Read Book Online : http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924006140374#page/n3/mode/2up

Download pdf Book : http://ia311003.us.archive.org/3/items/cu31924006140374/cu31924006140374.pdf

...about the Peacock Throne : http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924006140374#page/n53/mode/2up

I read through a discription of a famine in Gujarath and Deccan..it is heart breaking..also the steps taken by the emperor to help out.. Compared to this the performance of British India during famine was shameful..one important feature in the last sixty years of Zindependence is we have managed our famine very well than anytime before in History..

Thank you Subbiah for the information about the Peacock Throne taken from the 'Badshah Nama'. It is amazing how much wealth there was in India at that time and I wonder where did it all disappear. We know where the Koh-i-Noor is but how about the remaining diamonds, rubies and other precious stones. All stolen?

The world's wealth kept pouring into India for centuries altogather on account of something that was unique to us.SPICES and DIAMONDS. Till 1890 India was the only known source of diamonds to the world.Some of the largest and most celebrated diamonds were mined in Golconda.Including the koh-i-noor (literally mountain of light), great Mughal, Orlov, Pigot, Regent,sancy, Hope,Nassak, Darya-i-Noor (sea of light),Wittelsbach,Idol's eye,Indore Pears, Shah, Akbar Shah, Shah-Jahan table cut,Arcots,Polar Star, Tereschenko, Queen of Holland,Archduke Joseph, Princie,Agra, Dresden Green and the Nizam. Each has a unique story and history but all came from Golconda. The grand palaes of Venice came into being purely on spice trade from India. Before England became the master of the high seas , Venice was a great sea-faring region of guilds of merchants home to an advanced and refined navy. Starnise is the only tropical spice which is un-Indian, it is native to the East Indies.Rest all exotic spices came from the Malabar coast . The kings of South India full well realised it's worth and were jealously guarding their spice plantations.Such was their control that even Sri Lanka did not have access to grow these spices. The Roman emperors received envoys from India from the courts of the south Indian kings on outstanding balance of payment issues with regard to spices ! Rosemary (is of Syrian origin) , Dil and Oregano are European , Heeng (Asofotida) came from Afghanistan.Ginger came from the west Indies.Saunf (Aniseed) came from Egypt. But it was Black and white pepper which was worth it's weight in gold in Europe for a very long time. Sugar was invented by India and ninety five per-cent of spices are native to India.It was not until much later that sugar began to be extracted from beet-root.Sugarcane is native to India too.Later the British started sugar-cane plantations elsewhere. Until the new world was discovered chillies were un-known.Mexico has almost 200 kinds of chillies today but India is now the largest producer and consumer of chillies.The spiciest mirchi called Bhootadi Jhampa is now grown in India in the north east. List of all spices, meat, game, vegetables, fruit ,wine,kinds of cloth and kinds of tents (twon storey tents with ventilation !) , crockery is available to us of the Mughal period It is an exhaustive list but understandably chillies are missing because the new world was yet to be discovered. The Last Mughal emperor became extremely fond of chillies (brought by the British during his 'reign' ). Each time he had it in his kebabs he developed stomach trouble given his advanced age ! The British destroyed India's centuries old monopoly on spice trade forever. They began plantations of the spices in Madagascar , East Indies , Indo-China and Mandalay. Coloured gems both precious and semi-precious , pearls from Basra ,silks from China, ivory, gold kept pouring into India from trade in spices primarily by the sea route and also via the ancient silk route. The Mughal wealth of gem-stones came from plundering South Indian king-doms primarily and so did those of the northern provincial Rajput and later Maratha kingdoms through war and peace (exchange of daughters). India never had mines of rubies/spinels, emeralds or blue-sapphire but has probably the largest collection of precious gem-stones and gold in pvt possession in ther world.Indian obsession with gem-stones and studded jewellry again can be attributed to the Mughal period. Until the Mughals arrived gem-stones were used as eyes for idols in temples and for royal and jewellry for idols in temples.Jadau (studded) jewellry. meenakari (enamelling) and kundan reached their zenith during the Mughal period.Jaipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Lahore were it's main centres. Zari making became concentrated in Surat and Persian carpet in Kashmir later Jaipur and what is now Mirzapur in UP. Benares became a centre of silk production with and without zari in weaving. India and China in the 17th and 18th centuries controlled 65-70% of the world trade. Life is coming full circle....in the latter part of this century and the next and it so seems they shall do so all over again !

Excellent write up, an eye-opener. Thank you, Digvijay.