Hyderabad City of Pearls

by Louis Werner

Once retrieved from the fastness of the sea, pearls in those days reached India in two ways: from the Gulf of Mannar in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) via the south Indian city of Madurai, and from the Arabian Gulf via the port of Goa. The French jeweler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who made four sales trips to India in the late 17th century, preferred to do business in Goa?then controlled by the Portuguese?because it was a free market. Elsewhere, whoever ruled generally had first choice in the market and the last word on price.

Marco Polo described the situation he found in India 400 years earlier. "The best of the diamonds and other large gems, as well as the pearls, are all carried to the Great Khan and other Kings and Princes of those regions. In truth they possess all the great treasures of the world."

Then, the finest quality pearls were said to be Ceylonese; they were uniformly white, and they were rare. Ibn Battuta visited the island in 1344 and recounted a meeting with the king. "One day I went to him while there lay about a large number of pearls. His men were busy sorting and classifying the best. 'Have you seen any pearl fishing in the countries you come from?' he asked. 'Yes, on the islands of Gays and Kish in the Arabian Gulf,' I said. Then he picked up a few and asked, 'Are their pearls like these?' 'They are inferior,' I replied. He was delighted and said, "These pearls are yours. Don't be shy, you can demand of me as many as you desire."

Today, Ceylonese pearls are unknown in Hyderabad, but the slightly yellowish ones from the Arabian Gulf, known as Basra pearls, are readily available both in newly restrung necklaces and in precious old settings. Dealer Madan Mohan, whose great-grandfather Raja Bhagwandas was the sixth nizam's jeweler, financier and friend, remembers as a child holding one in his hand the size of a chicken egg, weighing more than half a pound.

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