The historians say that the first diamonds in India were found in the 4th century BC. At that time the Indian diamonds were very expensive because of their size and beauty.
India's most famous, expensive and wonderful diamonds were known as the “diamonds of Golconda”. Among them are the famous Koh-i-knor, which is now on the British crown, Darya-i-Nur, the Hope Diamond and many others. The largest of these precious stones was the Darya-i-nur, - “Sea of light”. It weighted over 35 grams, which for a diamond is a huge number.
How the diamonds were created?
The diamond is one of the strongest materials known to the human kind. It is almost unbreakable and it is used for cutting through rocks and other very hard and solid materials. The reason for this enormous strength of the diamond is the way it was created. The Indian diamonds were created deep in the earth, when the two gigantic tectonic plates – the Asian tectonic plate and the Thehis Oceanic Crust collides to each other. This collision generates incredible forces, which are able to change the structure of the chemical elements. Although, this happens in incredibly slow rate – only 10 cm per year, the forces was enough to create the Himalayas and to change the overlook of this part of the planet.
According to the ancient Indians, the perfect diamond had to be a perfect octahedron with sharp edges and very pure ( with no stains on it ).
In the second half of the 14th century, most of the diamonds brought to Europe originated in India. This long journey was the reason for the diamonds to become very rare and also expensive. The route of silk was used for transporting the diamonds, which meant that the caravans had to go through the lands of the Persians. who were keeping some of the stones, as a tariff for going through their territory. So, the Europeans had to find a new route, which they did with finding the sea route around Africa.
Today India has only one active diamond located in the centre of the country. It is owned by the state of Madhya Pradesh but the quantities which the mine is yielding are not very big.
