The diamond in ancient India - Diamantschleiferei Michael Bonke

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long as he/she lives: children, prosperity, grains, cows, cattle…. “The diamond played such an important role in ancient India that its properties and magic powerswere studied right to the minutest detail. Everything was recorded with great accuracy andimplemented painstakingly in social life. For instance, the colour shades of the diamond weredivided into four basic colours and assigned to the four main castes. The four main castes inthe Indian society are the same today as it was 2500 years ago: the Brahmins (the priests, thescholars, etc.), the Kshatriyas (the warriors), the Vaishyas (the business people), the Shudras(the lower cast, mostly farmers and labourers). In the ancient scriptures, diamonds were dividedinto the same four caste groups, according to the colour:“the diamond has four colours, according to its caste. The diamond that has the velvety lustre ofthe mother-of-pearl, the rock crystal, the moonstone is a Brahmin. The one that is slightly red,monkey brown, beautiful and pure is called Kshatriya. The Vaishya is a lustrous, pale yellow. TheShudra shines like a polished sword: the experts have classified it into the fourth caste on accountof its shine.”The fortune bringing properties; the inner values of the diamonds were also attributed analogousto their four colours assigned to the four basic castes of India: the diamond of the Brahmin castewas naturally the most valuable, since it is the highest caste. The Kshatriya; the brown diamondbrought all the good qualities of a warrior: courage, physical strength, etc. The Vaishya, thediamond of the tradespeople, brought prosperity and the Shudra, the diamond of the farmer castebrought agricultural prosperity.The Ratnapariksa reports:“the king , who according to what he has been told, wears a beautiful, light, sparkling diamond,possesses a power that triumphs over all other powers and will become the ruler of all theneighbouring land…. he who wears a Kshatriya diamond will have perfect limbs, be valiant, wellbuilt,invincible, a terror for his enemies.Courage, physical and mental vigour, fortune, dexterity and prosperity are the fruits reapedon wearing a Vaishya. Greater yields, abundant prosperity and grains, commodities andaccommodation are obtained on wearing a Shudra. A Shudra also comes at a high price, if it hasgood markings. However, this caste is powerless if the good markings are missing.”The remarks on the Shudra with respect to price and good signs allude to the fact that this casteis actually the lowest caste. In spite of that, even a Shudra can be relatively expensive sinceit brings along good returns, if the markings are good; if the octahedron crystal has eight evensurfaces, twelve sharp edges and six pointed corners.Moreover, the author of the Ratnapariksa writes:
“the dangers of an early death, snakes, fire, enemies, diseases recede far away the momenta house becomes the sojourn of one of the four castes.” Thus, all those who can afford thepossession of diamonds of the best quality in all four colours are then immune to all misfortunes ingeneral. The effect of individual diamonds apparently intensifies when they appear in a completeset.The science of the properties and effects of diamonds was so well-developed in ancient India thatthere were standard reference works for it. The Ratnapariksa refers to the so-called “Ratnashastra”books. Ratna is the Sanskrit name for precious stone. This term is used even today. For instance,there is a city in Sri Lanka called “Ratnapura” (pura = city), which has the famous sapphire minesin its vicinity. The term “Shastra” is also used today and means “Science”. The “Ratnashastra”books, which the author of the Ratnapariksa refers to, were evidently scientific textbooks aboutprecious stones.These textbooks not only contain the classification of different types of inclusions and a descriptionof their effects on the wearer of the diamond, but also the colour of the inclusions and their specificposition in the diamond:“according to the experts in the Ratnashastra books, “the spots occur at three places: on theedges, the angles and the inside of the diamond. When on the inside, there is danger from fire, ifon the edges, then an imminent danger due to snakes, when on the angles (it means) fame. Thisis the experts’ judgement. If there are four kinds of drops (inclusions) in the diamond, they couldmean something good or something bad; they are called avarta, vartika, raktabindu, and yavakrti.The rewards of Avarta include a long and happy life. Vartika health; Raktabindu the loss of wifeand children; Yavakrti exile….red, yellow and white are the colours of the barley-corn (a certain kind of inclusion). We willdescribe the good and the bad of every inclusion. the red barley corn results in the loss ofelephants and horses; the yellow one the breakup of family; the white one – a long life, grains,prosperity, luck.”The science of the properties of diamonds and their effects was virtually infinite in ancient India.Even the position of the folds on the surface of the rough diamonds and all other possible featureshad a specific effect on the wearer of the stone. Although we cannot prove any direct connectionbetween the knowledge of the ancient Indian and the present day value for grading characteristicsof diamonds, it is apparent that there are striking parallels between then and now.The reason for appraising the diamond today is its outstanding status as a gemstone. Its highrefractive index (the diamond has the highest refractive index possible for an optical material:2.42), makes the diamond the only optical material, which can reflect up to 100% of the incidentlight back in the direction it came from.
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Page 15: Thus, it was not only the extremely
Page 19: Unfortunately, King Ludwig XV died
Page 23: The diamond cartel: De Beersin the
Page 26 and 27: In 1872, a buyer from London called
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Page 37 and 38: The dealers, who are members of the
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The diamond in ancient India - Diamantschleiferei Michael Bonke

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