Koh-i-noor

Koh-i-noor diamond

Koh-i-noor, (Persian: “Mountain of Light”) , also spelled Kūh-e Nūr, the diamond with the longest history for an extant stone, though its early history is controversial. Originally a lumpy Mughal-cut stone that lacked fire and weighed 191 carats, it was recut to enhance its fire and brilliance to a 105.6-carat shallow oval brilliant in 1852 at Garrard of London, the royal jeweler, with indifferent results.

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Some sources note that the first references to the diamond, which later became known as the Koh-i-noor, appeared in Sanskrit and possibly even Mesopotamian texts as early as 3200 bce, but this claim is controversial. In contrast, some experts claim that Sultan ʿAlāʾ-ud-Dīn Khaljī took the jewel in 1304 from the raja of Malwa, India, whose family had owned it for many generations. Other writers have identified the Koh-i-noor with the diamond given to the son of Bābur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, by the raja of Gwalior after the battle of Panipat in 1526. Still others have contended that it came originally from the Kollur mine of the Krishna River and was presented to the Mughal emperor Shāh Jahān in 1656. Some claim that the stone was cut from the Great Mogul diamond described by the French jewel trader Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1665, but the Koh-i-noor’s original lack of fire and shape make that unlikely.

Koh-i-noor; Queen Mother's Crown

In any case, it most likely formed part of the loot of Nāder Shāh of Iran when he sacked Delhi in 1739. After his death it fell into the hands of his general, Aḥmad Shāh, founder of the Durrānī dynasty of Afghans. His descendant Shāh Shojāʿ, when a fugitive in India, was forced to surrender the stone to Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler. On the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, the Koh-i-noor was acquired by the British and was placed among the crown jewels of Queen Victoria. It was incorporated as the central stone in the queen’s state crown fashioned for use by Queen Elizabeth, consort of George VI, at her coronation in 1937. The Koh-i-noor remains part of this crown.