jewelled legs sustain the platform, access to which is gained by two steps, decorated with salamanders. An elegant balustrade containing inscriptions in panels runs round, and the lofty back, which is one mass of gems, rises to a point in the centre whereupon is fixed a circular star of diamonds, with scintillating rays, made to revolve by a piece of mechanism at the back. On either side of the star are two bejewelled birds, perched on the edges of the back-frame, and facing each other.'[1]
The account which the French jeweler and traveler Tavernier gave of the Peacock Throne of the Moghuls, when he saw it at Delhi in the court of Shah Jahan's son, Aurangzib, in 1665, is important to cite in full because of the question raised by Lord Curzon as to whether the Teheran throne is really the one that was taken from the Moghul capital.[2] Ta vernier's description shows the technical eye of the jeweler and reads as follows:[3]—
'It should be stated that the Great Mogul has seven magnificent thrones, one wholly covered with diamonds, the others with rubies, emeralds, and pearls.
'The principal throne, which is placed in the hall of the first court, is nearly of the form and size of our camp beds[4]; that is to say, it is about 6 feet long and 4 wide. Upon the four feet,[5] which are very mas- sive, and from 20 to 25 inches high,[6] are fixed the four bars which sup- port the base of the throne, and upon these bars are ranged twelve columns, which sustain the canopy on three sides, there not being any on that which faces the court. Both the feet and the bars, which are more than 18 inches long, are covered with gold inlaid and enriched with numerous diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. In the middle of each bar there is a large balass ruby,[7] cut en cahuchon, with four emeralds round it, which
- ↑ Curzon, Persia, 1. 318-319.
- ↑ Tavernier was at Aurangzib's court at Jahanabad (New Delhi) for two months, Sept. 1-Nov. 1, 1665.
- ↑ Tavernir, Travels in India, translated from the original French edition of 1676, by V. Ball, London, 1889, 1. 381-385. For the French edition see Tavernier, Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux Indes, 2. 278-280, Paris, 1676-1678, and compare the early English version, Tavernier, Travels through Turkey and Persia to the Indies, pt. 2, bk. 2, ch. 8, pp. 122-123, London, 1684. The early English version omits a number of the details which are given in the original French and are restored in Ball's recent translation, herewith presented.
- ↑ The French original has 'le grandeur de nos lits de camp.'
- ↑ Observe the number four (not six).
- ↑ The French has ' vingt à vingt-cinq pouces de haut.'
- ↑ That is, from the mines of Badakhshan in Central Asia.
