Origin of name
The name by which the Koh-i-Noor diamond was known prior
to the capture of Delhi and Agra by Nadir Shah in 1739 is not known. But,
there is strong evidence to suggest that this is the same stone referred to
in Emperor Babur's memoirs the "Baburnama", which he wrote between
1526 and 1530 A.D. Thus the stone is commonly referred to as the Babur
Diamond when referring to it, in the period before 1739. It was Nadir Shah,
who is believed to have exclaimed Koh-i Noor ! ( Mountain of Light), when he
saw the diamond for the first time after it was surrendered to him by the
Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Koh-i-Noor diamond originally weighed 186 carats,
when the stone was in India, Persia and Afghanistan, but, subsequently after
the stone was surrendered to the British, and became part of the British
Crown Jewels, the stone was re-cut to an oval stellar brilliant, weighing
108.93 carats, with a resultant loss of almost 43 % of it's original weight.
The diamond is a D-color diamond with exceptionl clarity, characteristic of
stones originating from the Indian sub-continent.
Early History
The Koh-i-Noor is perhaps the most famous of all the
famous diamonds in the world, which according to legend may be the oldest
diamond in the world, with a history dating back to at least 3,000 years
B.C. However according to recorded history the Koh-i- Noor diamond dates
back to the latter half of the 13th century. The diamond belonged to
different rulers from India, Persia, and Afghanistan, who sometimes fought
bitterly over it, at various times in history, and seized it as a spoil of
war. It eventually became part of the British Crown Jewels, when the stone
was surrendered to Queen Victoria in 1851, by the successor to the last owner of
the diamond, Maharaj Ranjith Singh, the ruler of Pungab.
Like all other ancient diamonds, the Koh-i-Noor also has
many legends associated with it. According to one such legend the stone
could bring misfortune or death to any male who wears or owns it, and
conversely it could bring good luck to any female who does so. According to
another popular legend associated with the diamond the stone bestows
superiority to it's owner over his enemies.
The origin of the Koh-i-Noor seems to be shrouded in
mystery. One reason for this is that the name Koh-i-Noor was first used to
refer to this diamond only in 1739, after it came into the possession of
Nadir Shah, when he plundered the wealth of Agra and Delhi. The named used
for the diamond prior to 1739, is not known, but there is strong historical
evidence linking the Koh-i-Noor with the diamond referred to in the "Baburnama",
the memoirs of Babur, written by the Emperor himself, between 1526 and 1530.
There are many early stories of great diamonds in Southern India, from where
the Koh-i-Noor most probably originated, but one finds it difficult to
establish which one of them refers to the Koh-i-Noor.
According to a popular legend, the origins of Koh-i-Noor
dates back to over 5,000 years, and is said to be mentioned in ancient
Sanskrit Writings under the name "Syamantaka." Popular Hindu beliefs hold
that Lord Krishna himself obtained the diamond from Jambavantha, whose
daughter Jambavati he later married. The diamond was later stolen from
Krishna, as he lay sleeping. According to another source the diamond was
discovered in India from a river bed in 3,200 B.C.
Being a diamond of the 13th century, the Koh-i-Noor
diamond could not have originated in the Kollur mines near Golconda, because
the diamantiferous deposits of Kollur were discovered only in the mid 16th
century. The next probable source for the diamond would be Sambalpur group
of mines situated on the banks of the Mahanadi River, on the eastern side of
the Deccan Plateau in the Central Provinces of India. It is well known that
most of the diamonds known to ancient Indians came from the alluvial
deposits of the Mahanadi River. In fact, the Mahanadi River itself has been
identified as the diamond river mentioned by Ptolemy, the Greek writer and
historian, in A.D. 60 to 90.
Koh-i-Noor with the Delhi
Sultanate (1295-1526)
The diamond came into the possession of the rulers of the
Delhi Sultanate in the late 13th or early 14th centuries. According to one
version, as stated in the Baburnama, Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji (1296-1316) of
the Delhi Sultanate is credited with having acquired the jewel either in the
late 13th or early 14th centuries. There are three different versions on how
Sultan Ala-ud-din came to be the owner of the diamond. One version says that
he took the jewel in 1295, one year before his accession to the throne as
Sultan, from the Rajah of Malwa, whose family had owned it for many
generations, after having led an expedition to the Deccan, conquering Malwa,
and capturing a large amount of booty, which included the Koh-i-Noor
diamond. One year after this in 1296, Ala-ud-din murdered his uncle Sultan
Jalal-ud-din and assumed power as the new Sultan. This version is as
recorded in Baburnama.
According to a second version, Sultan Ala-ud-din took
possession of the Koh-i Noor, one year after his accession to the throne in
1297, when he attacked and subdued the Kingdom of Gujarat, taking a large
booty that included the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
Yet another version attributes the acquiring of the
diamond to Malik Kafur, the Lieutenant of Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji, who was
sent on a plundering expedition to the south in 1308, which led to the
capture of Warangal, the capital of Kakatiya Kings, situated in Northern
Andhra Pradesh. Malik Kafur also occupied Madura, in the extreme south, and
returned to Delhi in 1311, laden with spoils of war, which may have included
the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
A second version of the early history of the diamond
gives the credit of acquiring the stone to Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq Shah I, the
Ist Sultan of the Tughluq Dynasty, after the collapse of the Khalji Dynasty
in 1320 A.D. It is said that Ghiyas-ud-din sent his son Ulugh Khan in 1323
A.D. to defeat the Kakatiya King Prataparudra based in Warangal. Ulugh Khan
succeeded in capturing Warangal in his second attempt, and subsequently
looted and plundered the city. Large quantities of gold, diamonds, pearls,
and ivory were carried away as spoils of war to Delhi, on elephants and
camels. The Koh-i-Noor diamond was believed to be part of the bounty.
Considering the above versions of the early history of
the diamond, it appears that the stone came into the possession of the
rulers of the Delhi Sultanate in the late 13th or early 14th century.
Subsequently the stone had passed through the hands of successive rulers of
the Delhi Sultanate for almost 200 years, until finally it came into the
possession of Babur, the first Mogul emperor, in 1526, after the defeat of
the Lodi dynasty, the last ruling family of the Delhi Sultanate.
Koh-i-Noor with the Mogul
Emperors (1526-1540)
According to Historians, the stone acquired by Sultan
Ala-ud-din Khalji at least two centuries before, was surrendered to Humayun,
the son of Babur, who was the founder of the Mogul dynasty in India, either
by the family members of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi or the Rajah of Gwalior, both
of whom fought on the same side against the Mogul invaders and were killed
by Babur's forces at the battle of Panipat in 1526.
After the defeat of Ibrahim Lodi, the last Sultan of the
Lodi dynasty, of the Delhi Sultanate, Humayun was assigned the task of
taking possession of all the jewels that had belonged to the slain Sultan.
After Humayun's men ransacked the royal treasury and failed to find the
diamond, a servant gave the information that it was hidden in the palace.
When Humayun entered the palace the women of Ibrahim Lodi's family began to
weep. After Humayun assured that their life and honour would be safe in his
hands and they would be treated with kindness and in keeping with their
status, Ibrahim Lodi's mother went silently into a room, and emerged with a
gold box, which with trembling hands he handed over to the young prince.
Humayun opened the box and found the diamond.
The other version is that Humayun entered the fort of
Agra, and captured the members of the family of the slain Rajah of Gwalior,
Vikramaditya. Humayun spared the lives of the captives and treated them with
kindness and did not allow them to be plundered. The family members of the
Rajah were so overwhelmed by this magnanimous gesture, that they decided to
present the royal jewels of the Rajah of Gwalior to Humayun, which
included the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
Babur whose original name was Zahir-ud-din Muhammad, was
a descendant of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, and also of Timur
(Tamarlane) of Samarqand. He was a military adventurer and soldier of
distinction and a poet and diarist of genius, as well as a statesman.
In his memoirs, the Baburnama, he mentions the Koh-i-Noor
by an identifiable name, and states that it belonged to an unnamed Rajah of
Malwa in 1294. According to Babur the stone at that time had an immense
monetary value, that it could have fed the whole world for two days. The
Baburnama relates how the Rajah of Malwa was compelled to part with his
prized possession to Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji. It was then owned by a
succession of dynasties, that ruled the Delhi Sultanate, finally coming into
the possession of Babur himself in 1526, following his victory over the last
ruler of that kingdom. However even Babur's version may not be authentic, as
sources for his information are unknown, and he may have been just
recounting the hearsay of his day. He did not refer to the stone by it's
present name, and in spite of the controversy about it's identity, it seems
fairly certain that Babur's diamond was the stone which later became known
as the Koh-i-Noor.
Babur arrived in Agra on May 4th, 1526, and as mentioned
in the Baburnama, was presented with the famous diamond by his son Humayun,
but the father later gave it back to his son as a gift.
About 4 years after Babur's crucial victory at Panipat,
Humayun fell seriously ill, and doctors had given up all hopes of saving his
life, when it was suggested that Babur Sacrifice his dearest possession to
save his son. Babur felt that his most precious possession was his own life,
and moved around the bed three times praying that Humayun's life be spared
and his own life be sacrificed instead. Miraculously Humayun's condition
improved after this, but Babur's own health declined and he died in Dec.
1530.
Humayun succeeded his father as Emperor of Hindustan, but
was unfortunate that his father was not able to consolidate fully his
conquests in India, during his short rule of 4 years. Humayun initially
ruled for about 10 years from 1530 to 1540, but during this period, instead
of consolidating the empire his father had set up, embarked on more
adventures, trying to subdue more territories. Initially he appeared to be
successful, conquering Malwa and Gujarat, but was not able to hold them.
There after he suffered a succession of defeats at the hands of Sher Shah's
forces who advanced from Bengal. Humayun retreated from Delhi and Agra to
Lahore, then to Sind, and finally sought refuge in Iran. In his hurry to
escape he left his only son (Akbar), and daughter and his several wives in
India.
Koh-i-Noor leaves India
for Persia, for the first time (1540-1547)
The Shah of Iran Thamsap I, received him cordially and
granted him exile. Eventually he promised him military aid to regain his
kingdom, provided he became a Shiite Muslim, and returned Qandahar to Iran,
in the event of it's successful capture from the Afghan rulers.
Humayun waited until the death of Sher Shah (May 1545),
and during the period of his successor Islam Shah (1553), he began his
military campaign to regain his lost Kingdom. At first he captured Qandahar
and Kabul, and in Dec 1554 crossed the Indus and marched to Lahore, which he
captured without opposition. In Feb. 1555, he occupied Sirhind and in July
1555, captured Delhi and Agra. He thus regained the throne of Delhi,
and was re-united with his family after an interval of 15 years. But,
Humayun did not live long to recover the whole of the lost Empire. He died
six months later, as a result of an accident, in Jan. 1556. The news of his
death was kept a secret for about two weeks, until the peaceful accession of
his son Akbar, who was 13 years old and was at the time away in Punjab as
it's Governor.
It is said that Humayun carried the large diamond which
his father gave him, when he went into exile in Iran. While in Iran, he was
so kindly treated by the Shah, that as an expression of gratitude he
presented the Babur Diamond and other jewels to Shah Thamsap. This is
mentioned in the Akbarnama-Memoirs of Akbar- written by the historian Abdul
Fazal, who was later appointed as secretary to the Emperor Akbar. The
presentation of the diamond to the Shah was also confirmed by Khur Shah, the
Ambassador of Ibrahim Qutb, King of Golconda, at the Persian Court. He said
that a diamond of six mishquals, was presented to the Shah, that was worth
the expenditure of the whole world for 2½ days, a
familiar way of appraising the Babur Diamond. However, he also said that
Shah thamsap was not so impressed and later sent it as a gift to Burhan
Nizam (1509-1553), the Shah of Ahmednagar. These events took place in 1547.
Koh-i-Noor
returns back to India (1547-1600)
Ahmednagar was a town in
west-central Maharashtra State, Western India. It lies along the Sina River,
130 miles east of Bombay. It was conquered by Malik Ahmed Nizam Shah,
founder of the Ahmednagar dynasty in 1490, who built a formidable fort now
known as the Ahmed Nizam Shah's Fort. The Nizam Shahi dynasty was engaged in
constant warfare, that led to the expansion of their kingdom. Towards the
last years of his rule, the Mogul Emperor, Akbar the Great, attacked and
captured Berar in 1596 and Ahmednagar in 1600. Thus Ahmednagar became one of
the 15 provinces of the Mogul Empire.
Koh-i-Noor
back in the possession of the Mogul Emperors (1600-1739)
The Babur diamond which was gifted
to Burhan Nizam in 1547, may have eventually fallen into the hands of the
Mogul Emperors, probably during the reign of Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar,
when Ahmednagar was subdued, either as a gift to the Emperor or as spoil of
war. This may be one of the possible ways the Babur diamond, that was gifted
to Shah Tahmasp of Persia, by Humayun, eventually returned to the possession
of the Mogul Emperors.
Jalal-ud din Muhammad Akbar was the
greatest of the Mogul Emperors of India, who ruled from 1556 to 1605. He
extended Mogul power over most of the Indian sub-continent, which only a few
rulers were able to achieve in the entire history of India. Akbar adopted
programs and measures in order to win over the loyalty of the non-Muslim
majority of his kingdom, and gradually evolve a non-sectarian state, where
all religions were given equal protection, and one could practice freely the
religion of his choice. He abolished the Jizya tax imposed on non-Muslims,
and banned the forcible conversion of prisoners-of-war to Islam. He
appointed Hindus to top positions in the Government, both as advisers and
policy makers. He reformed the administration of religious grants, and made
them available to learned and pious men of all religions, not just Islam. He
took an active interest in other religions, persuading Hindus, Parsis,
Christians, as well as Muslims, to engage in religious discussion before
him. Even though he himself was illiterate, he encouraged scholars , poets,
painters, and musicians, making his court a center of culture. He reformed
and strengthened his central administration and centralized his financial
system, and re-organized his tax collection process. A detail and exhaustive
study of Akbar's 49-year rule, shows that the principles and policies
adopted by him in the late 16th century, corresponds with modern principles
of statecraft practiced by all secular democracies today.
The Babur diamond that was added to
the Crown Jewels of Akbar the Great, was inherited by his successor Emperor
Jahangir and later by Emperor Shah Jahaan, the successor to Jahangir. Shah
Jahaan had an insatiable passion for building. At his first capital in Agra,
he built two great mosques, the Moti Masjid, and the Jami Masjid, and the
world renowned mausoleum in memory of his favorite Queen,. Mumtaz Mahal,
known as the Taj Mahal. At his new capital in Delhi , he built a huge
fortress-palace complex called the Red Fort, and the Jami Masjid, which is
among the finest mosques in India today. Shah Jahaan's reign was a period of
great literary activity. The arts of painting and calligraphy was also
encouraged. His court was one of great pomp and splendor, and his collection
of jewels was probably the most splendid in the world. Shah Jahaan had the
Koh-i-Noor diamond placed into his ornate Peacock Throne.
When Shah Jahaan fell seriously ill
in 1657, a war of succession broke out betwen the designated successor Dara
Shikoh, his eldest son, and Aurangzeb, his third son by his favourite wife
Mumtaz Mahal. Aurangzeb emerged victorious in this war, and placed his
father, who had an unexpected recovery from his illness, under house arrest
in his own palace at Agra Fort. According to a legend Shah Jahan is reported
to have placed the Koh-i-Noor against a window, so that he could look at the
stone and see the Taj Mahal reflected in it. The Koh-i-noor remained with
Shah Jahaan until his death in 1666. Aurangazeb took possession of the stone
together with some other jewels only after Shah Jahaan's death. Perhaps this
may be the reason why Jean Baptiste Tavernier did not see a diamond
resembling the Koh-i-Noor, when he had the rare privilege of inspecting the
Great Emperor Aurangzeb's collection of jewels.
Aurangzeb's 49-year rule ended with
his death in 1707. He was the last of the Great Mogul Emperors. After his
death, Mogul rule in India began a rapid decline with three emperors
ruling within a period of twelve years. They are Bahadur Shah (1707-1712),
Jahandar Shah (1712-1713), and Farrukh Siyar (1713-1719). Then followed a
relatively stable period when Emperor Muhammad Shah ascended the throne. He
reigned from 1719 to 1748. Muhammad Shah inherited all the crown jewels of
Aurangzeb.
Koh-i-Noor
leaves India for Persia, for the second time (1739-1747)
But unfortunately, during the
rule of Muhammad Shah, the mighty conqueror Nadir Shah from
neighboring Iran, invaded Delhi and Agra in 1739, and sacked the two cities
and plundered their wealth. Nadir carried away Shah Jahaan's Peacock Throne,
and all the crown jewels of the Mogul Emperors, which included the
Koh-i-Noor, the Darya-i-Noor, Nur-ul-Ain etc. The total value of the loot
carried away by Nadir Shah was estimated at 70 Crores (700 million rupees),
and it is said that Nadir was able to exempt the Iranian people from taxes
for the next three years. It was allegedly Nadir Shah who exclaimed
Koh-i-Noor ! when he finally managed to obtain the famous stone, and this is
how the stone gained it's name. There is no reference to this name before
the year 1739. There is a legend attributed to one of Nadir Shah's consorts,
which gives the valuation of the Koh-i-Noor, even though it is an unduly
exaggerated estimate. According to this legend the consort is supposed to
have said, "If a strong man should take five stones, and throw one north,
one south, one east, and one west, and the last straight up into the air,
and the space between filled with gold and gems, that would equal the value
of the Koh-i-Noor."
Nadir Shah whose original name was
Nadir Quli Beg, started life as a brigand chief, who formed and led a band
of armed robbers. In 1726, he led a group of 5,000 followers in
support of Shah Tahmasp II , who was trying to regain the throne, which his
father had lost 4 years earlier to the Afghan ruler Mahmud. Nadir
reorganized Iran's military forces, and utterly defeated the Afghans in a
series of battles, and restored Thamasp II to the Iranian throne.
He then diverted his attention
towards the Ottoman Turks, who had occupied neighboring Azerbaijan and Iraq.
He attacked and routed them from these two countries. He later deposed
Tahmasp II for signing a peace treaty with the Turks on ignominious terms,
having attacked the Turks in his absence, when he was quelling a revolt in
Khorasan. He placed Tahmasp's infant son on the throne and declared himself
regent. Subsequently he succeeded in driving the Turks completely out of
Iran, and also annexed the Russian Caspian Provinces. In 1736, Nadir deposed
the young Abbas III (Tahmasp IIs son), and installed himself as the Shah,
taking the title Nadir Shah.
Later he built a formidable Navy,
that attacked and captured Bahrain and Oman. He then turned towards the
east, and in 1739 attacked and captured several cities of the Mogul Empire,
including Delhi and Agra. He returned to Iran with a vast amount of loot.
later he attacked the Uzbeks near the cities of Bukhara and Khiva, and again
attacked and defeated the Turks near Yerevan in Armenia.
As a conqueror, Nadir Shah succeeded
in creating an Iranian Empire that stretched from the Indus River to the
Caucasus mountains. Nadir was successful as a soldier and general, but he
failed miserably as a statesman and administrator. He was harsh and ruthless
towards his subjects. He was suspicious of everyone around him, and had
people tortured and executed, wherever he went. Tens of thousands of people
perished in his never ending military adventures. As a result he
became very unpopular among his people, and had to face many revolts against
him. Eventually, Nadir Shah was assassinated by his own troops in 1747,
while attempting to crush a revolt in Khorasan.
Koh-i-Noor
leaves Persia for Afghanistan (1747-1810)
In the immediate aftermath of his
assassination generals close to Nadir Shah tried to lay their hands on at
least part of the enormous treasures collected by him during his ceaseless
military campaigns. The renowned Koh-i-Noor diamond fell into the hands of
Ahmad Khan Abdali, who was the commander of Nadir Shah's 4,000 man Afghan
bodyguard. Ahmad Khan Abdali returned to his native Qandahar in Afghanistan,
and was elected Shah by a tribal council. He adopted the title
Durr-i-Durrani (Pearl of Pearls). Ahmed Shah Durrani embarked on a series of
conquests and created an empire that extended from Meshhed to Kashmir and
Delhi, and from the Amu Darya to the Arabian Sea. The Durrani Empire was the
second largest Muslim Empire, in the second half of the 18th century,
surpassed only by the Ottoman Empire. Ahmed Shah died in 1772 and was
succeeded by his son Timur Shah, who shifted the capital from Qandahar to
Kabul in 1776.
When Timur Shah died in 1793, his
fifth son Zaman, seized power, with the help of Sardar Payenda Khan, a
tribal chieftain of the Barakzay tribe. Zaman Shah was deposed in 1800 by
Mahmud his brother, who was the Governor of Herat, assisted by Fath Ali Shah
of Persia and the British.
Zaman Shah who was blinded by his
brother Mahmud Shah, had the Koh-i-Noor diamond in his person, when he was
subsequently imprisoned. He hid the diamond on the wall of the prison, and
had it embedded in the plaster. Mahmud Shah was later deposed and
imprisoned by another brother Sha Shoja in 1803. Sha Shoja, who ruled up to
1809, retrieved the diamond from the wall of the prison, with the help of
his brother Zaman Shah, who pointed out the place of hiding. Mahmud Shah who
escaped from prison, later regained back his throne in 1810 from Sha Shoja.
Koh-i-Noor
leaves Afghanistan and enters India for the second time (1810-1849)
The two brothers Sha Shoja and Zaman
Sha, escaped to Lahore and sought refuge with the Sikh Maharajah Ranjit
Singh, the Lion of Punjab, who was appointed as Governor of Lahore by Zaman
Shah himself in 1798, when it was part of the Durrani Empire.
Shah Shoja had carried the
Koh-i-Noor with him to Lahore, and Maharaj Ranjit Singh who had heard about
the diamond earlier, expressed an interest in owning it. On the assumption
that Shah Shoja was holding the Koh-i-Noor diamond, he tried to extort the
diamond from him, as a price for giving him and his family sanctuary in
Lahore. But, Shah Shoja denied having the diamond with him, giving different
reasons at different times to avoid giving the diamond to the Maharajah. On
one occasion he said that he had lost the diamond with some other jewels. On
another occasion he said that he had pawned the diamond with a money-lender.
On a third occasion Shah Shoja dispatched a large white topaz to the
Maharajah, claiming that it was the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The King gave the
Topaz to the court jewelers asking them to confirm whether it was the
diamond. When the results of the court jewelers proved negative the King
became furious, and ordered that food supplies to the Shoja household be cut
off for two days, and posted a guard outside the house. Finally Sha Shoja
relented, and agreed to surrender the Koh-i-Noor to the Maharajah if he
calls over personally to receive it.
The Maharajah accepted Shah Shoja's
suggestion, and at an appointed time on June 1st 1813, visited his
house, to receive the diamond. The two men greeted each other, and after
sometime a servant brought a bundle from an adjacent room, and placed it
before the King. Ranjit Singh unwrapped the bundle and found the Koh-i-Noor
inside. He then left the room with the gem, without saying a word.
Ranjit Singh was the first and most
powerful of Sikh Kings who ruled Punjab. After his death in 1839, at least
three kings succeeded him one after another, and were killed in a struggle
for succession. Finally in 1843, Dulip Singh, the last of Ranjit Singh's
sons, who was a minor, was proclaimed the King, with his mother Jindan kaur
as regent. Two Sikh wars were fought during his reign, leading to the
annexation of the Punjab by the British. On March 29th 1849, the British
flag was hoisted on the citadel of Lahore and the Punjab was formally
proclaimed to be part of the British Empire in India.
Koh-i Noor
leaves India for Great Britain (1849-to date)
One of the terms of the Treaty of
Lahore, the legal agreement formalizing this occupation, reads as follows :-
"The gem called the Koh-i-Noor which was taken from Sha
Shuja-ul-Mulk, by Maharajah Ranjit Singh, shall be
surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England."
On the side of the British, the
Treaty of Lahore was ratified by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General, who
at the age of 35, was the youngest holder of this office, to be sent to
India. Dalhousie was chiefly responsible for acquiring the Koh-i-Noor for
the British, and he displayed a keen interest in the diamond for the rest of
his life. Not long after the signing of the Treaty of Lahore, Dalhousie was
severely criticized by the officials of the East India Company, the former
Governor General of India, Lord Ellenborough and others, for the manner in
which the diamond was acquired for the British. While the East India Company
felt that the diamond should have been handed over to them to be presented
to the Queen as a gift on a subsequent occasion, Lord Ellenborough was
indignant because Dalhousie did not confiscate everything to Her Majesty the
Queen. In a letter written to his friend Sir George Cooper in August 1849,
Lord Dalhousie Stated as follows:-
"The court (of the East India
Company) you say, are ruffled by my having caused the Maharajah to cede to
the Queen the Koh-i-Noor, while the Daily News and My Lord
Ellenborough, are indignant because I did not confiscate everything to Her
Majesty, and censure me for leaving a Roman pearl in the court. I was fully
prepared to hear that the court chafed at my not sending the diamond to
them, and letting them present it to her Majesty. They ought not to do so.
They ought to enter into and cordially approve the sentiment on which I
acted thus. The motive was simply this : that it was more for the honor of
the Queen that the Koh-i-Noor should be surrendered directly from the hands
of the conquered Prince into the hands of the sovereign who was his
conqueror, than it should be presented to her as a gift -which is always a
favor- by any joint stock company among her subjects. So the court ought to
feel. As for their fretting and censuring, that I do not mind, so long as
they do not disallow the article. I know I have acted best for the
Sovereign, and for their honor too."
Lord Dalhousie, assigned Dr. John
Login, the important task of taking the Koh-i-Noor into the safe custody of
British Officials in Lahore, from the Toshakhana (the jewel house), whose
custodian was the treasurer of the Punjab Government. The crucial task was
executed smoothly with the excellent Co-operation extended by the treasurer,
who was indeed very happy to be relieved of the responsibility for the
diamond. The treasurer further added that the diamond had been the cause of
so many unfortunate deaths in his own family, and he never expected to be
spared either. The old treasurer also gave some useful advice to Dr Login,
as to how the stone should be handled, when showing it to visitors. The
first advice was that he should take extra precautions when handling the
jewel, and under no circumstances should he allow it to fall out of his
hand. The second advice was that he should twist the ribbons that tied it as
an armlet, around his fingers.
The second important
assignment entrusted to Dr login by Lord Dalhousie, was the guardianship of
the young Prince Dulip Singh, the last son and successor to Maharaj Ranjit
Singh, who was still a minor.
Dr John Login having taken the
Koh-i-Noor into his safe custody, formally handed it over to three British
Officials of the Punjab Government, which included Sir Henry Lawrence, his
younger brother John Lawrence (later Lord Lawrence), and C. C. Mausel. Out
of the three officials, two of them decided that John Lawrence be entrusted
, with the safe keeping of the diamond, as he was believed to be more
practical and business-like in his approach to his duties. but they
were proved to be totally wrong in their assessment, when the diamond was
nearly lost, while it was in the custody of John Lawrence.
When the small box containing the
diamond was handed over to John Lawrence, he put it into his coat pocket and
went about his normal day to day activities. Later in the evening when
changing for dinner, he threw his coat aside absent mindedly, completely
forgetting that the precious diamond was in one of the pockets. After about
six weeks an urgent message was received from Lord Dalhousie, saying that
the Queen had ordered the Koh-i-Noor be transmitted to her immediately.
Sir John Lawrence raised the topic
at the next board meeting. A chill ran down the spine of John Lawrence, as
he suddenly remembered, that the Koh-i-Noor was given to him for safe
keeping. He could only remember, having put the small box containing the
diamond into his coat pocket. When John Lawrence said quietly, "Send for it
at once" his bother replied., "Why? you've got it." John Lawrence managed to
preserve his composure, and pretended as if nothing was amiss. He said
quietly to himself, "Well this is the worst trouble I have ever got into.
"But, said audibly, "Oh yes, of course, I forgot about it." and the meeting
went on as if nothing had happened. As soon as he had opportunity to slip
away to his private room, he did, with his heart in the mouth; sent
for his old servant, and asked him, "Have you seen a small box which was in
my waist coat pocket sometime ago?" The man replied "Yes Sahib, I found it
and put it in one of your boxes." "Bring it here," replied Lawrence, where
upon the old man went over to a tin box and removed the little one from it.
"Open it," said Lawrence, "and see what is inside." he watched the old man
anxiously, as fold after fold of small rags were taken off and was very
relieved when the precious gem appeared. The servant seemed to be unaware of
the treasure which he had in his keeping, and remarked, "There is nothing
here, Sahib, but a bit of glass."
John Lawrence rushed back to the
meeting with the Koh-i-Noor, and displayed it to the members of the board,
who then initiated action for it's long journey to England. But the first
leg of the journey , was the transport of the diamond from Lahore to Bombay,
a route that was one of the most dangerous in India, at the time, swarming
with arm bandits and other criminals. Having realized this danger, Lord
Dalhousie himself undertook to carry the Koh-i-Noor from Lahore to Bombay.
The Governor General carried the stone in his person, double sewn into a
belt, secured around his waist, and one end of the belt was fastened to a
chain around his neck. He said that it never left him either in the day or
night , except on one occasion when he left the stone with Captain Ramsay,
locked in a treasure chest. Eventually he was able to deposit the stone at
he treasury in Bombay, until the arrival of a ship, to transport it to
England. Lord Dalhousie had confessed that he was the happiest person in the
world when he was finally able to handover the stone to the safe custody of
the Bombay treasury.
The Koh-i-Noor was held up in Bombay
for almost two months, until the arrival of a ship, sailing to England. At
the time the Koh-i-Noor was deposited in the Government treasury in Bombay,
it was put in an iron box, which was again placed in a larger dispatch box.
Even the officer in the treasury was not aware of the contents of the box,
as it was kept a secret, for security reasons. The dispatch box was loaded
into the ship H. M. S. Medea, but the identity of the contents in the box
was withheld from it's Captain Commander Lockyer. The only individuals who
knew about it were the officers entrusted with the custody of the dispatch,
Lieutenant Colonel Mackeson and Captain Ramsay. H. M. S. Medea sailed from
Bombay on the 6th of April 1850.
The voyage of the H. M. S. Medea
turned out to be a perilous one, which the feeble minded would have
attributed to the unwelcome guest aboard the vessel-the Koh-i-Noor. There
were two occasions on which disaster was narrowly averted. The first one was
when the ship reached the Mauritius Island. Cholera broke out on board the
vessel, and the local people refused to sell necessary supplies to the crew,
requesting the immediate departure of the ship. When the Medea did not move,
they asked their Governor to open fire and destroy the vessel. However, the
ship left Mauritius after some days.
A few days later the Medea was
caught up in a severe storm, that lasted for about twelve hours, before
subsiding finally.
Eventually the H. M. S. Medea
reached the port of Plymouth in England, where all the passengers
disembarked, and the mail was unloaded except for the box containing the
Koh-i-Noor, which was forwarded to Portsmouth. The two officers in charge
disembarked at Portsmouth, with the box containing the precious cargo, which
was then delivered to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the East India
Company. Subsequently the Deputy Chairman delivered it to the Queen, at
Buckingham Palace on July 3rd 1850.
The arrival of the Koh-i-Noor
in England caused a lot of unease among people who were aware of the
superstitions associated with the diamond. Certain unfortunate happenings
involving the Queen was attributed to it's arrival, and necessitated Lord
Dalhousie's intervention, in reassuring the Queen, that the stories
associated with the Koh-i-Noor, that it always brings misfortune to it's
possessor were all baseless. On the Contrary, Dalhousie said that the stone
could bring good fortune to it's possessor, and grants superiority to the
possessor over all his enemies. He quoted the conversation which the owner
of the diamond Shah Shoja had with Ranjith Singh at a subsequent occasion,
after surrendering the diamond. When asked by Ranjit Singh, as to what was
the value of the Koh-i-Noor, Shah Shoja replied, "It's value is good
fortune, for whoever possessed it has been superior to all his enemies."
In April 1851, the Director of the
British Museum, requested and obtained permission from the Queen to turn out
a model of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond. The diamond had to be removed from the
setting it was placed in , when it arrived from India. One of those involved
in this task, Sebastian Garrard, keeper of he Majesty's Jewels, took this
opportunity to find out the exact weight of the stone. The weight of the
stone turned out to be 186.10 carats, far short of 279 carats, the weight
stated by Tavernier in his publication, giving rise to the unfounded
speculation that the Koh-i-Noor diamond must have been substituted by a
fictitious one. But, all these doubts were laid to rest, when people
acquainted with the diamond, asserted that it was impossible for Dulip
Singh, to have substituted the diamond, when the young king's habit of
wearing it on state occasions , must have rendered it perfectly familiar
to thousands , who would have instantly detected any attempt at
substitution. It was said that the more probable explanation for the
discrepancy would have been that the weight of the Koh-i-Noor had been
somewhat exaggerated.
In accordance with his original
plan, Governor General Dalhousie, arranged for the diamond to be presented by
Maharaj Ranjit Singh's successor, Dulip Singh, to Queen Victoria in 1851.
Dulip Singh traveled to England, to take part in the official presentation
ceremony.
Later in the same year, the British
public was given a chance to see the renowned Koh-i-Noor diamond, when the
great Exhibition was staged in Hyde Park, London.
While the Great Exhibition was on,
at the Crystal Palace, a massive structure measuring 1848 ft by 408 ft by
108 ft, built especially for the occasion, a correspondent of the Times
newspaper reported as follows :-
"The Koh-i-Noor is at present
decidedly the "Lion of the Exhibition." A mysterious interest appears to be
attached to it, and now that so many precautions have been resorted to, and
so much difficulty attends it's inspection, the crowd is enormously
enhanced, and the policemen at either end of the covered entrance
have much trouble in restraining the struggling and impatient multitude. For
some hours yesterday there were never less than couple of hundred persons
waiting their turn of admission, and yet after all , the diamond does not
satisfy. Either from the imperfect cutting or the difficulty of
placing the lights advantageously, or the immovability of the stone itself,
which should be made to revolve on it's axis, few catch any of the brilliant
rays, it reflects when viewed at a particular angle."
Even Governor Dalhousie was not
impressed by the brilliance of the diamond. In a letter he wrote from Delhi
at the time of the exhibition, he says, "The Koh-i-Noor is badly cut. It is
rose and not brilliant-cut, and of course won't sparkle like the latter.
But, it should not have been shown in a huge space. In the Toshakhana at
Lahore, Dr. Login used to show it on a table covered with a black
velvet cloth, and relieved by the dark color all round.
Re-cutting
of the Koh-i-Noor
This disappointment in the
appearance of the stone was shared by many, including Queen Victoria's
consort, Prince Albert. Later the Prince consulted Sir David Brewster,
a Physicist, who had specialized in Optics, and was well known for his work
on Polarized light. The Prince inquired from him as to how best the diamond
could be re-cut, in order to maximize it's brilliance. Brewster examined the
stone, and found several small inclusions within the stone, which according
to him was caused by the expansive force of condensed gases. Brewster was of
opinion that re-cutting the diamond, without a serious reduction in weight,
would be a very difficult task. Professor Tennant and Reverend W.
Mitchell, Lecturer in Mineralogy, at King's College, London, were also
consulted. Both of them were of the opinion, that re-cutting the stone would
definitely improve it's brilliance, but expressed fears that any cutting
would endanger it's integrity. Finally the Prince decided to seek the advice
of practical and experienced diamond cutters. The Crown jewelers, Messrs
Garrard, were instructed to get a report from some eminent cutters. They
entrusted the job to a famous diamond cutting firm in Amsterdam, Messrs
Coster of Amsterdam, who in their report noted the validity of the fears
expressed in the Tennant report, but nevertheless were of the opinion that
the dangers posed were not so formidable as to prevent the intended
re-cutting of the diamond. The Prince lost no time in giving the official
approval for the re-cutting to commence, and the delicate task was to be
carried out at the Garrard's Jewelry Shop. Two experienced cutters from
Messrs. Coster, Mr. Voorzanger and Mr. Fedder arrived in London, to perform
the difficult and time-consuming operation.
The Duke of Wellington, who had
shown a great interest in the proposed re-cutting and attended several
preparatory meetings, inaugurated the re-cutting on Friday, July 17th, 1852.
The Koh-i-Noor was embedded in Lead, with the exception of a small piece of
the stone, that was intended to be the first to be subjected, to the cutting
process. A report on the "Times" newspaper reads as follows :-
"His Grace placed the gem upon the
scaife, an horizontal wheel revolving with almost incalculable velocity,
whereby the exposed angle was removed by friction, and the first facet of
the new cutting was affected. The Koh-i-Noor is intended to be converted
into an oval brilliant, and the two smaller diamonds which accompany it are
to be similarly treated as pendants. The present weight of the principal gem
is 186 carats, and the process now in progress will not, it is anticipated
diminish in any material degree it's weight, while it will largely increase
it's value and develop it's beauties."
On the 19th of July, the cutters
tried to investigate the nature of the flaws in the stone, which according
to Tennant and Mitchell, was not natural but deliberately created for the
purpose of holding the stone more firmly in it's setting and noted by
them, still to have particles of gold adhering to it. By cutting directly
into the stone in the region of the flaws, it was revealed that the flaw was
a natural inclusion of a yellow tinge. The cutters then proceeded to
eliminate this flaw. The re-cutting of the Koh-i-Noor was completed in 38
days, and the whole operation cost £ 8,000 ($ 40,000). As planned
originally the stone was converted to an oval brilliant weighing 108.93
carats, resulting in a loss of weight of almost 43 %. Such a drastic loss of
weight, came as a disappointment to many, including Prince Albert, and
prompted the comment in the press, that the re-cutting of the Koh-i-Noor
revealed the painful fact, that the art of diamond cutting was extinct in
England. The final form of the Koh-i-Noor was an oval, stellar
brilliant-cut, with the crown possessing the regular 33 facets, including
the table, while the pavilion had eight more facets than the regular 25,
making the total number of facets to 66.
The Koh-i Noor becomes
part of the British Crown Jewels
Dulip Singh who was now living in London, under the
guardianship of Lady Login, was one of the first persons to be shown the
Koh-i-Noor in it's new shape. This was on the initiative of Queen Victoria
herself, when the Prince visited the Buckingham Palace, for sittings for a
portrait of himself, being made by the palace. But, before doing so, the
Queen verified from Lady Login that the Prince had no regrets or worries
about the loss of the diamond, and that he would be interested in seeing the
stone in it's re-cut form. The Queen herself walked up to the Maharajah who
was posing on a Dais, and handed over the Koh-i-Noor to him for his
inspection. After he had finished his inspection, Dulip Singh walked across
the room, and with a low bow expressed in a few graceful words the pleasure
it gave him to have the opportunity of placing the stone in her hands.
However the worries over the supposed bad luck which the
Koh-i-Noor would bring to it's owner refused to die down and this led Lord
Dalhousie to write his most extended letter refuting the claim.
"The rumor you mention as to the Koh-i-Noor, I have seen
in former years in an English Paper, but never anywhere else. It is not only
contrary to fact but contrary to native statements also. Did the Koh-i-Noor
bring ill luck to the great Akbar, or to his own son or grandson ? or to
Aurangzeb, who rose to be the Great Mogul Emperor ? And when that race of
emperors fell - not from the ill-fortune of the Koh-i-noor, but from their
feeble hand - did it bring ill-fortune to Nadir Shah, who lived and died the
the greatest eastern conqueror of modern times ? or to Ahmed Shah Durrani,
who got it at Nadir's death, and founded the Afghan Empire ? or did it bring
ill fortune to Ranjit Singh, who got it from the Durrani's, and who rose
from being a sower on twenty rupees a month at Goojeranwalla to be the
Maharajah of the Punjab, swaying the greatest force in India next to
ourselves ? And has it brought ill-luck to the Queen ? Especially,
representing the Punjab, has it shown that state an enemy to us ? Has it not
on the contrary, shown it our fastest friend, by whose aid we have just put
down the traitors of our own household. So much for the facts of history as
to the Koh-i-Noor. Now for the estimation in which it's former owners hold
it. When Ranjit Singh seized it from Shah Shoja, the Durrani Emperor, he was
very anxious to ascertain it's value. he sent the diamond to merchants in
Amritsar, but they said it's value could not be estimated in money. He then
asked Begum Shah, the wife of Shah Shoja, and her answer was thus, "If a
strong man should take five stones, and should cast them, one east, one
west, one north, and one south, and the last straight up in the air, and if
all the space between those points were filled with gold and gems, that
would not equal the value of the Koh-i-Noor." Ranjit Singh thought that this
was a rather vague estimate, and requested for Shah Shoja's opinion. The old
man's answer was :-"The value of the Koh-i-Noor is that whoever holds it is
victorious over all his enemies." And so it is. The Koh-i-Noor has been of
ill fortune to the few who have lost it. To the long line of Emperors,
Conquerors, and Potentates, who through successive centuries have possessed
it , it has been the symbol of victory and empire. and sure never more than
to our Queen, ever since she wore it, and at this moment. However if her
Majesty thinks it brings bad luck to her, let her give it back to me. I will
take it and it's ill-luck as speculation."
Queen Victoria seems to have been convinced by this last
letter of Lord Dalhousie, that she decided to keep the diamond, and in 1853,
ordered the Crown Jewelers, Garrards to mount the gem on a tiara for the
Queen, which they did, and turned out a magnificent tiara containing more
than two thousand diamonds, with the Koh-i-Noor as the centerpiece. Five
years later in 1858, Queen Victoria ordered a new regal circlet for the
Koh-i-Noor, which was delivered the following year.
In 1911, Garrards made a new crown for the coronation of
Queen Mary, the Queen Consort of King George V. The crown contained only
diamonds and the Koh-i-Noor was also included.
Again in 1937, the Koh-i-Noor was incorporated in a new
crown made for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen consort of
King George VI, which was based on Queen Victoria's regal circlet. the
Koh-i-Noor was set in the Maltese Cross at the front of the crown.
The return of the
Koh-i-Noor to it's rightful owners
Given the long and sometimes bloody history of the
Koh-i-Noor diamond and the great esteem in which the diamond was held by
Kings, Emperors, and Conquerors, in the belief that the stone had some
supernatural powers, that granted superiority to it's holder over his
enemies, and the fact that these rulers belonged to different countries and
ethnic groups, had given rise to a multitude of claimants for the diamond.
In the modern enlightened era of the 20th and 21st centuries, in which
relationship between states are defined by principles of mutual co-operation
and co-existence, and not exploitation and domination of one state by
another, the continued ownership of the diamond by Great Britain, is now
being seriously questioned by these claimants. they feel that the diamond
was wrongfully acquired by Great Britain, from the successors of the
Maharajah of Punjab, Ranjit Singh, who had willed the Koh-i-Noor diamond to
the Jagannath Temple in Orissa, while in his death bed in 1839. They allege
that Britain legalized this wrongful acquisition, by deliberately including
a clause in the Treaty of Lahore, which formalized the occupation of the
Punjab by the British in 1849, to the effect that the gem called Koh-i-Noor
which was taken from Shah Shuja-ul-mulk by Maharajah Ranjit Singh shall be
surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England.
In 1947, the Government of India, asked for the return of
the Koh-i-Noor, and the State Government of Orissa claimed that the stone
actually belonged to the Jagannath Temple of Orissa. Again in 1953,
the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, another request was made
by India, for the return of the diamond.
But, the real debate about the actual ownership of the
historical diamond, was initiated in 1976, when the former Prime Minister of
Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in a letter to the British Prime Minister,
James Callaghan, submitted a formal request for the return of the diamond to
Pakistan. This was refused, but was accompanied by an assurance by
Callaghan to Bhutto, that there was no question that Britain would hand it
over to any other country, an obvious reference to India. Pakistan's claim
to the Koh-i-Noor was disputed by India, which made another formal request
for it's restoration.
As the debate on the ownership continued, a major
newspaper in Teheran stated that the gem ought to be returned to Iran.
Another claimant to the diamond was Afghanistan.
It's worthwhile examining the merits and de-merits of
each of the above claims.
The Indian Claim is based on the following
indisputable facts of History :-
(1) That the Koh-i-Noor diamond was mined in one of the
groups of mines situated in various river basins on the eastern side of the
Deccan Plateau in Southern and Central Provinces of India.
(2) That the stone had belonged to several Indian rulers
prior to the 13th century, which probably included the Maharajah of Malwa,
and the Kakatiya Kings of Warangal which included, Prataparudra.
(3) That the stone belonged to the rulers of the Delhi
Sultanate from 1295 to 1526, which included Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji, and
Sultan Ibrahim Lodi.
(4) That the stone was owned by the entire generation of
Mogul rulers, Starting from Emperor Zahir-ud-din Muhammad (Babur-1526-30) to
Emperor Muhammad Shah (1719 -48), who ruled first from Agra and later from
Delhi.
(5) That the stone had been in the possession of Indian
Rulers for a period of 444 years from 1295 to 1739, according to recorded
history, save for a short period of seven years (1540-47), when Humayun
sought refuge in neighboring Persia.
(6) That this period may be more than 500 years if the
period of unrecorded history is also taken into account.
(7) That the stone was plundered by Nadir Shah of Iran in
1739.
The Iranian claim is based on the following facts of
history :-
(1) That the Koh-i-Noor was acquired by the greatest
Iranian ruler of the 18th century, Nadir Shah, in 1739 as a spoil of war,
after defeating the Mogul army and capturing the capital city of the Mogul
Empire Delhi.
(2) That the name Koh-i-Noor is of Persian origin,
meaning "mountain of light", given by Nadir Shah, when he first saw the
diamond after it was surrendered by Emperor Muhammad Shah.
(3) That the diamond was carried to Afghanistan
illegally, after Nadir Shah's death, by Ahmed Khan Abdali, the commander of
Nadir Shah's 4,000 man Afghan bodyguard.
(4) That the Koh-i-Noor remained in Iran as part of the
Crown Jewels for a period of 8 years.
The facts on which the Afghan claims are based are as
follows :-
(1) That the Koh-i-Noor was acquired by Ahmad Khan Abdali
the trusted commander of Nadir Shah's 4,000 man Afghan Bodyguard. After
Nadir Shah's death Ahmed Khan Abdali was elected Shah, by a tribal council
and assumed the name Ahmed Shah Durrani.
(3) That the Koh-i-Noor remained with the Durrani rulers
of Afghanistan for a period of 63 years from 1747 to 1810.
(4) That the grandson of Ahmed Shah Durrani, Sha Shoja,
sought refuge in Lahore, the capital city of the Maharajah of Punjab, Ranjit
Singh.
(5) That the Maharajah of Punjab, Ranjit Singh, exerted
undue pressure on Shah Shoja to extort the diamond from him.
Finally let us consider the historical facts relevant to
the claim made by Pakistan for the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
(1) That the Koh-i-Noor was acquired in 1810 by Ranjit
Singh, the Maharajah of Punjab, whose capital city was Lahore, from the
deposed ruler of Afghanistan, Sha Shoja, who sought political asylum in
Lahore, after he was deposed by his brother Mahmud Shah.
(2) That the Koh-i-Noor diamond was acquired by Ranjit
Singh, in return for the political asylum granted to Sha Shoja and his
family .
(3) That the Koh-i-Noor diamond remained in the Punjab
for a period of 39 years.
(4) That the Koh-i-Noor diamond remained as a property of
the Ranjit Singh family up to March 29th 1849, the day Punjab was formally
annexed to the British Empire of India.
(5) That the city of Lahore, from where the diamond was
confiscated and later taken to England, now lies in Pakistan, after the
partition of India in 1947.
(6) That Lahore is still the capital of the Punjab
Province of Pakistan.
Having laid down the merits of each of the main claimants
for the ownership of the historical diamond Koh-i-Noor, i. e. India, Iran,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan, we leave it to the intelligence of the reader, to
make the necessary conclusions as to the most valid and sustainable claim.
In the light of all these claims and counter-claims it is
interesting to find out the official British position in respect of this
controversy. The British Government seems to think that it has a clear title
to the diamond, in that it was not seized in war , but formally presented to
Queen Victoria, by the last successor to Maharajah Ranjit Singh, his
youngest son Dulip Singh. In other words the British Government seems to
think that the Koh-i-Noor rightfully belongs to them, and they may not part
with the diamond under any circumstances. The Government also seems to take
cover under the confused historical status of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which
can be interpreted to mean that since the history of the diamond is
confused, no one has the right to claim it except the present owners of the
diamond.
Unfortunately, both lines of argument adopted by the
British are highly untenable. In the first place historical records clearly
show, that the Koh-i- Noor was confiscated as a spoil of war by the British,
as stated in writing in the treaty of Lahore, which reads as follows :-
"that the gem called Koh-i-Noor which was taken from Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk, by
Maharajah Ranjit Singh, shall be SURRENDERED by the Maharajah of Lahore to
the Queen of England." Moreover Queen Victoria was so impatient after the
confiscation of the diamond in Lahore, that she ordered it's quick transfer
to England from India, which her obedient servant the Governor General Lord
Dalhousie, did in July 1850, barely one year after it's confiscation. The so
called presentation ceremony, in which Dulip Singh "PRESENTS" the diamond to
Queen Victoria takes place much later in 1851, after Dulip Singh had arrived
in England. That the so called "PRESENTATION" of the diamond is not actually
a presentation but a "SURRENDERING" of a spoil of war is proved beyond any
doubt by the letter written to Sir George Cooper in August 1849, by his
friend the Governor General of India, Lord Dalhousie. The relevant
portion of that letter reads, "The motive was simply this, that it was more
for the honor of the Queen, that the Koh-i-Noor should be "SURRENDERED"
directly from the hand of the conquered Prince into the hands of the
Sovereign, who was his conqueror, than it should be presented as a gift by
any, joint stock company among her subjects. "(East India Company).
However in spite of all the political and historical
debate the Koh-i-Noor had generated in respect of it's rightful ownership,
the gem still remains a property of the British Royal Family, and is on
display with other Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.
The accurate weight of the diamond determined by a modern
electronic balance was published in 1992, and was given as 105.602 carats,
and it's dimensions are 36.00 x 31.90 x 13.04 mm. The stone is set in the
Maltese Cross at the front of the Crown, made for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen
consort of King George VI, and the mother of Queen ELizabeth II. In the year
2002, when the Queen Mother died at the ripe old age of 102 years, the Crown
with the Koh-i-Noor, was placed atop her coffin as she lay in state.
