How is the Shah diamond connected to Griboyedov?

The precious stone was discovered and processed back in the 15th century, it belonged to the Great Mughals and Persians. Share: Yuri Tynyanov wrote “The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar” 100 years after the defeat of the Russian mission in Tehran, the death of Griboedov and the conciliatory visit of Khozrev-Mirza to St. Petersburg and 90 years before our days. But this is what a great, magnificent writer means! It is through his eyes that we see the massacre at the embassy, ​​and the cooling headless corpse of the ambassador, which is dragged along the dusty streets, and the dimly glowing diamond, which became the price of “eternal oblivion” of Emperor Nicholas. We can read as much as we like the report of First Secretary Maltsov – the only one who escaped during the pogrom of the diplomatic mission, or the note of Prince Suleiman Melikov – the nephew of one of the killed, all the same, a beautiful and terrible Tynyanov text appears in our memory. Be that as it may, on January 30 (Julian calendar) 1829, an angry crowd broke into the premises of the Russian embassy and killed everyone who was there. It is not known for certain whether Feth Ali Shah incited the imams, who inflamed the mob, or whether the clergy convinced the Shah that it was time to end things with Griboyedov. To the question “For what?” – there is also no definite answer. Griboedov went to Persia to collect the indemnity due under the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty. But not only. Russia won the war, acquired new lands and new subjects, and Persia should not have prevented the Armenians in particular from returning home if they so wished. They showed up. The Russian ambassador, or, as he was then called, the resident minister, received petitions. Griboyedov demanded the return of new Russian Armenians. There is an assumption that he exceeded his authority and did not comply with the customs of the country, since the petitioners were the Shah’s wife from the harem and the eunuch guarding the same institution. And supposedly his behavior was so outrageous that the massacre at the embassy was a natural reaction to that. Alexander Griboyedov. (Wikimedia Commons) Well, let’s say this is the unfortunately usual blaming of the victim. The Russian representative acted within the framework of the treaty and had every right to demand that the interests of his state and its subjects be respected. Persia, already devastated by the war, had incredible difficulty paying off the victors. 20 million rubles. indemnities threatened to deprive it of economic independence. Europe was worried. Great Britain (Mrs. Zakharova, sign up for your conduit!) convinced the Shah not to give up. There was a feeling of humiliation within Persia. The pogrom of the embassy could have let off steam, but it is unlikely that the Shah’s court did not realize the possible consequences. Emperor Nicholas, a slave of honor and a great idealist, could well have started a new war, even to the detriment of his own power. To the detriment, because Russia has been at war with Turkey for almost a year. Nesselrode, who was in charge of foreign affairs, was extremely concerned about the Tehran massacre. He already knew the character of his boss and therefore immediately began to negotiate with Tehran the conditions and form of a “sincere apology.” Feth Ali Shah, believing that the Russians would both see and kill his envoy, sent the most wicked of his grandchildren, the second son of the heir’s second wife, that same Khozrev-Mirza, to St. Petersburg, burdening him with valuable gifts: carpets, ancient manuscripts, a necklace for empress, a saber for the crown prince, jewelry for the grand duchesses and a Mughal diamond weighing more than 88 carats. Khozrev was not killed, but was greeted, perhaps even disproportionately to his rank. He attended dinners and receptions, went to the theater, lived in the Tauride Palace, in the garden of which, as Gogol claimed, he met the runaway nose of Major Kovalev and “was very surprised at this strange play of nature.” Bringing gifts, he himself was not left without gifts: Persia received guns and other valuable achievements of the West. Diamond “Shah”. Soviet postage stamp. (Wikimedia Commons) After reading the letter of apology aloud, the emperor announced that the bloody incident was forever forgotten. For contemporaries and descendants, the symbol of this oblivion was a heavy diamond, called “Shah”. It was discovered and processed back in the 15th century, it hung on the canopy of the Peacock Throne of the Great Mughals until their empire collapsed and in the 18th century the throne with the stone migrated to Persia. When Nicholas transferred the stone to the treasury of the Winter Palace, they did not bother to properly describe it, and only in 1922, when “The Shah” ended up in the Diamond Fund, did Academician Fersman subject the diamond to scientific study. Natural and artificial edges, engraved inscriptions, amazing stamps – they were made using a very complex and labor-intensive technology, like the famous thread groove – all this fascinates scientists of various specialties. But for us this stone is Griboedov’s diamond. Forever. But here’s another thing. The surviving diplomat Ivan Maltsov founded a glass production in the city of Gus. Then he began to make crystal there, similar to Bohemian. And see if you have a glass in your sideboard or cabinet, in the edges of which there is a fleeting reflection of the Tehran tragedy? In the collection of the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin, among many magnificent jewelry, there is an oblong diamond the size of a little finger, on which some mysterious writing is clearly visible. This is a diamond (although historically the artifact appears under the word “diamond”, it is actually a diamond, since this gemstone is cut) called “Shah”. Once upon a time, this precious stone weighing 88.7 carats was valued at 80 thousand rubles in gold – a fantastic amount at that time. And times were difficult. Indian jewelers believed that a diamond of the highest quality should have six points, eight faces and twelve edges. Moreover, all of them must be sharp, even and straight, giving the cut stone the shape of an octahedron – an octahedron. In this case, the diamond must have the characteristics of “pure water”, that is, be colorless and transparent, indistinguishable if placed in water. However, “Shah” did not fully meet the specified parameters, and therefore almost immediately after processing it was sold to Burhan II, the eastern ruler of the Ahmednagar Sultanate, located on the western coast of the Hindustan Peninsula. This ruler appreciated the unusually shaped stone, which reminded him of the finger of Allah, after which he decided to inscribe inscriptions in his honor on the face of the precious stone. In 1591, the diamond was transferred to a stone-cutting workshop, where an unknown, but objectively very outstanding master (it must be said that a diamond is the hardest substance found in nature, 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, putting an inscription or image on it is very difficult and time-consuming, therefore it is difficult to say for certain how long it took the master to apply the inscription on its surface) he engraved an inscription on it in Arabic script, which in Russian transcription is pronounced like this: “Brhan sani Nzmshah 1000 snr.” Translated, this means: “Burkhan the Second Nizam Shah, 1000” (Nizam Shah is the second name of the Sultan, which means “Lord of Order”). It was not for nothing that the precious stone reminded the Sultan of the finger of Allah, since diamonds with inscriptions can be counted on one’s fingers, and one of them, “Shah,” is today on display at the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin. After some time, Burhan II was attacked by a warlike neighbor, Shah Akbar from the Mughal dynasty. After the victory, a distant descendant of the formidable Tamerlane appropriated all Burkhan’s treasures, among which was the “Shah”. For several decades, the diamond was kept in the treasury of the Great Mughals until it attracted the attention of Akbar’s grandson, Jahan. Fascinated by the unusualness of the stone, he ordered a second inscription to be carved on the other side of the diamond, this time in his honor. In transcription, it literally reads like this: “Ibn Jhangir Shah Jhan Shah 1051,” which translated means: “Son of Jihangir Shah Jehan Shah, 1051” (that is, 1641 translated from Muslim to the usual chronology). In 1665, “The Shah” was first seen by a European – the French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who visited India several times on commercial and diplomatic affairs. Jahan’s son, Aurangzeb, with an oriental flourish, gave him diamonds, gold and gems, and allowed him to inspect the palace and the famous “Peacock Throne”. Tavernier left notes in which he mentioned that the Shah diamond was always before Aurangzeb’s eyes when he sat on the “Peacock Throne”. After some time, the diamond mysteriously disappeared from the Shah’s palace and only 150 years later appeared in Tehran, where its unique glory haunted another eastern ruler. In 1826, the Persian ruler Feth Ali Shah ordered another inscription to be inscribed on the free face of the diamond. In Russian transcription it reads like this: “Skhbkran Qajar Fth’li shah alstan 1242.” And it is translated as follows: “Lord Qajar Feth Ali Shah Sultan, 1242.” In the first third of the 1829th century, there were difficult political relations between Russia and Iran (Persia), which had to be regulated by diplomat Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov, the author of the famous play “Woe from Wit,” who served as envoy in Tehran. However, in XNUMX, an angry crowd of Muslim fanatics, provoked by the enemies of Russia, tore to pieces a Russian writer and the head of the diplomatic mission. The murder of the ambassador could automatically imply a declaration of war, therefore, in order to soften the anger of the Russian Tsar Nicholas I and stop the proposed war, an Iranian delegation with rich gifts was sent to the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg. Among the gifts presented was the Shah diamond – in fact, it was the price of the blood of the great poet and diplomat, as well as the price of peace on the eastern borders of the empire. In 1898, in the inventory of the Russian crown jewels, number 38/37, the following text was listed: “Solitaire (as large diamonds were called in the old days) Khozrev-Mirza, irregular facet (cut) – 86 7/16 carats. Presented in 1829 by the Persian prince Khozrev-Mirza and delivered for safekeeping from the city minister Imp. Dvora with letter No. 3802.” After 1917, the diamond from the safe basement of the Winter Palace was delivered to Moscow to the Diamond Fund, where it is still located. Today, difficult times seem to be repeating themselves again, and the murder of the Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov by an Islamic radical brings to mind certain associations. Diplomats from both countries say that the incident will not be the beginning of any catastrophic events, but it is interesting what the price of a diplomat’s blood will be today and what material, political, economic or strategic gifts the Turks will present in connection with the event. After all, they won’t “get off with tomatoes” this time either.