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n It is not the biggest, it is not the finest, it isnnot the most valuable, but it is, perhaps, the most famous diamond in thenworld. It is the Great Diamond of history and romance, known sincenantiquity and with its origins in myth, and now called the Koh-i-noor,nwhich means ‘the Mountain of Light’.
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| Koh-i-noor Diamond |
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nAccording to Hindu legend, it wasnworn by Carna, Rajah of Anga, a hero of the epic poem, the Mahabharata,nwhich would give the stone a history of over four thousand years. This gemnappears again in stories about Vikramditya, who flourished in the first centurynBCE and is said to have driven the Scythians from India. The earliestnhistorical reference dates from 1526, in the Memoirs of Sultan Baber,nwhere a similarly named Bikermâjit is defeated by Hûmaiûm, and Bikermâjit’snpeople present the conquerer with a peshkesh (tribute or present) ofnjewels and precious stones, amongst which was a famous diamond formerly ownednby Sultan Ala-ed-din.
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| Humaium |
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nHûmaiûm in turn presented this diamond to Baber as a peshkesh,nand Baber returned the diamond to him as a present. Ala-ed-din, of the Khaljindynasty, had ruled in Hindustan and had obtained this ‘famous’ diamondnin 1304, by defeating the Rajah of Malwa, (note that, although described as ‘famous’,nthere is no name is given to the gem). Hûmaiûm’s life was bedevilled with badnluck (he died after falling down stairs) and he was defeated in battle by ShernShah Suri, who died from an exploding cannon barrel. Hûmaiûm’s son, Akbar,nrefused to remove the stone from his father’s treasury, but Akbar’s grandson,nShah Jahan, had the diamond placed in his Peacock Throne at Agra.
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| Taj Mahal |
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nShah Jahan’snbeloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during childbirth – he built the Taj Mahal tonher memory – but he was overthrown by his own son, Aurangzēb, and eventually diednunder house arrest from face cancer. The diamond remained in the possession ofnthe Mughal rulers until the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739, who carried thenstone back to Persia and is reputed to have first named it Koh-i-noor. NadirnShah suffered from increasing ill-health and paranoia, he blinded his own son,nwhom he suspected of an assassination attempt, regretted this crime and had thenofficials who had witnessed the blinding executed, and was eventuallynassassinated by his own guards. One of his generals, Ahmed Shah Durrani, flednto Afghanistan, taking the Koh-i-noor with him, and it passed down the Durranindynasty, until Ahmed’s grandson, Shujah Shah Durrani, was deposed and forced tonflee, again taking the gem with him.
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| The Shape of the Original Koh-i-noor |
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nHe took refuge in India, at Lahore, withnRanjit Singh, who forced him to relinquish the gem and, in return, won back thenAfghan throne for Shujah. Maharajah Ranjit Singh’s Sikh empire held massivenpower but his death, in 1839, created a power vacuum that was filled by thenintervention of the British East India Company, and the Punjab was declared tonbe part of the British Empire.
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| Dulip Singh |
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nOne stipulation was that the diamond known asnthe Koh-i-noor, taken from Shujah Shah by Ranjit Singh, should be surrenderednto the Queen of England by Dulip Singh, the thirteen-year-old successor ofnRanjit, and the boy was sent to England in 1850. Governor-General Dalhousienarranged for the diamond to be transferred to London, on a paddle sloop, HMS Medea,nunder the care of C C Mansel and John Lawrence; Lawrence put the stone in a tinnbox which he carried in a waistcoat pocket, on one occasion he sent thenwaistcoat to the laundry, forgetting about the diamond, which was returned tonhim by an honest steward.
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| Punch – The Koh-i-noor mistaken |
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nAt Mauritius, locals threatened to fire on the Medeanwhen the ship, on which cholera had broken out, attempted to dock; a severenstorm later threatened to sink the sloop. Eventually, the Medea reached Englandnand Lawrence took the diamond to East India House, from where it was presentednto Queen Victoria by the boy Singh. It was publicly displayed at the GreatnExhibition of 1851, and in 1852, under the supervision of Prince Albert, it wasndecided to re-cut the diamond, in the western fashion.
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| The Duke of Wellington places the Koh-i-noor in the cutting mill |
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nThe work was entrustednto Garrard’s, who employed a Dutch cutter called Voorsanger from Coster’snworkshop in Amsterdam; cutting began on July 16th 1852, with thenDuke of Wellington first placing the stone in the cutting mill, and workncontinued for thirty-eight days, at a cost of £8,000. The stone was reducednfrom an initial weight of slightly more than 186 carats down to 106 1/16ncarats, and it was found that some parts of the stone were much harder thannother parts.
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| The shape of the Koh-i-noor before re-cutting |
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nThe results were disappointing – the stone was too shallow to bencut to the real proportions of the ‘brilliant’ pattern, and it was felt thatntoo much of the gem had been removed, and that maybe a different cut shouldnhave been used. Superstition followed the Koh-i-noor, it was said to be tonblame for the premature death of Prince Albert in 1861, and to be the cause ofnthe Indian Mutiny of 1857; reputedly, only God or a woman can only wear it, andnthe curse has brought about the downfall of every male monarch who has worn thendiamond.
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| The shape of the Koh-i-noor after re-cutting |
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nIt was mounted into a brooch and worn by Queen Victoria, and thennmounted into the diamond crown that Queen Alexandra wore at the coronation ofnEdward VII, by Queen Mary and by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It can nownbe seen at the Tower of London, along with the other crown jewels.
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| The Jewel House of the Tower of London |
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