Mogul gold, jewelled The Peacock Throne en.wikipedia.org |
Nadir Shah of Persia who looted Peacock throne. searchpp.com |
The Peacock Throne was a famous gold covered jewelled throne that was the seat of the Mughal emperors of India. It was specially made in the early 17th century by emperor Shah Jahan and it became the symbol of susequent Mogul rule in India and was safely kept within the confines of well guarded Red Fort in Delhi.
Emperor Shah Jahan ruled his empire effectively and his reign saw the pennacle of Mogul power and prosperity. Further, the earned the good will of all sections of people including Hindus and poor Muslims. The peacock throne was just like Solomon's throne to under score his position of royal king of justice ' Large amouts of solid gold, precious stones, pearls, etc were used to make this extravagant throne and it took roughly seven years for the emperor's imperial gold smiths
Said Gilani and his workmen to complete the work
It was a wonderful piece of Mogul aristry and workmanship ever created, unsurpassed in beauty and skill. The cost, it is believed, could have been twice that of the cost of building the Taj by Shah Jehan' With great fanfare the inagural ceremony was held on March 22, 1635 an auspicious day coinciding with Eid-al-Fitr, the end of Ramdan. In apppreciation of his gratitude and good work the Emperor showred honors on the master imperial gold smith Gilani besides gold equivalent to his weight.
After Shah Jehan, the successors of the Mogul Empire were not efficient and sensitive to the sentiments of various sections of population including jats and Rajputs.By the time Muhammad Shah came to power, Mughal power was in serious trouble.
Mogul gold, jewelled The Peacock Throne.Emperor Akbar in durbar, |
Famous peacock throne taken away by Nadir Shah of Persia in 1739:
In the Peacock Throne, the four bars at the base of the throne were inlaid with gold and enriched with numerous diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The intervals between rubies and emeralds were covered with diamonds. There were similar decorations all around the throne. Ta-vernier counted 108 rubies, all cabochons, weighing 100 to 200 carats each and 110 emeralds weighing 30-60 carats each on the great throne. In this connection Ta vernier wrote:
The underside of the canopy is covered with diamonds and pearls, with a fringe of pearl all round, and above the canopy, small dome, there is a peacock with elevated tail made of blue sapphires and other colored stones. The body of the peacock is made of gold inlaid with precious stones;a large ruby in front of the breast, with pear-shaped pearl of 50 carats . On both sides of the peacock there is a large bouquet of many kinds of flowers, made of gold inlaid with precious stones. . . .The cost of the famous throne has been variously estimated, at the value of rupees at that time, as Rs. 4 crore (Bernier) to Rs. 10 crore (Tavernier). It is presently on display in a maximum security Royal Museum of Iran in Teheran.
According to The Tribune's 2000 report the peacock throne was worth $810 million USD (Rs 4.5 billion).