<P> Accounts of early Indian diamond mining that reached Europe were often mixed with myths . Around 400 B.C., the Greek physician Ctesias published Indika, a compilation of travelers' tales about India (he himself had never been to India). He described incredibly rich diamond deposits guarded by griffins . Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (79 A.D.), correctly described diamonds being washed from river gravel in India . </P> <P> Diamonds were reported from numerous places across India, but most of the diamond mining took place by placer mining in the drainages of the Pennar and Krishna rivers in modern Andhra Pradesh state . Placer mining took place along the Krishna River for 300 km below Sangram . The most intensive mining was in a 60 km zone along the river, from the Kollur Mine to Paritala . This area was the source of many legendary gems, including the Koh - i - noor, Nizam, Hope, Regent, Great Mogul, and Orlov diamonds . </P> <P> India's unique status as a producer of diamonds continued to fascinate Europeans . Marco Polo traveled along the coast of India in 1292, and recorded tales he heard about diamonds being found in deep mountain valleys made nearly inaccessible by heat, lack of water, and venomous snakes . The French traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier visited the Krishna River diggings in 1665, and estimated that about 60,000 people were mining diamonds . </P> <P> The town of Karwan, near the fortress city of Golkonda, now a suburb of Hyderabad, became the world's largest diamond - cutting and diamond - trading center . Golconda was not close to diamond mines, but owed its status as a diamond center to its location on a major trade route from the mines to the south and east . The diamonds became known as Golconda Diamonds, and in Europe, the word Golconda came to mean a place of great wealth . </P>

Which foreign traveller discussed diamond mines of india