Cover art for The Mysterious Mr Jacob
Published
Transit Lounge, April 2017
ISBN
9780995359437
Format
Softcover, 304 pages
Dimensions
23.4cm × 15.3cm

The Mysterious Mr Jacob Diamond Merchant, Magician and Spy

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'One

of the most exciting narrative histories

to come out of India.' William Dalrymple

It was a scandal that

rocked the highest echelons of the British Raj. In 1891, a notorious jeweller

and curio dealer from Simla offered to sell the world's largest brilliant-cut

diamond to the fabulously wealthy Nizam of Hyderabad. If the audacious deal

succeeded it would set the merchant up for life. But the transaction went

horribly wrong. The Nizam accused him of fraud, triggering a sensational trial

in the Calcutta High Court that made headlines around the world.

The dealer was Alexander

Malcolm Jacob, a man of mysterious origins. After arriving penniless in Bombay

in 1865, he became the most famous purveyor of precious stones in princely

India, and a confidante of Viceroys and Maharajas. Jacob also excelled in the

magical arts. He inspired all those who met him, including Rudyard Kipling who

immortalised him as Lurgan Sahib, the 'healer of sick pearls', in his novel Kim.

Now for the first time,

John Zubrzycki, author of The Last Nizam, conveys the page-turning

colour, romance and adventure of Jacob's astonishing life. Starting on the

banks of the Tigris in modern-day Turkey where Jacob was born, Zubrzycki strips

away the myths and legends. He follows Jacob's journey from the slums of

Bombay, to the fabulous court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, from the

hedonistic heights of Simla, the summer capital of the Raj, to the Calcutta

High Court. This is a story of India, of strange twists and unexpected

outcomes. Most importantly Zubrzycki enters into and truly captures the spirit

of the mysterious Mr Jacob, one of the most enigmatic and charismatic figures

of his time.

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