Nasik, a city of the state of Maharashtra situated near the source of the river Godavari. Nasik is considered to be a sacred place for Hindus. Involvement of Nasik with the gods Rama and Shiva is manifested in the assortment of temples that dot its dusky landscape. The town is accredited with the story of Rama`s deport and nomadic, and with his wife Sita`s abduction by Ravana. Mythically the city is said to have received its name from an episode in the Hindu epic Ramayana. In that episode the nose (nasika) of Shurpanaka, the ogress was cut off by Rama`s brother, Laxmana.

With this venerated town the history of the Nassak diamond begins, from which it seems to have derived its name. Another discovery from the Golconda mines, this stone is an additional example of the earlier wealth of Indian temples. The stone is suspected to have been the eye of a Shiva idol in one of the shrines in Nasik. It is said that a Maratha chief entrenched the diamond there by, but as time passed and the Maratha Empire began to deteriorate, it was stolen. It finally became the property of the ruling Peshwas, Bajirao II, after passing through several hands. The British fought and defeated the Peshwas in 1818, in an intolerant bid to reinforce their empire, storming their forested palace. Emeralds, diamonds, pale pink rubies, drinking cups of gold and coffers of shimmering pearls dazzled the domineering Englishmen who ransacked chests after chests of treasures. The unfortunate Peshwa tried his best to hide the Nassak diamond. Colonel Briggs who was in charge of the plunder smoothly takes possession of the prized booty along with all the other jewels of Peshwa. All of these were taken to Governor-General Warren Hastings who was commander-in-chief of the forces in India.

Hastings handed over this stunning gem to the East India Company. After its possession the East India Company held the most desirable position of taking into it and became almost richest colony of the empire. In order to follow the routine procedures, the East India Company had the Nassak sent to England. This triangular shaped stone weighed 89 carats at that time and had been cut in an old Indian style that did nothing for its brilliance.

George III who ceremoniously passed it on to the distinguished firm of Rundell & Bridge, the crown jewelers, received the Nassak. The crown jewelers Rundell & Bridge were aware of the difference of that finer. This task needs to be skillfully carried out. The resulting precious stone was reduced to 80.59 carats, which was a loss of a little less than 10 per cent. Emmanuel Brothers, the London jewelers, bought the Nassak, during the time of a national financial depression in July 1831, for a shockingly low sum of £7,200.This was a third of the gem`s estimated price and the new owners were in all likelihood proud to have made an authentic investment for a mere meager amount.

On July 20, 1837 afterward, the glittering Nassak came up for auction at Willis`s Rooms in London. `The Times` reported that the room was "filled with all the cognoscenti in precious stones and all the principal dealers, attracted by the announcement that the celebrated `Nassak` diamond, the `Arcot` diamonds and a variety of most other costly diamonds and pearls, the property of the late Mr. Bridge, of Ludgate Hill, would be sold by auction by Mr. Sharp. The sale commenced at 3 o`clock." The first marquis of Westminster was the person, who purchased the Nassak, as well as the two pear-shaped Arcot diamonds.

The marquis wore the lustrous Nassak in the hilt of his dress-sword on the prestigious occasion of Queen Victoria`s eighteenth birthday reception. The occasion took place soon after her ascension to the throne of England in 1837. Before the second Marquis of Westminster sold it to the famous Parisian jeweller, Georges Mauboussin, the diamond remained in his family till 1926.

Again Mauboussin tried to sell the Nassak in Europe. But his efforts were to no avail. He dispatched the gem to the United States of America, in order to explore a new market and designating it as an artistic antique`, meant for showcasing. This caused a rumpus among American jewelry dealers who knew that he had cleverly labeled it as an antique to avoid excise duties.

In 1940 the Nassak was then sent back to Paris. Harry Winston Inc the New York jewelry firm purchased it in Paris. It then made its second passage to America. Winston offered it an emerald cut, which resulted it, weighed 43.38 carats, retaining its triangular shape. He sold it to another New York jeweler, who in turn sold it in 1944 to Mrs William M Leeds. She had it set in a ring embroidered with two tapered baguettes.

The Nassak came up for auction again on April 16, 1970. This time the auction took place at the Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc in New York. In a matter of minutes, Edward Hand of Greenwich, Connecticut, bought the gem for a sum of $500,000. In an interview later, Edward Hand said, "I think it was a bargain. 1 was prepared to go as high as $750,000." This purchase, created history in diamond sales at that time, as the Nassak had been sold for a price that was the second highest ever paid for a gem. Richard Burton paid the highest when he bought the fabulous 69.40-carat pear-shaped diamond for his wife Elizabeth Taylor only a year earlier. The first to break the million-dollar mark was the Taylor-Burton diamond and it was bought for a grand sum of SI.05 million.

The sales of gemstones began to recognize spectacular prices only after the sixties. The figures recorded at one auction were completely obscured by the knock of the hammer at another. The Nassak too finally broke away from the disappointing sale prices from a purely economic perspective, that it had attracted in the past and came into its own as a superlative gem of great value in the intensely competitive auction of 1970.

Later, Bulgari, the famous jewellery firm of Italy, and J & S. S De Young, the Boston estate goods firm, bought the gem jointly. In 1977, the king of Saudi Arabia, Khalid bins Abdulaziz Al-Saud bought it from them. Head of the international Mouawad Company that specializes in fine jewellery Robert Mouawad later bought it. Even today, Mouawad possesses one of the most significant collections of historically famous diamonds including the wonders like Indore Pears, Jubilee, Queen of Holland and Tereschenko.

After its great journeys all over the world, the Nassak`s association with India has become almost fantastic and as no observer of history founds, it remains an abiding symbol of the plunder that divested India of so much of its wealth under the insatiable canopy of the British Raj.