Which one of the following foreign travellers elaborately discussed about diamonds and diamond mines of India?

1. A

   Francois Bernier

   (a) Francois Bernier. Bernier, a physician at Aurangzeb’s court, wrote on Mughal society, medicine and the economy; diamonds are not his distinctive subject. This option is not the key.

2. B

   Jean-Baptiste Tavernier

   (b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. The French jeweller-traveller visited Golconda and other Indian mines and devoted detailed chapters of his Six Voyages to diamonds, including the French Blue. That is the elaborate diamond account asked. This option is the official key.

3. C

   Jean de Thevenot

   (c) Jean de Thevenot. Thevenot travelled in India and described cities and customs, not a specialist treatise on Indian diamond mines. This option is not the key.

4. D

   Abbe Barthelemy Carre

   (d) Abbe Barthelemy Carre. Carré was a French abbé on diplomatic/commercial missions; he is not the diamond-mine authority in this list. This option is not the key.

Summary. Official key is (b) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Among the listed 17th-century French visitors, Tavernier is the jeweller who inspected Golconda stones and mines and wrote them up at length. Bernier is the court physician-essayist; Thevenot and Carré are other travellers with different emphases. The diamond monograph in this set is therefore Tavernier’s. That is letter (b).