Koh-I-Nur: Difference between revisions

From the Punjab to London

The Koh-i-nur, the peerless diamond which today takes its pride of place among the British crown jewels, once belonged to Maharaja Ranjit Singh who would wear it on his left arm on State occasions. After his death it passed through his sons Kharak Singh and Sher Singh, to his youngest son, the 3 year old Duleep Singh, who ascended the throne in September, 1843. He was forced to surrender the diamond to the British at the end of the 2nd Anglo-Sikh war during a Darbar on March 29th, 1849. At his 10th birthday party that year he sadly recalled his last birthday when he had worn the Koh-i-nur among his other gems. It was a lost that he never got over. The young Maharaja, considered, by the British too dangerous to be allowed to stay the Punjab was deprived of his kingdom, the world famous diamond and the jewels, gold, silver and pashmina shawls of the famous Toshakhana (treasury). The British considered all of it an indemnity (to pay for costs of the 2 wars); the young Duleep questioned the legality of the whole transaction. From the time of its surrender until it left Lahore, the Koh-i-nur was in the custody of Dr John Spencer Login, guardian of Maharaja Duleep Singh and the superintendent of the fabulus Toshakhana. In 1850, Lord Dalhousie personally took the diamond from Lahore to Bombay for despatch to England. Maharaja Duleep Singh left India in 1853. Cheated out of his agreed upon pension, he was allowed only 2 brief visits back to India.

On Exhibit

The stone was exhibited in London's Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851. It was literally the star of the exhibit. In 1852 thinking the stone lacked brillance (it then weighed 186.1/6 carats) Prince Albert had the stone recut at great expense. A Dutch cutter from Amsterdam was brought to London along with a steam powered cutting table. The cutting failed to greatly enhance the brilliance of the diamond, and reduced its weight by 80 carats. Today it weighs only 106.1/16 carats still the most brilliant gem among the British crown jewels, if no longer the largest. During a dinner at Buckingham Palace Maharaja Duleep Singh asked to see the recut diamond, now mounted in a ring the Queen was wearing, the Queen passed the ring to the Maharaja who looked at it a while then returned the ring. No comment on the occasion by the Maharaja has been recorded. It was set in the crown of the Queen Mother in 1937 at the time of the coronation of George VI.

A new name for Babur's diamond

During the course of its long history, the KohiNur has witnessed the rise and fall of many ruling dynasties. Thought to be the famous diamond of Babur the stone had been the pride of the great Moghul emperors from Babar to Auranzeb. It was lost to India when Nadir Shah invaded Delhi in 1739. Taking much treasure (including the fabled Peacock Throne) Nadir Shah could not find the gem. It is related that a nautch girl, seeking favor, told the Shah that the emperor had concealed the diamond in his turban. Nadir Shah, then (in a time honored tradition of friendship and reconciliation) offered to exchange turbans with Muhammad Shah who could not refuse. Later Nadir Shah unwrapped the turban. Taken by surprise as the stone rolled out he shouted Koh-i-Nur! , (Mountain of Light). The stone has since been known by this name.

An Indian moves to Persia and back towards its Indian home

Nadir Shah was murdered in 1747 and the KohiNur came into the possession of his grandson, Shah Rukh, who surrendered it to Ahmad Shah Durrani of Kabul. It passed by descent to Ahmad Shah's son, Taimur, and then to his grandson Shah Zaman. Deposed and deprived of his eyes by his brother Mahmud, Shah Zaman contrived to retain the KohiNur with him while in prison. Another brother Shah Shuja, in 1795, dethroned and imprisoned Mahmud, and acquired the KohiNur which he found secreted in a wall of the cell in which Shah Zaman had been imprisoned. During the struggle that followed, Shah Shuja', became a prisoner in Kashmir (1812), but his wife, Wafa Begam, escaped to Lahore with other members of the family and with much of the treasure, including the KohiNur. She was given asylum by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Fateh Khan, the Kabul Wazir, sought an alliance with Maharaja Ranjit Singh for a joint invasion of Kashmir and offered to share with him the booty. When Wafa Begam learnt about Fateh Khan's designs, she became apprehensive for her husband's safely. Through his courtiers, Faqir 'Aziz udDin and Diwan Mohkam Chand, she supplicated the Maharaja for help and offered to present him with the KohiNur if he would rescue her husband from captivity. Ranjit Singh, who was already preparing to invade Kashmir, asked his commander, Diwan Mohkam Chand, to secure the release of Shah Shuja', and bring him safely to Lahore. The release of Shah Shuja' became the primary object of the Sikh expedition. The Sikhs and the Afghans marched towards Kashmir in December 1812. The Afghans were better used to the hills and soon stole a march over the Lahore army. But the Sikhs reached the valley ahead of Fateh Khan striking a shorter, though more hazardous, route. Shah Shuja', who lay in chains in a dungeon, was rescued and escorted to Lahore. Unwilling to part with such a precious treasure as the KohiNur, Shah Shuja', was in the end persuaded to make good his wife's promise. He invited Maharaja Ranjit Singh to his house on 1 June 1813 and placed on his palm the fabulous KohiNur.

The history of the diamond before it came into the hands of Nadir Shah is shrouded in obscurity. According to one version, the stone was discovered about five millennia earlier in the bed of the River Godavari, near Machhiipatnam, in South Golconda, now in Andhra Pradesh. Some trace its origin to the hills of Amravati, in Maharashtra. It is said that it was worn by Raja Kama, the legendary son of Surya and one of the heroes of the Mahabharata war, who had the diamond tied around his arm as a talisman. After Kama's tragic end on the battlefield, the diamond passed into the hands of the Pandavas. It is also surmised that the diamond once belonged to Raja Vikramaditya, the ruler of the great Hindu kingdom of Ujjain in Central India, who flourished about 57 BC and who drove the Scythians out of the country. The first authentic refernecc to the KohiNur is considered to be the one in Babar's memoirs, the Tuzuk. According to the Tuzuk, King 'Ala udDin (12961316) of the Khalji dynasty was the possessor of the stone. The Khalji king, according to some accounts, had acquired it from the Raja of Malva in 1304, while according to others the diamond which once adorned the third eye of an image of Siva in a temple somehwere in Telarigana, was gouged out by 'Ala udDin Khalji during his sack of the Deccan in 131112. It later passed into the hands of the Hindu ruler of Gwalior and was presented to Humayuri, son of Babar, by the family of Raja Bikramajit who was killed at Panipat in 1526. Whatever its earlier history, the diamond was in the treasury of Emperor Aurarigzib and during his reign the Italian jeweller, Jean Baptistc Tavernier, had the chance of seeing and examining it. The KohiNur is not known to have ever been bought or sold. It always changed hands as a result of conquest. Its value can hardly be estimated. Babar had valued the gem at "two and a half days' expenses of the world." When Ranjit Singh asked the jewellers in Amritsar to evaluate the KohiNur, they said that its price was beyond estimate.

References 1. Beveridge, Annctte Susannah, irans., Knbur-nnmn. Delhi, 1989 2. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umdat ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89 3. Waheeduddin, Faqir Syed, The Real Ranjit Singh. Delhi, 1976 4. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol. I. Princeton, 1966 5. Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Hanjit Singh and His Times.Delhi, 1990 6. Hai-bans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs. Delhi, 1983 S.S.B.