Elihu Yale: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 114: Yale arrived in Britain in 1699 with a fortune that amounted to £200,000, mostly made from his [[Golconda diamonds|diamond]] business in the [[Golconda|Golconda mines]] and [[Kollur Mine|Kollur mines]] in Southern India.<ref name="auto6">Scarisbrick, Diana (2014). Elihu Yale: Merchant, Collector & Patron, Thames & Hudson, First Edition, p. 149</ref><ref name="academia1"/><ref>[https://www.nhregister.com/colleges/article/Elihu-Yale-Today-s-diverse-university-would-11367570.php Elihu Yale: Today’s diverse university would please namesake, biographer says, Today’s diverse Yale would please namesake, biographer says], New Haven Register, July 19, 2014</ref> In relation to [[GDP]], his fortune amounted to 1/4 % of UK's GDP at the time, which translates to nearly 6 billion British pounds in 2021 money.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/|title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present|website=MeasuringWorth.com|access-date=2023-02-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/relativevalue.php?use2=a%3A5%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A3%3A%22CPI%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A6%3A%22DEFIND%22%3Bi%3A2%3Bs%3A4%3A%22WAGE%22%3Bi%3A3%3Bs%3A5%3A%22GDPCP%22%3Bi%3A4%3Bs%3A4%3A%22GDPC%22%3B%7D&amount=200000&year_source=1699&year_result=2021&button=Submit|title=Measuring Worth, inflation rates, relative value, worth of a pound, purchasing power, GDP, history of wages, real wage, growth calculator|website=MeasuringWorth.com|access-date=2022-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/ukgdp/|title=What Was the U.K. GDP Then? Annual Observations in Table and Graphical Format 1700 to the Present|website=MeasuringWorth.com|access-date=2022-10-20}}</ref> Famous diamonds extracted from these mines over time have included the [[Orlov (diamond)|Orlov Diamond]], belonging to [[Catherine the Great]], the [[Hope Diamond]], belonging to [[Louis XIV]], the [[Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond]], belonging to the [[Habsburgs]], among others.<ref>[https://www.famsf.org/stories/the-exchange-of-diamonds The Exchange of Diamonds], Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, November 19, 2018, Accessed May 17, 2024</ref><ref>[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/a-new-diamond-unveiled-at-natural-history-museum-111523819/ A New Diamond Unveiled at Natural History Museum], Megan Gambino, The Smithsonian, January 29, 2010, Accessed May 17, 2024</ref> Yale acquired rough stones from the [[Mughal Emperor]]s of [[Golconda]] in exchange for a royalty, and were sent to [[Fort St. George, India]], under the protection of 50 trained men.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=151}} Thereafter, Yale would send the diamonds to [[Amsterdam]] to be [[Facet|faceted]] and polished, until ready to be shipped to London.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=151}} The process took on average 3 years and needed large amounts of capital to endure setbacks, such as wars and political instability.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=151-158-163}} During the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], shipments would get stolen by [[pirate]]s on their way to Europe, and once there, the [[List of the last monarchs in Europe|Europeans princes]] and nobility would lack the funds to acquire them, forcing some merchants into bankruptcy.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=151-158-163}} Demand followed the [[Coronation|Coronations of monarchs]], [[royal court]] events, war victories and other ceremonies.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=158-163}} It became the most important branch of private trade of [[East India Company|East India]] employees between [[Madras]] and London.<ref name="Diamonds t1">Mentz, Søren. “Merchants and States: Private Trade and the Fall of Madras, 1746.” Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies 2, no. 1 (2018), p. 42-43-44</ref> Along with [[Jean Chardin|Sir Jean Chardin]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]], Yale became one of the largest European diamond traders in the world, as nearly all diamonds came from India during that period.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/deccan-sultans/exhibition-galleries/section-one|title=Section One, Diamonds of the Deccan|website=metmuseum.org|access-date=2022-10-20}}</ref>{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=149}} Chardin, the past jewel merchant of the [[Abbas II of Persia|Shah of Persia]], was also one his partners.{{sfn|Scarisbrick|2014|p=48}}<ref name="Diamonds t1"/> He kept doing business with his friends Gov. [[Thomas Pitt]], grandfather of ===London life=== | |||