Note 53 — The Thirteenth New Year’s Feast

On Thursday, the 10th, Rāy Bihārī was exalted with the favour of a male and a female elephant, a jewelled dagger, and four rings, of red ruby and yellow ruby (topaz), sapphire, and emerald. Before this, the Ātālīq Jān-sipār (life-jeoparding), K͟hān-k͟hānān (ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm), Commander-in-Chief, by order, had sent a force under the leadership of his son Amru-llah53 towards Gondwāna, in order to seize the diamond mine of Barākar54 (?) that was in the possession of Panjū, a Zamindar of Khandesh. On this day a report came from him that the aforesaid Zamindar, knowing that opposition to the victorious army was beyond his power, had made an offering of the mine, and a royal superintendent had been appointed to manage it. The diamonds of that place are superior in kind and beauty to all other kinds of diamonds, and much esteemed by jewellers. They are of good shape, and larger, and superior. Of the second rank is the mine of Kokhra,55 which is on the borders of Bihar; but the diamonds of that place are not obtained from the mine, but from a river which in the rainy season comes down in flood from the hills. Before that they dam it up, and when the flood has passed over the dam and there is little water, a number of men who are skilled in this art go into the river bed and bring out the diamonds. It is now three years since this country came into the possession of the State. The Zamindar of the place is in confinement. The climate of that land is excessively poisonous, and strangers cannot live there. The third place is in the province of the Karnatik (Carnatic), near the frontier of Qut̤bu-l-mulk. At a distance of 50 koss56 there are four mines. Many very fine57 diamonds are obtained there.