A city that holds the title to have the most beautifully crafted mausoleum Taj Mahal, a city that reminds us of the undying love of a King for his queen, a city that gives hope to people to believe in love, shares its name with one of world's most precious and controversial diamonds..! .
The origins of this diamond are still debatable. The first reference we could get on this diamond is from 1526 when Babur (Mughal King) had defeated the King of Gwalior named Rajah. Babur decided to set free the defeated King Rajah and his family. King Rajah at this point handed his precious jewels to Babur in appreciation of Babur leaving them alive.
It is from this day on we could find the reference of the precious Agra Diamond. This light pink diamond was called Agra as the battle between Babur and Rajah had taken place in the city of Agra. It is known that Babur used to wear this diamond in his Turban as a piece of jewel. At that point the diamond had weighed around 41 carats.
This diamond was passed from Babur to his successors and eventually Agra found its way to Europe. The journey of Agra from the Royal Courtyards of Mughals to the finest streets of London are still a mystery to the connoisseurs of diamonds. There had been many stories behind the travel of Agra from India to Europe. One of the most published stories is that of Agra being fed in a ball to a horse who upon arrival to Europe died and the soldiers took the diamond out and sold it to someone who further sold it to a celebrated London jeweler and author Edwin W. Streeter. Edwin W. Streeter was a well known and established jeweler of his time and he had to answer a lot of questions in 1895 when a lawsuit was filed against him and his Agra. From an American citizen who claimed his right on Agra stating it weighed 71 carats initially to a young man who claimed he was a true personage the Agra indeed lived many unknown lives. Bought and sold many times this diamond has lived with some of the biggest names in history.
Finally recognized and certified by GIA (Gemological Institute of America ) Agra is a 28.15 carats light pink colored diamond at VSI2 clarity. Today it rests in safe custody of SIBA corporation in Hong Kong who purchased this diamond after a fierce bidding over phone. The last calculated value of this diamond is over 4,070,000.00 British Pounds.
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