The allure of the Koh-I-Noor (“Mountain of Light”) is almost unbelievable. Its history is the stuff of legends, steeped in bloodshed and intrigue. Prince Harry mentions it in his memoir Spare: “my eye kept going to the top of Gan-Gan’s [Queen Mother’s] coffin, where they’d set the crown… At the center of the cross was a diamond the size of a cricket ball. Not just a diamond, actually; the Great Diamond of the World, a 105-karat monster called the Kohinoor. Largest diamond ever seen by human eyes. “Acquired” by the British Empire at its zenith. Stolen, some thought. I’d heard it was mesmerizing, and I’d heard it was cursed. Men fought for it, died for it, and thus the curse was said to be masculine. Only women were permitted to wear it.”
WITH GREAT VALUE COMES GREAT CONTROVERSY: Part of the British crown jewels displayed at the Tower of London for all to see, the Kohinoor is also something of an elephant in the room. A prominent symbol of Britain’s colonial past. When Queen Elizabeth II passed away, “Can we get the Kohinoor back?” tweets went viral in India. Just as Greece has repeatedly asked for the Elgin Marbles back, so too has India called for the return of the Kohinoor. India isn’t alone in contesting British ownership of the diamond. Pakistan and Afghanistan have also put claims forward. Many believe the Kohinoor was a gift, but the reality is more uncomfortable. Maharaja Duleep Singh was only 10 years old when British colonists convinced him to sign over the Kohinoor in 1849.
RARE DISCOVERY: Much of the Kohinoor’s early history is shrouded in mystery. India was the world’s only supplier of diamonds until the 17th century and diamonds were extracted from alluvial deposits by rivers. The Kohinoor is thought to have been found in the Kollur mine on the south bank of Krishna River in the Golconda region (presently Andhra-Pradesh). The Golconda mines are remembered even today for providing diamonds of exquisite purity, Type IIa diamonds. However, it was not every day that diamonds the size of an egg would be discovered. Weighing an incredible 186 carats, the Kohinoor was believed to have been bestowed with the blessings of Gods such as Krishna.
JOURNEY ACROSS POWERFUL DYNASTIES: Legend has it the Kakatiya dynasty who ruled over Golconda used the Kohinoor as an eye for their idol of Goddess Kali. The magnificent diamond was seized by Alauddin Khilji, the sultan of Delhi, in the 14th century. The first Mughal emperor, Babur, mentions in his diary a 187-carat diamond “Alauddin must have brought” coming into his possession after his victory at the Battle of Panipat in 1526. Humayun, Babur’s son, later presented this diamond to Shah Tahmasp I when he sought refuge in Persia.
It is impossible to know whether Babur’s diamond was the Kohinoor and if it was, how it made its way back to the Mughal empire. We know that in 1628, the Kohinoor adorned Shah Jahan’s opulent Peacock Throne. Encrusted with hundreds of gemstones including the Kohinoor and the Timur Ruby, the bejeweled throne took seven years to craft and was a wondrous sight to behold. Did we expect anything less from the emperor who built the Taj Mahal? (The throne actually cost twice as much as it). Following Persian ruler Nadir Shah’s triumph over the Mughals in 1739, the Peacock throne along with the Kohinoor were captured by Persia. After Nadir Shah’s assassination, the diamond was inherited by his grandson who gave it to Afghani emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali in exchange for his support in 1751. The Kohinoor passed down in the Durrani dynasty to Shah Zaman and then his brother Shah Shuja. Shah Shuja’s wife offered it to Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (“Lion of Punjab”) in return for rescuing her husband from a Kashmiri prison in 1813. They tried to renege on the agreement but were forced to uphold it.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh famously wore the Kohinoor on his arm as a symbol of how he had won back the lands Abdali had captured. When he died in 1839, chaos unleashed. With the deaths of four maharajas in four years, the only heir to the throne remaining was Ranjit Singh’s five-year-old son, Duleep.
The British had long had their eyes on the prestigious Kohinoor, and the Anglo-Sikh War followed. Duleep’s mother, Rani Jindan, was deemed a threat and imprisoned while 10-year-old Duleep was pressured to sign the Treaty of Lahore, handing over Punjab to the British East India Company and the Kohinoor to Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria was initially uncomfortable with how the Kohinoor had been acquired and hesitated to wear it. When the Kohinoor was unveiled in London in 1851, the British public was also disappointed by its lack of sparkle. Prince Albert had the diamond re-cut to European preferences by Coster Diamonds, reducing it to the 105.6 carats it weighs today.
LEGENDARY CURSE: Throughout history the Kohinoor changed hands often and they were almost always hands stained with blood. The innumerable instances of violence, greed and deception are thought to be responsible for its curse. Calamities included being stabbed (Nader Shah), blinded (Shah Zaman), dying (rulers of Punjab) and contracting cholera (HMS Medea carrying the Kohinoor to Britain). The legendary curse is “he who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God or woman can wear it with impunity.”
PRESENT-DAY: King Charles definitely won’t be wearing the Kohinoor. What about Queen Consort Camilla? For King Charles’ coronation on May 6th, she may choose to wear the Queen Mother’s crown. She may also avoid the crown entirely or switch the Kohinoor for another gemstone for fear of sparking an international controversy. The diamond is likely to stay in Britain, though. When former British prime minister David Cameron was asked in 2010 if the Kohinoor would be returned to India, he responded “if you say yes to one, then you would suddenly find the British museum empty.”
