Diamond Mining and Trade in South India in the Seventeenth Century

Abstract

India was one of the leading sources of diamonds known to Europeans in the early modern world, and as such it occupied an important position in the networks of trade in the Indian Ocean. However, despite this importance, not much is known about the organisation of its production and the networks of its distribution, or of its overall economic importance. This essay attempts to study the production and trade of diamonds in south India in the seventeenth century on the basis of English and Dutch commercial records. The diamond industry attracted both European and Asian traders during the course of this century, making it an important sphere of employment generation in the non-agricultural sector, and for the development of specialised labour skills in this period.