The Lost Kohinoor

It was from the memories of my childhood when I read my history textbooks with expired interest due to colossal collection of events and facts written across the thousand pages. At that time, I heard and read about 'Kohinoor' a precious stone and fascinated with the glory with this piece of precious stone shadowed with. That was the time when the quest to know more about this diamond, the glory hide inside my unconscious. And this is the time after more than 15 years when it comes to the swirling and rejuvenating memory of mine again during contemplation of this historical object, which is some kind of history in itself, it created a need to introspect to drive through the marked history that Kohinoor had in form of either a war history or inform of conspiracy model of long journey through time.



Kohinoor [Mountain of Light ] Picture is in right

Assuming history as a source of knowledge and information of events, some say that the Kohinoor was originally founded more than 5000 years ago, and is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit writings under the name of Syamantaka. Devout Hindus claims that Lord Krishna himself obtained the diamond from Jambavantha, whose daughter Jambavati later married Krishna. The legend says that the diamond was stolen from Krishna as he lay sleeping. By contrast, another source has it that the diamond was discovered in a riverbed in 3200 BC.

Historical evidence suggests that the Kohinoor originated in Golconda kingdom, in Hyderabad state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the world's earliest diamond producing regions. South Indian folklore is definite in claiming a local origin for the stone. It is certain that the stone was mined in India, as until the 19th century India was the only place in the world where diamonds were known. It is likely that the diamond was mined in the Kollur mines in the present day Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The Khilji dynasty at Delhi ended in 1320 A.D and Ghiasuddin Tughlaq ascended the Delhi throne. Tughlaq sent his son Ulugh Khan in 1323 to defeat the Kakatiya king Pratapa Rudra. Ulugh Khan’s raid was repulsed but he returned in a month with a larger and determined army. The unprepared army of Warangal was defeated. The loot, plunder and destruction of Warangal continued for months. Loads of gold, diamonds, pearls and ivory were carried away to Delhi on elephants and camels. The Koh-i-noor diamond was part of the booty. From then onwards, the stone passed through the hands of successive rulers of the Delhi sultanate, finally passing to Babur, the first Mughal emperor, in 1526.

The first confirmed note historically mentioning the Kohinoor by an identifiable name dates from 1526. Babur mentions in his memoirs, the Baburnama, that the stone had belonged to an un-named Rajah of Malwa in 1294. Babur held the stone's value to be such as to feed the whole world for two days. The Baburnama recounts how this Rajah of Malwa was compelled to yield his prized possession to Alauddin Khilji; 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, the Baburnama was written c.1526-30; Babur's source for this information is unknown, and he may have been recounting the hearsay of his day. He did not at that time call the stone by its present name, but despite some debate about the identity of 'Babur's Diamond' it seems likely that it was the stone which later became known as Kohinoor.

At that time it was said to weigh 793 carats, but through some incredibly ham-fisted cutting and polishing by a jeweller named Borgio it was reduced to 186 carats. Borgio had been working on it for years, but so enraged was Aurungzebe (the Emperor at the time) at the result that he confiscated all Borgio's worldly goods and contemplated executing him as well.

The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan — famous for building the Taj Mahal — had the stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne. When Shah Jahan's son, Aurangazeb, put his ailing father under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort, legend has it that he had the Kohinoor stationed against a window so that Shah Jahan could look at the stone and see the Taj reflected in it. There it stayed until the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739 and the sacking of Agra and Delhi. Along with the Peacock Throne, he also carried off the Koh-i-noor to Persia in 1739. It was allegedly Nadir Shah who exclaimed Koh-i-Noor, the mountain of light! When he finally managed to obtain the famous stone and this is how the stone gained its present name. There is no reference to this name before 1739.

The valuation of the Kohinoor is given in the legend that one of Nadir Shah's consorts supposedly 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'

After the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747 it came into the hands of Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan. In 1830, Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, managed to flee with the Kohinoor diamond. He then came to Lahore, the capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, where it was given to the Sikh Maharaja (King) of Punjab Ranjit Singh, in which after, in return, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was able to persuade the East India Company to lend their troops and win back the Afghan throne for Shah Shuja. Ranjit Singh crowned himself as the ruler of Punjab and willed the Koh-i-noor to Jagannath Temple in Orissa while on his deathbed in 1839. But there was dispute about this last-minute testament, and in any case it was not executed. On March 29, 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. One of the terms of the Treaty of Lahore, the legal agreement formalising this occupation, was as follows:

The gem called the 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.

The Governor-General in charge for the ratification of this treaty was Lord Dalhousie. More than anyone, Dalhousie was responsible for the British acquiring the Koh-i-Noor, in which he continued to show great interest for the rest of his life. Dalhousie's work in India was sometimes controversial, and his acquisition of the diamond, amongst many other things, was criticised by some contemporary British commentators. Although some suggested that the diamond should have been presented as a gift to the Queen, it is clear that Dalhousie felt strongly that the stone was a spoil of war, and treated it accordingly. Writing to his friend Sir George Cooper in August of 1849, he stated this:

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 [Governor-General of India, 1841-44] are indignant because I did not confiscate everything to her Majesty... [My] motive was simply this: that it was more for the honour 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 to her as a gift -- which is always a favour -- by any joint-stock company among her subjects. So the Court ought to feel.

Dalhousie arranged that the diamond should be presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh's successor, Duleep Singh, to Queen Victoria in 1851. Duleep travelled to the United Kingdom to do this. The presentation of the Kohinoor to Queen Victoria was the latest in the long history of transfers of the stone as a spoil of war. It was later proclaimed by Indian government on the return of Kohinoor to India claiming Duleep singh as an 16 year old boy as king, as innocent child, who was not aware the historical and cultural values associated with the precious Kohinoor.

The Kohinoor was first displayed to the British public or in fact to this scale of public at the Great Exhibition staged in Hyde Park, London in 1851. Although the diamond was showing the brilliant in itself in terms of its size and shape but some elite thinkers or valuators thought and quest that the stone is displaying insufficient fire. It was decided to re-cut it from its original Indian form, and a member of the Amsterdam firm of Costar was called to London to cut the stone. A steam-driven cutting wheel was set up, and Prince Albert see the stone on the wheel, while the Duke of Wellington started it. The cutting took 38 days, but did not add much to the stone's brilliance. It was rather believed that the cutting diminished the historical value of the diamond. In addition, the value reduced to the 105.603 carats. Later the stone was mounted in a tiara with more than two thousand other diamonds. And used in several celebrations in Royal house and later it is been procured in crown of jewels after the death of Queen Elizabeth ( Queen mother) in 2002.

After the historical description of associated events in transfer of Kohinoor from hand to hand in very brief and chronological time frame it can be said that there is a conspiracy associated with it with respect to the persuasion of this great stone which has a distinct cultural meaning for the inhabitants of different regions where this stone was there for some time. Now after having a close look to the events, this diamond was either looted by some mogul dictator or been snatched away by the British conspirators. Historically this diamond belong to India and have lineage of history and a cultural style which was persistently been a part of India as people said that India was a country of Gold before looted by her British invaders. India was been exploited by it mogul ruler and East India company at last. Now this is the time when we are approaching towards a global identity with predefined intellectual associations with future, we need to acquire our cultural inheritance by regaining our precious emblems through diplomatic talks. Although the Kohinoor is one of the Noors[Crown], which India had before long years of slavery under different rulers of different regions, but we cannot eviscerate this precious and meaningful object from our historical inheritance to procure our unique cultural style in this globalize village of present time.