India has one of the longest continuous jewelry traditions on Earth. Bead makers in the Indus Valley drilled carnelian more than 4,000 years ago, India supplied almost all of the world's diamonds until the 18th century, and Mughal emperors wore some of the largest gems ever recorded. Gold jewelry still carries deep cultural weight in India, worn at weddings, given at festivals and held as family wealth.
Indus Valley beads
The Indus Valley (or Harappan) civilization flourished in what are now Pakistan and northwest India, with its mature phase around 2600 to 1900 BC. Cities such as Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Lothal had workshops that made beads of carnelian, agate, jasper, steatite, shell, faience, copper and gold.
Harappan bead makers made long, slender carnelian beads, sometimes over 10 centimeters, drilled from both ends with hard stone drill bits. Drilling a single long bead may have taken days. They also made etched carnelian beads, with white patterns burned into the red stone using an alkali paste and heat. Etched beads and long carnelian beads from the Indus region turn up in the Royal Cemetery of Ur in Mesopotamia, evidence of trade across the Arabian Sea.
The Gujarat region, home to Lothal and to the Khambhat (Cambay) agate industry, kept making agate and carnelian beads for thousands of years afterward.
Ancient texts and early kingdoms
Early Indian texts describe gems in some depth. The Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft traditionally linked with the Maurya period, discusses gems, pearls and the testing of gold. Sanskrit gem texts known as ratnashastra classify stones by quality and flaws and describe beliefs about lucky and unlucky gems.
Sculptures from Buddhist sites such as Sanchi and Bharhut, and from later Hindu temples, show people loaded with jewelry: heavy necklaces, armlets, anklets, belts, earrings that stretched the earlobes, and jeweled headdresses. India's trade with Rome brought Roman gold coins to south India, where hoards have been found, in exchange for pepper, pearls, beryl and other goods.
Diamonds of Golconda
For most of history, nearly every diamond known in Europe and Asia came from India, with Borneo a small second source. The richest deposits were alluvial gravels along the Krishna River and its tributaries in the Deccan, in what is now Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The fortress city of Golconda, near Hyderabad, was the trading center, and "Golconda" became a byword for great wealth and for diamonds of exceptional transparency.
Famous stones traditionally attributed to these mines include the Koh-i-Noor, the Hope diamond (cut from the Tavernier Blue), the Regent and the Darya-i-Noor. The French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier visited the mines in the 17th century and described them. Indian diamond supply declined in the 18th century, about when Brazilian diamonds were found. The Golconda diamond mines page covers the deposits and their history.
Mughal jewels
The Mughal dynasty ruled much of the subcontinent from the early 16th century to the 18th century. Mughal emperors combined Persian and Central Asian court culture with Indian workshop skill, and their jewelry reflects both. Emperors wore turban ornaments (sarpech) with aigrettes, strings of large pearls and emeralds, armbands and rings, and thumb rings of jade for archery.
The Mughals loved large, smooth stones over bright faceting. Emeralds, many from Colombia via Spanish and Portuguese trade, were carved with flowers or inscriptions. Large red spinels were engraved with the names of emperors such as Jahangir and Shah Jahan. White and green nephrite jade was carved into dagger hilts, cups and plaques and inlaid with gold and stones. Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne, covered in gems, was taken to Persia by Nader Shah in 1739, a story told on our Persian jewelry page.
Kundan setting
Kundan is a traditional Indian method of setting stones in highly refined gold. The setter builds up layers of pure gold foil around the stone, pressing and burnishing the soft gold into place without claws or a pre-made bezel. Because 24-karat gold can bond to itself cold, the foil can be worked into a setting with no visible join.
Kundan pieces often have enamel on the reverse, a style called meenakari, with Jaipur long known as a center. Stones in kundan work were frequently foil-backed to boost their color, and many were flat-cut or table-cut, sometimes called polki for uncut or lightly cut diamonds. Kundan jewelry is still made for weddings and is a mainstay of Rajasthani and north Indian bridal sets.
Navaratna
The navaratna is a jewel set with nine gems linked to the nine celestial bodies of Hindu astrology (the navagraha). The usual set is:
| Gem | Celestial body |
|---|---|
| Ruby | Sun |
| Pearl | Moon |
| Red coral | Mars |
| Emerald | Mercury |
| Yellow sapphire | Jupiter |
| Diamond | Venus |
| Blue sapphire | Saturn |
| Hessonite garnet | Rahu (ascending lunar node) |
| Cat's eye chrysoberyl | Ketu (descending lunar node) |
The ruby usually sits in the center. Navaratna jewelry is worn in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar as a traditional auspicious design, and in Thailand it became a royal order. Its meaning belongs to religious and astrological tradition; see gemstone meanings for more folklore of this kind.
Temple jewelry
Temple jewelry comes from south India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It began as ornaments for deities in Hindu temples and for temple dancers. Pieces are usually gold or gilded silver, with images of gods and goddesses, peacocks and lotus flowers, set with rubies, emeralds and pearls or with imitations. Classical dancers of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi wear temple jewelry sets on stage today, and bridal versions are popular in south India.
Gold in Indian culture
Gold holds a special place in Indian life. Families give gold to brides, and that jewelry has traditionally been a woman's own property and financial security. Festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya and Dhanteras are considered auspicious days to buy gold. Indian jewelry is usually 22-karat, a richer and softer gold than the 14 or 18 karat common in Western jewelry (see yellow gold for the karat system). India has long been one of the largest consumers of gold in the world.
Different regions have their own styles: filigree from Odisha (Cuttack), meenakari from Jaipur, Nizami jewelry from Hyderabad with its pearls and polki diamonds, and thewa from Rajasthan, which fuses gold sheet onto colored glass.
India and modern diamond cutting
India returned to the center of the diamond trade in the late 20th century. Surat in Gujarat grew into the world's main center for cutting small diamonds, as described on the Gujarat and Surat page. Jaipur is a major center for colored stone cutting.
Frequently asked questions
What is kundan jewelry?
Kundan is a traditional Indian setting method in which layers of pure gold foil are pressed around a stone to hold it. The back is often decorated with colorful meenakari enamel.
What are the nine gems of the navaratna?
They are ruby, pearl, red coral, emerald, yellow sapphire, diamond, blue sapphire, hessonite garnet and cat's eye chrysoberyl, each linked to a celestial body in Hindu astrology.
Did most early diamonds come from India?
Yes. Apart from small alluvial finds in Borneo, India supplied nearly all diamonds until deposits were found in Brazil in the 18th century. Golconda was the most famous trading center.
Why is Indian gold jewelry usually 22 karat?
Indian tradition favors high-purity gold for its rich color and its role as stored wealth. 22-karat gold is about 91.7 percent gold, purer than the 14 or 18 karat common in Western jewelry.