Early History of the Orloff Diamond of Russia

THE ORLOFF.

A Royal Lover's Gift--Prince Orloff and the Czarina Catharine--An Imperial Gem--Fable of the Temple of Brama--A French Grenadier's Plot--The costly Eye of an Idol stolen--A Great Diamond on its Travels--The Adventurer, Khojeh Raphael--Prince Orloff Purchases the Gem to restore his favour at Court--pound 90,000 and pound 4,000 a year is paid for the Stone--Another Grenadier--The Peacock Throne--Shah Jehan again--A Merchant Adventurer and Warrior--The desolating war of the Deccan--Royal Freebooters--A tragic end--The Koh-i-Nur and Koh-i-Tur--The Moon of Mountains.

The rays of light which penetrate this brilliant are not more deflected, distorted, and confusing than is the history of the birth and early destination of the gem; and to add still more to the perplexity, there is inseparably attached to its very name a scandal which, like the stone itself, appears to be about the only solid reality on which we can rest. Prince Orloff's love intrigue with the Czarina, Catherine the Second of Russia, is a well-known page in the history of Imperial courts. The temporary cloud that gathered about his relations with his royal mistress was dispelled by the brilliant rays of a lover's gift, dazzling enough for Goethe to have made it the pendant that tempted Marguerite.

In every respect the Orloff is the most remarkable of the great Russian diamonds. It forms the chief ornament in the Imperial sceptre. From this circumstance it is sometimes called the "Sceptre" diamond. Its position is immediately beneath the golden eagle, which surmounts the symbol of regal power. It is also occasionally spoken of as the "Amsterdam," from the place where it was purchased for the Russian crown, under circumstances which will be hereafter detailed. In size, it ranks first amongst European gems; in beauty it yields only to the "Regent," while for romantic interest it rivals the "Koh-i-Nur" itself. Its early history is involved in great obscurity, and seems to have got somehow in-extricably involved in that of the "Moon of Mountains," another great diamond in the Russian regalia. The "Moon of Mountains," however, reached Europe through Persia, whereas, there can be little doubt that the "Orloff" found its way direct from India to Holland and thence to Russia. In all current accounts of its original discovery, however, the circumstances are related in such a confused way, that it has hitherto been impossible to fix its first definite appearance. The date of its arrival in Europe, and of its purchase by Prince Orloff for the Empress Catherine II., are demonstrated by the subjoined passage from a letter dated January 2nd, 1776, from the Hague, and quoted by Boyle in the Museum Britannicum (London, 1791):--"We learn from Amsterdam that Prince Orlow made but one day's stay in that city, where he bought a very large brilliant for the Empress, his sovereign, for which he paid to a Persian merchant there the sum of 1,400,000 florins, Dutch money. A florin in Holland is valued at 20d."

Dutens, writing about this time, tells us that "this diamond was said to have formed one of the eyes of the famous statue of Scheringam in the Temple of Brama." These words--"un des yeux de la fameuse statue de Scheringam dans le Temple de Brama," have been copied, with the usual variations by subsequent writers, who have seldom asked themselves what this "famous statue of Scheringam" could be, or where "the Temple of Brama," was situated, which contained it. The word in Kluge becomes "Sherigan," while in King it assumes the form of "Sheringham, and, from a statue or idol, is transformed to a town. But after a careful investigation of all the circumstances we have come to the conclusion that there never was a statue or idol named Scheringam or Sherigan, nor any town named Sheringham. The true form of the word seems unquestionably to be Srirangam, in English usually written Seringham, and this Seringham is neither a statue, an idol, nor a town, but a fortified island in Mysore, formed by the river Cavery and its branch the Colerun, two miles north of Trichinopoly. At the western extremity of this island stands a magnificent pagoda or Hindu temple, with seven distinct enclosures, lofty towers, a gilded cupola, and numerous dwellings of Brahmins, the whole enclosed within an outer wall some four miles in circumference. This is the Hindu temple that has been transformed to the "statue of Scheringham," and town of "Sheringham," from the chief idol in which was abstracted the "Orloff" Diamond. According to Dutens' account, a French grenadier, having deserted the Indian service, found employment in the neighbourhood of the temple, where he soon learnt from native report that the sacred edifice contained a celebrated idol of the Hindu god Sri-Ranga, whose eyes were formed by two large diamonds of inestimable value. These he determined to seize, but no Christians being admitted beyond the fourth enclosure of the pagoda, in order to effect his purpose he assumed the character of a native devotee, and affected great veneration for this particular divinity. By this means he gradually secured the unlimited confidence of the unsuspecting Brahmins, and at last procured the appointment of guardian to the inner shrine containing the object of his special attentions. Taking advantage of a stormy night, he laid sacrilegious hands on the deity entrusted to his watchful care, and wrenched one of the glittering eyes from its socket, leaving the other undisturbed, either because he was interrupted at his work, or because he discovered that the corresponding orb was mere "paste." With his costly prize he escaped through the raging tempest to the English army, then encamped at Trichinopoly, and thence to Madras, where he was glad to dispose of the gem for pound 2,000, to an English sea captain, who brought it to London, where he sold it to a Jew for pound 12,000. Here the story again becomes clouded, and in fact mixed up with the adventures of the "Moon of Mountains." The Armenian, Shafrass, who, as will be presently seen, had nothing to do with the "Orloff," is suddenly introduced, instead of a Persian merchant, who purchased this stone from the Jew, and brought it to Amsterdam. The merchant here referred to was probably the notorious Khojeh Raphael, of Armenian extraction, but born at Julfa, a suburb of Ispahan. This Khojeh was some years afterwards met in Leghorn by the Persian traveller, Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, who describes him as "a complete old scoundrel, who had seen a great deal of the world, and understood a number of languages. He had left Persia when a young man, and had gone by sea to Surat; thence across the peninsula to Bengal. After residing there some time he made a voyage to England, and from that country went to Russia; and after travelling over great part of Europe, at length settled as a merchant in Leghorn."

It was on his way from England to Russia that Khojeh met Prince Orloff in Amsterdam, and induced him to purchase the Indian gem for his mistress, the Czarina, Catherine II. Orloff was himself at the time also on his travels. Having fallen under the displeasure of Catherine, he had absented himself from Court until the storm should blow over. Khojeh's offer was now eagerly accepted, as affording an excellent opportunity for recovering the favor of the empress, who is reported to have already declined the purchase as too costly, but who now accepted the jewel at the hands of her illustrious subject. Orloff paid the merchant pound 90,000 in cash, besides procuring him an annuity of pound 4,000. According to some accounts a patent of nobility was added. But it will be seen that this honour was reserved for the Armenian, Shafrass, in connection with the "Moon of Mountains" diamond. Some writers also state that the "Orloff" was at one time set in the throne of Nadir Shah, and that after his murder it was stolen by a French grenadier, who escaped with it to Madras. In order to substantiate this story, it would be necessary to assume that there were two French grenadiers concerned in the theft of two of the largest diamonds in the world, that both of them fled to Madras, and that both also sold their plunder for the the same sum of pound 2,000 to an English skipper. Of course nobody will believe this, and we shall see that Nadir Shah's gem was not taken to India, but from India, and that no French grenadier was concerned in its theft.

King writes "certain it is that Nadir Shah brought the "Orloff" back amongst the spoils of Delhi, along with the "Koh-i Nur." This statement must also be rejected as absolutely erroneous, originating out of the strange muddle in which the stories of the "Orloff" and "Moon of Mountains" have become involved, and from which our accounts of the two stones will, we trust, finally rescue them.

Professor Maskelyne, who carefully examined it, assured King that the "Orloff" was an Indian cut stone, all the facets exhibiting the blunt edges and rounded surfaces that mark the style. Concentrated rows of triangular facets are disposed on the upper surface, and corresponding four-sided facets on the lower surface. It is about the size of a pigeon's egg, with a slight yellow tinge, and in shape so like Tavernier's "Great Mogul," that some writers have supposed the two may be one and the same stone. But this theory cannot be seriously entertained in the face of the vast difference in their respective sizes, the "Great Mogul" weighing 280, and the "Orloff" 193 carats only. Nor is it to be supposed that the former, after leaving Borgio's hands, was without any obvious motive, again entrusted to a cutter, and by him reduced by 87 carats, while preserving its exact shape and out-lines. Otherwise it is conceivable that after the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah, the "Great Mogul" might have found its way from the Imperial treasury to the far-famed temple of Sri-Ranga in Mysore.

The true name of the "Orloff" is said to be the "Koh-i-Tur," or "Mount Sinai," a circumstance which lands us in fresh difficulties; for Aurung-zeb is reported to have possessed a large diamond of this name, which he set in one of the eyes of the peacock overshadowing his throne. On this point Murray quotes the subjoined curious passage from a manuscript paper by Mr. Whittaker, son of the historian of Craven, who had long resided in India:--

"The Prince Aulumgeer (Aurung-zeb) in 1658 deposed his father Shah Jehan, emperor of Delhi, and usurped his throne. He caused to be constructed the famous 'Takht-i-Taus,' or 'Peacock Throne,' which represented in appropriate jewels a peacock with its head overlooking, and its raised and spread tail overshadowing the person of the emperor when sitting on the throne. The natural hues of the bird were exquisitely imitated by the richest gems of the world, and the eyes were supplied by two celebrated diamonds, the largest known, called (as every Asiatic double name must have a jingle) 'Koh-i-Nur,' the Mountain of Light, and 'Koh-i-Tur,' the Mountain of Sinai. Having completed this throne, relinquishing the name of Aulumgeer, or 'Grasper of the Globe,' he assumed that of Aurung-zeb, or 'Ornament of the Throne.' He died in 1707, aged 87, and his throne remained in possession of his successors till 1728, when Nadir Shah invaded Hindoostan, took and plundered Delhi, and massacred 125,000 men, women, and children. Together with sixty millions of other plunder, he carried off, and broke up the Peacock throne, but being assassinated on his return towards Persia in 1729, his treasures fell to general Ahmed, Chief of the Abdalli Afghans, of Cabul, called also the Durani, from each man wearing a dur, or pearl, in the right ear. He seized on the throne of Cabul, and in the confusion of this exploit the 'Koh-i-Tur' was lost for ever."

The truth of this notable summary of a very complex page of history is discounted by the fact that the dates and the supposed occurence do not agree. First in reference to Shah Jehan and his family in the year 1658; the desolating wars in the Deccan, which raged from the Nerbudda to the Kistna, were at that period in their fiercest phase. Nominally the diamond merchant Jemla was in command of the invading forces of the Emperor, although Shah Jehan's third son Aurung-zeb was the virtual conductor of the expedition. Emir Jemla, the merchant, was a Persian who had not only become a resident at the Court of the sovereign of Golconda (Kootb), but was advanced by him to offices of high command, and had successfully conducted this monarch's wars for several years in the Carnatic, where he had gathered spoils of immense value. The sovereign and his favourite fell out, as free-booters have often done before in regard to the division of their spoil. Thereupon the diamond merchant Jemla threw himself on Aurung-zeb, then 44 years of age, and in the very prime of life. Jemla persuaded the prince to attack his old master Kootb, and represented the value of the loot the prince would acquire, and the importance of such untold treasure in prosecuting his ambitious projects. Kootb, however, offered Aurung-zeb prodigious wealth in diamonds and specie to leave his kingdom unmolested, and threatened Jemla with the death of his son (whom Kootb had seized and cast into prison), unless the terms were accepted. Aurung-zeb declined the proposal, and entrusted to Mohammed, his eldest son, the conduct of the war. The young warrior, with Jemla, set fire to the city of Golconda and murdered its inhabitants. As the King retreated to the old city he was closely followed by young Mohammed. Kootb was at the mercy of the victorious prince, who would have slain him but for the intercession of his daughter, whom Mohammed wedded even in the midst of the slaughter and desolation of the royal house. Within a few months the dependent king of Beejapoor died, and his throne being filled without reference to the Emperor, Shah Jehan, the Deccan was again subject to the horrors of war.

From this period to 1666 (nine years) the internecine strife for supremacy under the nominal sovereignty of their father, Shah Jehan's four sons, Dara, Shooja, Aurung-zeb, and Murad were in perpetual strife. The star of Aurung-zeb soon showed itself in the ascendant. Shah Jehan and his youngest son Murad were now virtually prisoners of Aurungreb. Dara, his elder brother, had been conquered, and was in flight, and Shooja was in arms ready to attack Aurung-zeb, who had seized the power of the throne, though vehemently asserting his utter indifference to its honours or observances, and Shooja marched to Allahabad. Shah Jehan, with Murad, was within the walls of Agra, where he died in 1666, and all of his family having been cut off either by the prowess or duplicity of Aurung-zeb, he became absolute master of the situation.

It might be that a musnud, ornamented with a peacock made of gems, was ordered to be made by Aurung-zeb, but it is far more like the act of his vain-glorious father, Shah Jehan. The story about the two eyes being the "Koh-i-Nur," and the "Koh-i-Tur" is discredited by Murray, who, discussing the MS. quoted by Whittaker says: "It will be perceived that the two diamonds which are referred to, are by no means 'the largest known,' and the 'Koh-i-Tur,' plundered by Nadir Shah, safely reposes among the crown jewels of Russia, weighs 193 carats, and is valued at pound 369,800." This description corresponds exactly with the "Orloff," which Murray thus identifies with a stone called the "Koh-i-Tur," carried off from the Delhi treasury, where it formed a companion to the "Koh-i-Nur." On this it will be sufficient to observe that the "Koh-i-Nur" was unknown to the Mogul emperors by this name, which was conferred on it by Nadir Shah himself when first he set eyes on it. Hence Whittaker's statement regarding a corresponding "Koh-i-Tur," so entitled because, "every Asiatic double name must have a jingle," loses its point, and the title of "Koh-i-Tur," now applied to the "Orloff," does not enable us to identify this gem with one of that name wrongly assumed to have been owned by Aurung-zeb. We must therefore, until the story of the French grenadier is shown to be a pure fabrication, maintain that the "Orloff" glittered in the eye, not of Aurung-zeb's peacock, but of the idol Sri-Ranga, and that it reached Europe, not from Delhi via Persia, but from Mysore, via Madras.

Mawe, who had also confused the stories of the "Orloff" and "Moon of Mountains," in the first edition of the Treaty on Diamonds, subsequently discovered his mistake, and at p. 42 of the second edition of that work, (London, 1823), inserted the subjoined paragraph:--"In a former edition I stated that this diamond belonged to Nadir Shah, but this may be doubted, as the Asiatics rarely part with diamonds of a large size; nor do I believe that a single instance of the kind is known to have occurred."

The account given by Pallas of the "Orloff" will be noticed when we come to treat of the "Moon of Mountains."