Miscellaneous news and discussion - 2

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Geet, all the famous cursed diamonds turn out to be those stolen from temples (from our Gods). Gee I wonder why they became cursed...
(Meanwhile, the story of the cursed lance/spear of the cursed Longinus turns out to be no more than a story - see Dhu's post in The History Of Christianism thread, thus making the Longinus fraud more proof that jeebus is a myth.)

Anyway, let's have a look. <b>Two things: First the Hope Diamond, then an online version of a book at some Jewellery store that discusses some of the famous Diamonds stolen from India.</b>

The famous blue diamond which happens to be blamed for such small things as the execution of Le Roi Louis et sa Reine Antoinette and even La Revolution Francaise:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/referrals/metal...pe-diamond.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Hope Diamond is presently housed at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. The origin of the gemstone has an interesting tale - it is believed to have been excavated from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India. The world’s largest diamond was once owned by Louis XIV who designed it into a 67 1/8 carat (13.4 g) stone and officially designated the stone as the ‘blue diamond of the crown’ as it was set in the golden crown for the King to wear on ceremonial occasions. The diamond was stolen during the French Revolution in 1792 but was again found in 1830 and was bought by Henry Philip Hope of London for $90,000. The diamond got its name after the new owner.

<b>The Blue Hope Diamond is believed to carry a curse as the discovery of the stone was the outcome of a theft. It is believed that several centuries ago, a French jeweler named Tavernier made a trip to India. From a temple in India, he stole a large blue diamond from the forehead of the statue of the Hindu goddess, Sita.</b> The first horrible consequence of the curse was that Tavernier was tattered apart by wild dogs on a trip to Russia. The second victims of the curse were the King Louis XVI and the Queen Marie Antoinette who were beheaded during the French Revolution. <b>There are evidences of sudden deaths of most of the owners of the Hope Diamond that are believed to be the consequences of the curse that the diamond carried.</b>

The exquisite Hope Diamond is placed in the National Gem Collection in the Smithsonian Institution, in the National Museum of Natural History. <b>The diamond has an estimated value of $200,000,000 - $250,000,000.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Smithsonian doesn't need to pay us money for it. And we'll be kinder still: we won't charge any interest or smack any fines. They just need to return the diamond to <i>Hindus</i> who'll put it back on Sita.

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2005..._diaspora.shtml
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Searching for Hope's Origins</b>
US experts' computer models of the 45.52 carat Hope diamond "very much support the theory that it was cut from the French Blue diamond, " said Jeffrey Post, a Smithsonian institution museum curator. The 112-carat French Blue was purchased by Jean Baptist Tavernier, a 17th-century merchant, probably from the Kollur mine in India. It was sold to King Louis XIV of France in 1668, later recut to 67 carats and stolen in 1792. In 1812, a 44-carat deep blue diamond appeared in the collection of Henry Philip Hope. Changing hands several more times, it was finally donated to the Smithsonian. Research into the Tavernier stone, the French Blue and the Hope, showed that two smaller "versions " could fit into the Tavernier stone. Legend says the diamond is cursed because Tavernier stole it from the eye of a statue of the Hindu Goddess Sita. Many of its owners suffered grave misfortunes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->The more PC version (in christocolonial times) is that the christoterrorist from Europa (Tavernier) 'bought' it. From somewhere. From the air apparently.
Hey, they even have stories of a 'slave' <i>offering</i> it to the christoterrorist! How sweet. Poor Hindu slave who was soooo moved by christoterrorism he thought he'd steal the jewel from a Vigraham and give it to a christoterrorist.
Of course this version is rather too much like a convenient lie. Every thief makes up a story about how he came by his loot legitimately - so too this Tavernier. ("It's mine! My Preciousssss. Gollum. We didn't steal it, no Precious! Nasty Hobbitses. What has it got in its pocketses?")
http://www.gemstonedeva.com/famousstones.php
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Now that I have mentioned the four largest Diamonds I would like to continue with perhaps the most infamous Diamond of all times, the blue Hope Diamond. Even though this Diamond is much smaller than the Diamonds mentioned above, it is one of the most well known Diamonds and it didn't get its reputation from its beauty. The Hope Diamond was discovered in India in the 17th century, although the stone had been around in this country before this time. <b>The French world traveller Jean Baptiste Tavernier was approached by a slave in India who offered him this stone.</b>  <!--emo&:roll--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /><!--endemo--> At first Tavernier thought he had a beautiful blue Sapphire in his hands, but he discovered rather quickly that this blue gemstone was indeed a Diamond, the largest blue Diamond in the world. Tavernier purchased the stone from the slave and smuggled it to Paris, where he sold it to Louis the Fourteenth later on.

According to legend The Hope once was a part of an Indian temple idol, and was one of its eyes.
However the second 'eye' has never been found. The latter makes the legend incredible, but the fact that this stone brings ill luck to its owner may be considered proof of a temple desecration.
(Actually, it need not be an "incredible legend. Several explanations possible:
(1) The second eye could well have been stolen simultaneously and sold separately: looters have always done this to keep from being traced. They do this even today. <b>ADDED:</b> IIRC, the famous French necklace that Antoinette got into trouble about ("L'Affaire d'eclat/The Necklace Affair" or something) was also broken up into pieces - Jeanne and accomplice tried to sell the jewels in it separately from what I remember. This was about the same time, so it was probably Standard Practise in France and Europe where jewel theft was concerned.
(2) Elsewhere the diamond is actually said to be from the forehead of the Vigraham, in which case there would be no need to search for a second diamond
(3) Devis, including Lakshmi's Sita are often described in shlokas that try to explain their beauty as having "one eye bright like the sun and the other like the moon". It's entirely possible that the other eye of the Vigraham of the Devi need not be a diamond then, but some other precious stone/jewel.)

<b>After Louis XIV had gotten a hold of the Hope Diamond, then called the Tavernier Bleu, the Sun King was followed by ill luck.</b> He gave the stone to Madame de Montespan, and she fell into the court's disgrace soon after. The French minister of Finances, Nicholas Fouquet, decided to borrow the stone to get on the good side of the king, but Louis XIV had him arrested and convicted of embezzlement. Thus the Tavernier Bleu fell into the Sun King's lap again. But not only Louis XIV was a victim of this beautiful blue stone's 'wrath', all others that possessed the Hope Diamond after him were subject to ill luck. Marie Antoinette, the queen of the French, was killed by the guillotine. The Diamond disappeared, just like the French Royalty, until a steel blue Diamond appeared in 1830 in the United Kingdom. The shape of this stone was different and it weighed about 20 carats less than the Tavernier Bleu, but soon it would become apparent that this stone attracted the same ill luck as the Tavernier Bleu once did. And it was assumed that this stone was the Tavernier Blue. The Diamond was purchased by the British banker Henry Thomas Hope, and from then forward the stone has been known under the name the Hope Diamond. A descendant of Hope found out what this stone could do, his wife, a well-known actress at the time, left him and he applied for bankruptcy, which caused the stone to change hands and disappear from the public's eye for a while.

The stone resurfaced in the possession of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey, he gave the beautiful Diamond to one of the 237 women in his harem. Subaya, the wife in question, began conspiring against the Sultan and she had to pay for it with her life. One day Evalyn Walsh McLean came to the Sultan's court and she immediately fell for the beauty of this magnificent gem, the Hope Diamond. Se convinced Sultan Abcul to sell the stone to her and eventually succeeded in obtaining the gem. Abdul never received any moneys from the sale of the stone to Mrs. McLean, he was dethroned during the secret sale of the Diamond. In 1911 the Hope Diamond came in Mrs. McLean hands and two years after her death in 1946 the stone was sold to Harry Winston. Winston sold the stone to the American State and the Hope Diamond now can be seen on permanent display in the Smithsonian Institute of Washington D.C.

The name of the next Diamond is known to all over the world, the <b>Koh-I-Noor</b>, this name literally stands for 'Mountain of Light' and it is said that this gem from India has had many owners<b>. The history of this gem has been recorded since 1304 and from this age the belief that whomever possesses the Koh-I-Noor will also rule the world.</b> Because of this belief many battles were fought to obtain this Diamond. According to legend a Sultan had safely hidden the stone underneath his turban, but once he had been defeated in battle he had to give up the gem. He started to take off his turban and the stone fell to the ground. The new owner yelled out 'Koh-I-Noor!' when he saw the stone and hence the gem was named. The Koh-I-Noor can now be seen at the Tower of London and is part of the British Crown Jewels.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But not to be outdone by the ridiculous story above of how Tavernier 'chanced' upon it, another site goes one step further in blaming "one of the savage natives of Hindoostan". In this christoversion - from a poorly researched site on 'the supernatural' - they blame a priest for the theft of the Hope, thus trying to keep suspicion away from the christothief Tavernier:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C007461/hope.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It once was set in the brow of an Indian temple idol, but a thieving priest stole it. His punishment was a slow and painful death.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->However, we can easily forget that confused site, and look at a more reliable source, the book "Bahadur. A Handbook Of Precious Stones."
It mentions several of the famous diamonds that christoterrorists stole from India. <i>AND indeed, there's even a most interesting mention of "a brahmin" just like above but to do with ANOTHER diamond altogether</i> which is mentioned in point (4) below, while the Hope - confirmed as stolen by Tavernier from a temple - is mentioned in (9).

http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/bahadur_h...stones/page_094
(This here book "Bahadur. A Handbook Of Precious Stones" is hosted at what appears to be a jewellery store. In any case, this outlet or whatever it is, is called "Farlang, Gem and Diamond Foundation" and states that <i>it has a library</i> of "historical and reference material" about jewels)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Some famous Indian diamonds</b>
No account of diamonds will be complete without an account of some of the large and famous Indian diamonds, which earned a world wide fame and possessing a special interest. The following are the most important stones:—

<i>1. Koh-i-noor.</i>—Some legends are in vogue about its great antiquity even 5,000 years ago. But for the period up till 1304 A.D. no information is available. It is said that in 1304 A.D. Alauddin took it from the king of Malwa. It remained with the Moghuls till 1526, when Ranjit Singh got it from Ahmed Shaw at Lahore. When the Punjab was annexed by the British all the State jewels of Lahore were confiscated by the East India Co. On 3rd June, 1850, it reached Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, the weight being 186 carats. When it was with Aurangzeb, it had a weight of 793 carats. This reduc­tion was due to the unskilfulness of Hortensio Borgio, a Venetian lapidary who had been entrusted with its cutting. This enraged the emperor so much that Borgio was dis­possessed of all his property and with great difficulty escaped with his life. The atone had the form of an irregular rosette. It was again recut in 1852. The present weight is 106 1/16 carats and the stone is of considerable beauty. It is supposed to have been found at Kollur.

<i>2.    The Great Moghul.—</i>Tavernier states that he saw this stone at the court of Aurangzeb and it weighed at that time 787-1/2 carats, and also .got confounded with Koh-i-noor. Tavernier has recorded two large stones, and hence it is thought that the two are only convertible names. Another theory refers the stpne to be cut into three by Borgio: (i) the Koh-i-noor, (ii) the Great Moghul and the third went to some petty chief. When cut it came to 240 carats. The subsequent history of the Great Moghul is a complete blank, and is supposed to have been lost or destroyed. It is presumed'to have been found at Kollur about 1650.

<i>3.    Pitt or Regent.</i>—Though not the largest, it is con­sidered to be the most perfect and beautiful diamond in existence, remarkable alike for its shape, proportion and fine water. Its original weight was 410 carats. It is supposed to have been found at Partial in 1701. The stone pame into the hands of William Pitt, Governor of Madras. It was cut to a perfect brilliant, weighing 163-7/8 carats. Subsequently it was purchased by the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, for £135,000. It has been treasured as one of the most beautiful and valuable of the jewels belonging to the French nation. This diamond was stolen from the Garde-Meuble in 1792, but came back in a mysterious fashion. The republic then pledged it to a Berlin merchant from whom it was again redeemed. The Emperor Napolean I used to wear it in the pommel of his sword and always considered it to be the key-stone to all his future greatness. It was shown in the French Exhibition of 1855.

<b><i>4. The Orloff or Amsterdam diamond.</i>—This stone is reported to have formed one of the eyes of a Hindu God, and was stolen away by a French Grenadier-of Pondicherry, who passed as an incognito Brahmin. </b>It was first sold to an English sea-captain for Rs.20,000 who in turn sold it to a Jew for Rs. 1,20,000. It passed again to another hand from whom in or about 1772, it was bought by Prince Orloff for presentation to Catherine II for Rs.9 lakhs, and a life annuity of Rs.40,000 and the grant of a Russian nobility to the seller. There is also a legend that it was one of the stones taken away by Nadir Shaw from the Moghuls.
The stone in its outlines resembles Tavernier's Great Moghul, but there is the difference in weight. Another story says that it was brought to Russia and placed in the Russian Imperial sceptre weighing 194-1/4 carats. Like the
Koh-i-noor, it has the underside flat, and is rose cut. Water is of any yellowish tinge. Its size is that of a pigeon's egg. It is the largest of diamond in the Russian crown jewels. It is a stone of the finest water, pure and has a brilliant lustre.
(The above is obviously where the previous link got its confused story from "of a Frenchman obtaining the Hope Diamond that was stolen by a 'temple priest'" . Instead the one they meant to refer to was the Orloff, stolen by a christo Frenchman who was able to commit the crime by dressing up as a priest/Brahmin. Rather like that christoterrorist - 'Father De Nobili' - who also tried to dupe people by dressing like a Brahmin.)

<i>5.    The Sancy.</i>—Its early history is not traceable. It was sold by the King of Portugal to Baron de Sancy, and hence known as the Sancy. It was in his family for more than a century, then with James II of England and after­wards with Louis XIV. It was lost in the French Revolution of 1792 and found again. It was bought by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy of Bombay for Rs.2 lakhs. It is almond shaped, of very fine water, and weighs 53-1/2 carats. The cut is evidently Indian and the stone is covered all over with tiny facets.

<i>6.    The Nizam.</i>—This stone was found at Golconda and weighed 340 carats (afterwards 277 carats). It was broken in the year of the Indian Mutiny. It is now presumed to be in the possession of the Nizam.

<i>7.    The Florentine Brilliant.</i>—The Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Austrian Yellow was valued at Rs. 10-1/2 lakhs. It was double rose cut and weighed 139-1/2 carats. Charles the Bold had three diamonds of great beauty and value. The history of the two is confused with one another, and the third is the Sancy already referred to. After passing

<i>8. The Pigott diamond.—</i>This stone was taken away from India by Lord Pigott about 1775 and passed through several hands. It is brilliant cut and weighed 82-1/4 carats. It was once sold for Rs 3-1/4 lakhs.

<i>9. The Hope diamond.</i>—This beautiful diamond was believed to have been taken from India. It has a steely or greenish blue colour, an extremely rare tint in diamonds, a brilliant lustre and a fine play of colours. It has been known since 1830, and its original weight was 112-3/16 carats, but the present weight is only 44-1/4 carats. <b>It was found at the Kollur mines, stolen from an Indian temple by Tavernier in 1642 and sold by him to Louis XIV in 1668. It finally came into the hands of Thomas Phillip Hope. The stone is supposed to have brought ill-luck in its train. It figured a great deal in the Great Exhibition of 1851.</b>

<i>10. The Great table of Tavernier.</i>—It was seen by him in 1642. According to him it weighed 242-3/16 carats and that it was the largest diamond he had seen in India in the hands of dealers. His offer of Bs.4 lakhs for this stone was rejected.
(He probably tried to steal it first but that didn't work. Then he offered the money and after the rejection, still couldn't get his claws on it, I want to bet...)

<i>11. Dariya-i-noor.</i>—'River of Light'—It was rose cut and weighed 186 carats. It appears to have been captured by Nadir Shaw at Delhi and now is the largest diamond in the Persian collection.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<i>India had a huge number of diamond mines</i>. A vast fortune. (Books written by christos in colonial times about our country - even novels - will confirm this.) It was the main source of diamonds in the world until they exhausted it. And practically every bit of loot is now in the hands of christoterrorists. Yes, the same whose colonialism MMS praised not too long back. Christoterrorism dried up India's well of diamonds. But that's only part of the vast amount of plunder the christians and islamis made off with. There were lots of other precious items they stole as well.