Indian pearl carpet fetches $5.5 mln at Doha auction

NEW DELHI, March 21 -- An unidentified buyer bought the famous

Indian pearl Baroda carpet, which is regarded as an Indian national heritage,

for 5.48 million U.S. dollars at Sotheby's auction in Doha, Qatar, this week,

the official website of the auction house said Saturday.

Encrusted with 2.2 million Basra pearls, and weighing 30,000 carats, the

Baroda pearl carpet was commissioned in 1865 by BarodaKing Khande Rao Gaekwad,

as a gift for the Mausoleum of Prophet Mohammed at Medina.

Until 1947, the year of India's independence, Baroda was a city kingdom

located in today's western India state of Gujarat.

The silk carpet also has three large diamond-filled rose designs in

silvered gold, besides pearls. The carpet has been a part of the king's family

collection.

Another piece of Indian collection by London-based Anish Kapoor, a painted

stainless steel sculpture, fetched 974,000 U.S. dollars at the auction this

week, said the website.

The Baroda pearl carpet already commanded a price of 5 million U.S. dollars

before being auctioned.

This comes weeks after some items belonging to India's modern founding

father Mahatma Gandhi were auctioned in New York.

In 1943, the then King of Baroda, Sir Pratap Sinh Gaekwad, married a woman

known as Sita Devi, who took up her residence in Europe and soon, most of the

Baroda treasures were transferred to her mansions in Monte Carlo in Monaco

neighboring southern France.

In 1947, Baroda was merged with India. The Indian government deposed

Gaekwad and forced him to return to India some of the most precious items, but

the pearl carpet continued to be in the possession of Sita

Devi.