrattas, are constantly dividing the booty taken in the expeditions against feebler communities. In a hotly contested engagement like that of Ahmedabad, the soldiers of the native chiefs often find valuable loot on the persons of their officers, whom they rob when dead or severely wounded. These are the occasions which skilled collectors of valuables improve. We readily believe M. Tavernier when he says that he purchased this magnificent stone, the "'Ahmedabad,' for one of his friends, and that it originally weighed 157 1/4 carats, but after being cut on either side the jewel was reduced to 94 1/2 carats, and that its water was perfect. The flat side, where there were two flaws below, was about the thickness of a sheet of stout paper. When I had the stone I caused all this part to be removed together with a portion of the upper point where little flaws remained."

It is strange that nothing further should be known regarding a stone, which, even when reduced by cutting, was still over 94 carats in weight. Tavernier probably never brought it to Europe, but disposed of it in Persia, where there are still many hidden treasures, destined again to turn up whenever liberal institutions are introduced into that oppressed country.