Hyderabad: If they were mined in Kollur-Paritala of Guntur and Krishna district why are they called Golconda Diamonds? Historians claim that the Qutub Shahis — who conquered the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions — transferred the diamonds to Golconda, their headquarters, and traded the gems from this location.
Ms S. Pushpa Sambi Reddy, responsible for extensive research on the diamonds mines, says, “In fact, there were no diamonds available in the Golconda area. It is clearly written in records that they were all mined in Kollur and Paritala.
Historians say around 38 diamond mines existed in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. The Qutub Shahis and Nizams became rich because of these gems mined across the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
“In 1520, Qutub Shah 1 fought for Bezavada and then Eluru, followed by Kondaveedu and Bellamkonda and the Golconda empire in 1530. Paritala and Kollur are parts of Bellamkonda mandal,” she adds.
Jean Baptist Tavernier from France, visited Kollur in 1652 AD and in his book Tavernier’s Travels in India, claims that about 60,000 people were employed to work in the Kollur diamond mines.
