Jewellery: Difference between revisions

The [[Indian subcontinent]] has a long jewellery history, which has gone through various changes via cultural influence and politics for more than 5,000–8,000 years.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Because India had an abundant supply of precious metals and gems, it prospered financially through export and exchange with other countries. While European traditions were heavily influenced by waxing and waning empires, India enjoyed a continuous development of art forms for some 5,000 years.<ref name="Untracht 1997" /> One of the first to start jewellery making were the peoples of the [[Indus Valley civilization]]. By 1500 BC, the peoples of the Indus Valley were creating gold earrings and necklaces, bead necklaces, and metallic [[bangle]]s.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Before 2100 BC, prior to the period when metals were widely used, the largest jewellery trade in the Indus Valley region was the [[bead]] trade. Beads in the Indus Valley were made using simple techniques. First, a bead maker would need a rough stone, which would be bought from an eastern stone trader. The stone would then be placed into a hot oven where it would be heated until it turned deep red, a colour highly prized by people of the Indus Valley. The red stone would then be chipped to the right size and a hole bored through it with primitive drills. The beads were then polished. Some beads were also painted with designs. This art form was often passed down through the family. Children of bead makers often learned how to work beads from a young age. Each stone had its own characteristics related to Hinduism.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

Jewellery in the [[Indus Valley Civilization]] was worn predominantly by females, who wore numerous clay or shell bracelets on their wrists. They were often shaped like doughnuts and painted black. Over time, clay bangles were discarded for more durable ones. In present-day [[India]], bangles are made out of [[metal]] or glass.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tamilnadu.com/fashion/bangles.html |title=Bangles |publisher=Tamilnadu.com |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=14 March 2013 |archive-date=18 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018071805/http://tamilnadu.com/fashion/bangles.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Other pieces that women frequently wore were thin bands of gold that would be worn on the forehead, earrings, primitive brooches, [[choker]]s, and gold rings. Although women wore jewellery the most, some men in the Indus Valley wore beads. Small beads were often crafted to be placed in men and women's hair. The beads were about one millimetre long.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

According to Hindu belief, gold and silver are considered as sacred metals.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Gold is symbolic of the warm sun, while silver suggests the cool moon. Both are the quintessential metals of Indian jewellery. Pure gold does not oxidise or corrode with time, which is why Hindu tradition associates gold with immortality. Gold imagery occurs frequently in ancient Indian literature. In the Vedic Hindu belief of cosmological creation, the source of physical and spiritual human life originated in and evolved from a golden womb (hiranyagarbha) or egg (hiranyanda), a metaphor of the sun, whose light rises from the primordial waters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Untracht |first=Oppi |title=Traditional Jewelry of India |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8109-3886-1 |pages=278 |publisher=Harry N. Abrams}}</ref>

Jewellery had great status with India's royalty; it was so powerful that they established laws, limiting wearing of jewellery to royalty. Only royalty and a few others to whom they granted permission could wear gold ornaments on their feet. This would normally be considered breaking the appreciation of the sacred metals. Even though the majority of the Indian population wore jewellery, [[Maharaja]]s and people related to royalty had a deeper connection with jewellery.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} The [[Maharaja]]'s role was so important that the Hindu philosophers identified him as central to the smooth working of the world. He was considered as a divine being, a deity in human form, whose duty was to uphold and protect dharma, the moral order of the universe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prior |first1=Katherine |last2=Adamson |first2=John |title=Maharajas' Jewels |year=2000 |publisher=Vendome Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-86565-218-7 |pages=12}}</ref> The largest ever single order to [[Cartier (jeweler)#Royalty|Cartier]] was made in 1925 by the [[List of princely states of British India (by region)|Indian royalty]], the [[Maharaja of Patiala]], for the [[Patiala Necklace]] and other {{not a typo|jewellery}} worth {{INRConvert|1000|m|year=1925|to=USD EUR}}.<ref>[https://theprint.in/feature/from-bahadur-shah-zafar-to-the-nizam-of-hyderabad-a-jewellery-brand-for-the-royals/1197972/ From Bahadur Shah Zafar to the Nizam of Hyderabad, a jewellery brand for the royals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930003440/https://theprint.in/feature/from-bahadur-shah-zafar-to-the-nizam-of-hyderabad-a-jewellery-brand-for-the-royals/1197972/ |date=2023-09-30 }}, The Print, 5 Nov 2022.</ref>

[[Navaratna]] (nine gems) is a powerful jewel frequently worn by a [[Maharaja]] (Emperor). It is an amulet, which comprises diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, cat's eye, coral, and hyacinth (red zircon). Each of these stones is associated with a celestial deity, representedrepresenting the totality of the Hindu universe when all nine gems are together. The diamond is the most powerful gem among the nine stones.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} There were various cuts for the gemstone. Indian Kings bought gemstones privately from the sellers. Maharaja and other royal family members value gem as Hindu God.{{What|date=December 2024}} They exchanged gems with people to whom they were very close, especially the royal family members and other intimate allies.

[[India]] was the first country to mine [[diamond]]s, with some mines dating back to 296 BC.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} India traded the diamonds, realising their valuable qualities. Historically, diamonds have been given to retain or regain a lover's or ruler's lost favour, as symbols of tribute, or as an expression of fidelity in exchange for concessions and protection.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Mughal emperors and Kings used the diamonds as a means of assuring their immortality by having their names and worldly titles inscribed upon them. Moreover, it has played and continues to play a pivotal role in Indian social, political, economic, and religious event, as it often has done elsewhere.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} In Indian history, diamonds have been used to acquire military equipment, finance wars, foment revolutions, and tempt defections. They have contributed to the abdication or the decapitation of potentates. They have been used to murder a representative of the dominating power by lacing his food with crushed diamond.{{Cn|date=December 2024}} Indian diamonds have been used as security to finance large loans needed to buttress politically or economically tottering regimes. Victorious military heroes have been honoured by rewards of diamonds and also have been used as ransom payment for release from imprisonment or abduction.<ref>{{cite book |last=Prior |first=Katherine |title=Traditional Jewelry of India |year=2000 |publisher=Vendome |location=New York |pages=312}}</ref>