The Story of the Koh-I-Noor — the Largest Diamond in the History of Mankind
And the myth of the curse associated with it
The Koh-I-Noor diamond currently sits in the British Crown weighing 105.6 carats (21.12g), and it is displayed in the Jewel House in the Tower of London where it is seen by millions of tourists each year. Unlike popular belief, the diamond was not a gift from India to the British. The story of this diamond —
“ — is a perfectly scripted Game of Thrones-style epic. All the romance, all the blood, all the gore, all the bling.”
says William Dalrymple, co-author of Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond. I’m not one for believing in curses, but this story is much more interesting when you know the myth of the curse associated with it —
“He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity.”
The Koh-I-Noor in its time has changed a lot of hands and has traveled across the world. Its origins, like most other ancient diamonds, lie in India, which was the only place diamonds were found in the world until their discovery in Brazil in the 18th century. The Koh-I-Noor was found in the Golconda mines under the Kakatiya dynasty. It is believed that the diamond was used as an eye of the deity in a Kakatiya temple in Warangal in 1310. The diamond weighed 793 carats.
In the early 14th century, Alauddin Khilji, the second ruler of the Khilji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and his army began looting the kingdoms of southern India. During a raid on Warangal, Malik Kafur (Khilji’s general) acquired the priceless diamond for the Khilji dynasty. It was then passed on to the succeeding dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate.
The Tughlaq dynasty and the Lodi dynasty followed. These dynasties were short and were full of violence and instability. In 1526, Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, handed a resounding defeat to Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat, setting up the Mughal dynasty. The victorious Babur received reports that the Fort of Agra housed an immense treasure, which included a diamond that defied all description. Enraptured by the jewel on its acquisition, Babur called it the ‘Diamond of Babur’.
Babur passed on the diamond to his son Humayun, who then passed it on to Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, and then his son, Shah-Jahan. This was a golden period in the history of the Mughal empire and the first definite point in history where the Koh-I-Noor appears in written records. In 1628, Mughal ruler Shah-Jahan commissioned a magnificent, gemstone-encrusted throne, the Peacock Throne. The bejeweled structure was inspired by the fabled throne of Solomon, the Hebrew king who figures into the histories of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Shah-Jahan’s throne took seven years to make, costing four times as much as the Taj Mahal, which was also under construction. As court chronicler Ahmad Shah Lahore writes in his account of the throne:
“The outside of the canopy was to be of enamel work studded with gems, the inside was to be thickly set with rubies, garnets, and other jewels, and it was to be supported by emerald columns. On top of each pillar there were to be two peacocks thick set with gems, and between each of the two peacocks a tree set with rubies and diamonds, emeralds and pearls.”
Among the many precious stones that adorned the throne were two particularly enormous gems that would, in time, become the most valued of all: the Timur Ruby — more highly valued by the Mughals because they preferred colored stones — and the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The diamond was lodged at the very top of the throne, in the head of a glistening gemstone peacock.
Shah-Jahan’s son Aurangzeb succeeded him. It was in his reign that Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, an enterprising French traveler and gem connoisseur, visited India in the search of rare and wonderful gems. Having been shown the diamond by Aurangzeb, Tavernier made the first sketch of Koh-I-Noor in history.
Aurangzeb also entrusted the work of cutting and enhancing the diamond to Hortense Borgia, a Venetian lapidary (gem artist) so clumsy that he reduced the weight of the stone from 793 carats to 186 carats. Aurangzeb, enraged at the carelessness and stupidity of the lapidary, refused to compensate him for his labor and also confiscated all of Borgia’s worldly possessions.
For a century after the creation of the Peacock throne, the Mughal Empire ruled over most of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Afghanistan. It was the wealthiest state, and Delhi, its capital, was home to two million people, more than London and Paris combined. The prosperity and glory attracted the eyes of other empires.
Persian Emperor Nader Shah invaded Delhi in 1739. It was a violent invasion that cost tens of thousands of lives and the depletion of the treasury. Shah left the city accompanied by so much gold and so many gems that the looted treasure required 700 elephants, 4,000 camels, and 12,000 horses to pull it. Shah took the Peacock Throne and Daria-I-Noor, the sister diamond of the Koh-I-Noor as part of his treasure. However, the Koh-I-Noor was nowhere to be seen.
Muhammad Shah, the grandson and current ruler of the Mughal empire, always carried the diamond hidden in the folds of his turban. This information was secretly known only to a selected few, including a eunuch in the harem of the Emperor. Hoping to win the favor of the victorious Nader Shah, the eunuch revealed the secret to him. Nader Shah devised a plan to take the prized gem for himself.
He ordered a grand feast to coincide with the restoration of Muhammad Shah to his throne. During the feast, Nader Shah proposed an exchange of turbans as a gesture of eternal friendship, and Muhammad Shah, unable to refuse the gesture, had to hand over his turban. After the ceremony, Nader Shah returned to his private chambers where he eagerly unfolded the turban to find the diamond concealed within. Dazzled by its beauty, he exclaimed ‘Koh-i-noor’, which in Persian means mountain of light.
One of Shah’s consorts later said,
“If a strong man were to throw four stones, one north, one south, one east, one west, and a fifth stone up into the air, and if the space between them were to be filled with gold, all would not equal the value of the Koh-I-Noor.”
Soon after Nader Shah returned to Persia, he was assassinated. The diamond fell into the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdali, one of his ablest generals, who later became the Emir of Afghanistan.
The Koh-i-Noor would remain away from India, in modern-day Afghanistan, for seventy years. It passed between the hands of various rulers in one blood-soaked episode after another, including a king who blinded his own son and a deposed ruler whose shaved head was coronated with molten gold. With all the fighting between Central Asian factions, a power vacuum grew in India — and the British soon came to take advantage of it.
A descendant of Abdali, Shah Shuja Durrani brought the Koh-I-Noor back to India in 1813 and gave it to Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Lahore, in exchange for his help in winning back the throne of Afghanistan. Singh’s particular affection for the gem ultimately sealed its aura of prestige and power.
“It was not just that Ranjit Singh liked diamonds and respected the stone’s vast monetary value; the gem seems to have held a far greater symbolism for him. He had won back from the Afghan Durrani dynasty almost all the Indian lands they had seized since the time of Ahmad Shah (who plundered Delhi in 1761).”
— Anita Anand and William Dalrymple, co-authors of Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond
For the British, that symbol of prestige and power was irresistible. If they could own the jewel of India as well as the country itself, it would symbolize their power and colonial superiority. It was a diamond worth fighting and killing for, now more than ever. When the British learned of Singh’s death in 1839, and his plan to give the diamond and other jewels to a sect of Hindu priests, the British press exploded in outrage.
“The richest, the most costly gem in the known world, has been committed to the trust of a profane, idolatrous and mercenary priesthood,” wrote one anonymous editorial.
But the British had to wait. After Singh’s death, the throne passed to 4 different rulers in 4 years. After the violence ended, a 10-year-old Duleep Singh sat on the throne with his mother Rani Jindan by his side. In 1849, the British imprisoned Jindan and forced Singh to sign a legal document amending the Treaty of Lahore, that required Singh to give away the Koh-I-Noor and all claim to sovereignty.
The Koh-I-Noor then traveled to London, in such secrecy that even the captain of the ship didn’t know it. It was displayed at the 1851 Great Exposition in London. But it was met with disappointing reactions. The people were surprised by how simple it was, and that it appeared just like a piece of glass.
Prince Albert, in an effort to increase its popularity, had the stone recut, in half, to its current size of 105.6 carats. Prince Albert, however, died in the few weeks before the stone was cut. Queen Victoria, owing to the curse, later asked in her will that the diamond was only to be worn by a queen. It is currently one of the largest cut diamonds in the world and has been in the Tower of London ever since.
It is uncanny to see how the curse plays out in real life and is an opinion of the reader whether to see it as a curse or a mere coincidence.
It is inevitable to talk about colonial looting and where it belongs in the current times. Koh-I-Noor is claimed by 5 countries today. It is not my place to say where it belongs but only to bring the true story to the public.
