Jewels of The Nizams

The Jewels of the Nizams of Hyderabad state are the largest and richest collection of jewels in India. The jewels belong to the Nizams, considered among the wealthiest in the world at the time,weasel word ruled Hyderabad state from 18th century till the Indian independence.

Only a fraction of the original collection is left, the range is large when translated into carats. The 173 items of Jewels with over 25,000 diamonds weighing over 12000 carats. The 2000 emeralds, some of them Colombian, weight over 10,000 carats and pearls exceeding 40,000 chows.

Once part of Nizams’ state regalia and personal heritage, the ornaments date back to early 18th century to early 20th century. Crafted in gold and silver and embellished with enameling, the jewels are set with Colombian emeralds, diamonds from the Golconda mines, Burmese rubies and spinels, and pearls from Basra and Gulf of Mannar.

The value

The Jewelry is estimated to be over US$6 billion. In 1991, Sotheby's estimated the collection at US$162 million. The jewels were vaulted first with HSBC, and latterly with the Reserve Bank of India in Bombay.

Indian Government bought the jewels for Rs 218 crore (about US$70 million), after the death of seventh and last Nizam in 1967, when the Nizam Trust (descendants of the Nizams), owners of the jewels, tried to take them out of India.

The Collection

The oranaments and gemstones have typical Deccani names like "Paizeb yakoot wa almas wa zamurrud", or as "Kanthi marvareed". The names for gemstones known as "Yakoot" is ruby; "almas" is diamond; "zamurrud" is emerald; and "marvareed" are pearls.

The Deccani workmanship is evident in the armbands, studded with diamonds and outlined with silver kundan work on the belt buckles. Golconda diamonds with a crest of pearls on the anklets and emerald adorned sarpech & kalghi(turban ornament), are part of the collection.

The jewel collection include:1. Gemstones 2. Turban ornaments. 3. Necklaces and pendants 4. Belts and buckles 5. Earrings 6. Armbands 7. Bangles and bracelets 8. Anklets(paizeb) 9. Cufflinks and buttons 10. Watch chains 11. Rings 12. Toe rings 13. Nose-rings

Among them is the seven-stringed Basrah pearl necklace, known as Satlada. The Satlada has 465 pearls embedded in it.

The belt buckle has 55 carats of diamonds and 146 precious stones.

Jacob Diamond

"Main article": Jacob DiamondThe Jacob Diamond, known earlier as the "Imperial Diamond", weighing 184.79 carats, ranked seventh in the world, and almost double the size of the Kohinoor diamond stands out among the entire collection [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1513627.stm BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Indian jewels set to dazzle ] ] . It is believed to have been found in an African mine.

Salar Jung Museum held exhibitions of the collection in 2005 and 2007 and is now back in the custody of Government of India, New Delhi.

National Museum, New Delhi is exhibited them in September and October 2007.

References

Further reading

Jewels of the Nizams (Hardcover) by Usha R. Krishnan (Author)ISBN 81-85832-15-3 [http://www.amazon.com/Jewels-Nizams-Usha-R-Krishnan/dp/8175083069]

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1513627.stm BBC]
* [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1815/18150980.htm Feature on The Hindu]
* [http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=251461 expressindia.com]
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011021/spectrum/art.htm An account by a National Museum official]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=9r4MqYFIKJs Nizam's jewellery exhibit on Youtube]