Colour of Paradise : The Emerald in the Age of Gunpowder Empires

by Kris Lane

• ISBN13: 9780300161311
• ISBN10: 030016131X
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2010-04-27
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Among the magnificent gems and jewels left behind by the great Islamic empires, emeralds stand out for their size and prominence. For the Mughals, Ottomans, and Safavids green wasas it remains for all Muslimsthe color of Paradise, reserved for the Prophet Muhammad and his descendants. Tapping a wide range of sources, Kris Lane traces the complex web of global trading networks that funneled emeralds from backland South America to populous Asian capitals between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries. Lane reveals the bloody conquest wars and forced labor regimes that accompanied their production. It is a story of trade, but also of transformationshow members of profoundly different societies at opposite ends of the globe assigned value to a few thousand pounds of imperfectly shiny green rocks.

Author Biography

Kris Lane is professor of history at the College of William and Mary. His previous books include Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500–1750 and Quito 1599: City & Colony in Transition.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. viii
Preface	p. x
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Sacred Origins	p. 23
Conquistadors	p. 44
Emerald City	p. 65
Empires and Inquisitors	p. 93
Globetrotters	p. 125
Emeralds of the Shahs	p. 143
Tax Dodgers and Smugglers	p. 161
Twilight of Imperial Emeralds	p. 189
Conclusion	p. 204
Postscript: From British Adventurers to Today's Esmeralderos	p. 210
Note on Weights and Measures	p. 224
Appendices: Production, Appraisal and Brazil's Fabled Emerald Range	p. 226
Notes	p. 248
Bibliography	p. 265
Index	p. 275
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