BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The Jharia diamond and the Sikh man

**Posted by m0r1arty** March 15, 2012 7:03 pm

We have the fictional Jaria (As it's spelt in the script) diamond case which Sherlock tells Watson he didn't take with "Not interested. I sent them a message".

Now Jharia is an area of India well known for its coal. Being an area with coal there is of course the occasional diamond. Coal and India are well known for the invention of wootz steel which in turn led to Damascus steel and modern understanding of metals. This steel predates Christ by a good 300 years and some researchers think it could go back to almost an entire millennium before our calendar began.

Now Jharkhand (Where Jharia is situated in India) has a very low Sikh populous - somewhere around 3%. The region is overwhelmingly Hindi and so I think it's not a radical thought to presume the diamond had found its way over the years to other regions and owners. The man with whom Sherlock is fighting in the opening scene is referred to in the script as a Sikh; a soldier saint. The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom actually have the Koh-i-Noor, another large diamond from India, placed in the centre of the Queen's crown. There is a slight, yet ongoing, movement who wish to see the stone returned to India - it has itself been owned by people of many denominations during its known existence including by some of the Sikh belief system.

Being a Sikh, particularly one who was sent after a well known Indian diamond - it would not be physical domination which would halt him in his search for the diamond but rather reasonable understanding.

Now I realise 'The Blind Banker' is a throw-away character building exercise which is as full of intelligent plot twists as it is respectful of cultural stereotypes but could this little tit-for-tat at the beginning hold a greater meaning?

I realise my post is all over the place - making dinner, preparing to go out and working all at once here so please excuse me - but I have peppered it with some thoughts which may hold up to further scrutiny.

And and all thoughts, as usual, are welcome.

-m0r

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 15, 2012 7:12 pm

Is it a reference or nod to any Canon stories at all? Does anyone know?

**Posted by Davina** March 15, 2012 9:42 pm

Have them on my i-pad and keen to see but as the damn thing has decided to get all stroppy and stop working properly I can't! Now I can see the problem with no more printed Encyclopedia Britannica!

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 15, 2012 11:37 pm

LOL, you're the second person to mention that tonight. I read it somewhere else on a Sherlockian Yahoo group. Has it been on the news or something?

**Posted by Davina** March 16, 2012 8:05 am

Yes. They are no longer going to be printing copies of the encyclopedia they will only be available in digiital form & to down load. The book that held the record for the longest period in print, since about 1730's, I think. Don't think any other books will be beating it now!

**Posted by kazza474** March 16, 2012 11:44 pm

I'm totally confused as to what this is all about?

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 16, 2012 11:48 pm

I think we've kind of gone off topic. It was supposed to be about the Jharia diamond, and then I was wondering whether there was any canon reference to it anywhere. Can't quite work out where the Encyclopedia Britannica came into it, although it does remind me of the Red Headed League!

**Posted by kazza474** March 16, 2012 11:49 pm

Yeah I meant the initial post.

**Posted by m0r1arty** March 17, 2012 6:22 pm

kazza474 wrote:
Yeah I meant the initial post.

'The Blind Banker' was crap - perhaps if we really strive we might pull a nugget of joy from it.

-m0r

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 17, 2012 10:29 pm

Oh come on, it wasn't THAT bad. I love the bit at the beginning when John has an argument with the chip and pin machine.

**Posted by Wholocked** March 17, 2012 11:30 pm

I don't know that it was crap, but it's certainly my least favourite episode of all six.

**Posted by kazza474** March 18, 2012 1:49 am

m0r1arty wrote:
kazza474 wrote:
Yeah I meant the initial post.
'The Blind Banker' was crap - perhaps if we really strive we might pull a nugget of joy from it.

-m0r

"Tedious" is a more apt term from my perspective.
It started with the lovely but dull tea ceremony followed by an unconvincing love interest plot.
We had to endure the silliest of searches for the cipher and then wade through boxes & boxes of books.
And then we were forced to watch some stereotypical Chinese circus routine.
There were 'nuggets' in the show however many were splattered with yellow paint.

Now if your first post was aiming to find another 'nugget', I am sorry but I cannot even follow what you hope to find. Yes, the Crown Jewels is made up of many stones including one from India (with a history attached); Yes, Sikhs do come from India (but this guy ain't no soldier saint). After that I can only say I hope the Sikh has some kind of reasonable understanding because I don't.
"Being a Sikh, particularly one who was sent after a well known Indian diamond - it would not be physical domination which would halt him in his search for the diamond but rather reasonable understanding."
This is where you lost me. Before then, while the facts stated have no bearing on the actual events, at least I followed where you were trying to go.

Are you looking for links to later episodes/plots?

**Posted by m0r1arty** March 18, 2012 9:49 pm

I thought it reasonable considering how much background they had placed upon this 'Jaria' diamond that it may have more weight to it as a sub-plot or arc. The Sikh guy in this case is the equivalent of 'Silas' from 'Da Vinci Code' fame, a 'Well-Intentioned Extremist' (To use a trope).

The reason I detailed so much about the region is that the blade, the metal is was made of, the name of the diamond and the fact the chap was Sikh all seems much more researched than everything else in the episode (Sherlock referring to the Chinese symbols for numbers as "Hangzhou" instead of "Suzhou" for example).

-m0r

**Posted by Davina** March 27, 2012 3:35 pm

In the script Jaria is the spelling used and this is an area of India famed for its coal mines, that a an underground fire that has been burning for donkeys years. There is also a jewellers called Jaria SS , Jaria Jewels pvt ltd which is in West Bengal in India. They are distributors of diamond and gold jewellery. There is also a Jaria jewellers in Jaipur.

A slightly different spelling Jahria gives us information from the Koran.in the battle of Uhad the Holy Prophet Muhammed was injured and wounded and his tooth was broken. If the entire tooth had come out it would have flawed his appearance + Allah would never allow this to happen to His Beloved Holy Prophet . The tooth broke in such a way that it enhanced his beauty + shone more brilliantly, like a well-shaped diamond. (This, as you can probably tell is copied from an Islamic website).

Not entirely sure that the man Sherlock was fighting with was a Sikh. Is this how he is referred to in the credits? It is more like he has the turban etc. to help disguise his appearance. There is no need in Sikhism for him to have his face covered.

Anyway some things to chew over.

**Posted by Morton** January 12, 2016 8:23 pm

The boss mentioned John in the supermarket arguing with a chip&pin machine. It forms two foreshadowing clues, the first is the numbers 3 of four which he punches in are numbers/letters on phones which could spell SHE and the fourth could be R. (Irene's password) John calls Sherlock a machine in TRF. Sorry if you all knew that already.