Notes
Notes Notes for Chapter 1 1. In Western lapidary tradition, “precious stones” are considered to be diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires (with pearls sometimes added, although they are not technically stones). All other gemstones are considered “semiprecious.” This dichotomy is somewhat misleading because semiprecious stones can actually be more valuable than precious stones, but I retain the terms in this book because they are commonly employed by Jaipur jewelers and the distinction itself was an important factor in the industry’s evolution. 2. For a portrait of a leading Jain family in the diamond business in Mumbai and Gujarat, see Piramal 1997. 3. Without doubt the most distinguished existing example of an anthropological study of an Indian business is David Rudner’s Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India: The Nattukottai Chettiars (1994). His book differs from this study in its South Indian locale and its focus on banking and on a particular caste. 4. The most accessible version of this idea is probably to be found in Part One of Parsons and Shils 1952. 5. For a brief overview of the field, see Jordon 2003. Notes for Chapter 2 1. The exchange rate at the time of my research was roughly 50 rupees per US dollar. 2. “Jewellers” is spelled without an apostrophe in the Association’s name. In this book I utilize the American spellings of jewelry and jeweler except when reproducing the word as spelled in quoted written material. 3. For an account of some of the principal trading castes of Rajasthan, see Babb 2004 and Ellis 1991. 4. Readers wishing to learn more about Jainism could do no better than to consult Jaini 1979 and Dundas 2002. 5. Shvetambars can worship in Digambar temples, but not vice versa. This is because Digambar Jains cannot worship images that depict the Tirthankaras as anything but completely nude. 195 196 Notes to Chapter 3 6. I found it very difficult to pin down a number. Several respondents speculated that there are about 15,000 Gujarati polishers in Jaipur today, but this number seems wildly high to me. 7. I thank Varsha Joshi for details about the background of the caste in a personal communication. For other references, see S. Gahlot and Dhar 1989, 263–64; Vyås and D. Gahalot 1992, 136. Notes for Chapter 3 1. It is possible, in fact, that much of the Egyptian material was green beryl, not genuine emerald (Ward 2001, 4–6). 2. For the story of one of these immigrant jeweler families, see Mukim 1992. 3. My thanks to Mahopadhyay Vinaysågar for helping clarify this matter . The date of completion is indicated in an inscription in the temple; it is reproduced in Vinaysågar 2005, 309–10. 4. Most of the details presented here about Banjilal’s life were obtained through interviews with family members. As is common in ordinary discourse and writing in Hindi, I refer to him (and to others) in what follows using the first name instead of the surname. The honorific suffix “ji” would ordinarily be added to the name (“Banjilal-ji”), but I believe this would be awkward for most English readers and have left the suffix off. As will be obvious from the text, no disrespect is intended. 5. Agency houses were partnership businesses through which most private trade was conducted in the British India of this period. In Radhe Shyam Rungta’s words, they “combined all sorts of diversified operations, such as ship-building, house owning, farming, banking, bill broking, insurance, etc.” They were “the characteristic units of private British trade” and possessed immense capital resources (1970, 5–6). 6. In an article dealing with the fate of the Maharaja’s treasure (“Slice of History: Maharaja’s Jewels and their Honest Custodian”) published in the Sunday Magazine Section of The Tribune (Chandigarh) and dated November 1, 2003, K. R. N. Swami tells of how Rosenthal was in the forty-car cavalcade that brought the Maharaja from Srinagar to Jammu in October of 1947. Rosenthal later remarked on the Maharaja’s melancholy silence during the journey. After Banjilal’s death in 1929, Victor Rosenthal continued to work in partnership in various projects with Banjilal’s son, Sundarlal, until his death. When Victor died, apparently in the early 1960s, his brother’s son, Jean Rosenthal inherited his business and all his Indian contacts. Previously Jean’s main business had been pearls, but after his uncle’s death he began visiting India and became a major figure in...
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