Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond

This is a fascinating book which covers the history of the koh-i-noor diamond through 600 years of history of the Indian subcontinent - through the days of the Maharajas to its (mis)appropriation as part of the British imperial looting of the Punjab in 1849, and its transport to England where it formed a key part of the Great Exhibition before being re cut at the orders of Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The diamond has long been believed to be cursed, and this may be why it has never been worn by the present British Queen ( although female rulers are generally believed to be exempt from the curse).As well as 'bringing back to life' a fascinating cast of characters, who emerge from these pages as fully rounded people, this book explains the history in a highly readable, yet erudite, way before exploring whether the diamond should be returned - and if so to whom and to where, given its long and varied history of ownership. Not likely to happen though - As David Cameron is quoted as saying in these pages - 'if you say yes to one you suddenly find the British museum would be empty'Highly recommended reading

Very informative book about the History of the Diamond. Still not easy to make up your mind about the Diamond though.

This is a fabulous read as not only did I learn much about the diamond but it built on my knowledge of the rulers and intrigue of the times. It’s really well written In an easy to follow style.

A very interesting story, but unfortunately quite a lot of the second half is a cut and paste of Anita's boom Sophia, which I happen to be listening to on audible at the same time. Could be helpful to have some maps or references to refer back to whilst reading.

We went to Hay and listened to the authors talking about their book. Inspired to read it.The book is written in two parts. Before the diamond came to the UK and the story after it arrived here. The disappointment of the populous on seeing the dull diamond at The Great Exhibition was interesting and the re cutting of the diamond afterwards caused it to fracture ,something that we might not have known about unless you take the trouble to find out. This book was a revelation and a good read. Curl up in front of the fire this winter and be transported back in time to a place where precious stones were in abundance and some held special meaning within powerful families and dynasties. Awsome.

A fascinating insight into why the legend/reality of the Koh-i-Noor diamond is so potent. It has to be said [spoiler alert] that the diamond now in the crown of the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is a shadow of the original - and the history of that original can only be traced with any degree of certainty from the early nineteenth century. Nobody on the diamond's timeline emerges well - with the possible exception of the shamefully manipulated child maharaja, Duleep Singh. The authors bring the story right up to the moment, noting the growing calls for repatriation from the self-appointed heirs to former societies who may - or may not - once have had this exact diamond within their cultural framework. As with the Elgin marbles, the danger is an opening of floodgates. Is it in anyone's interests that the National Gallery (to take a random British example) be reduced to showing only Constable and Turner? Should France return most of its pre-nineteenth century paintings to Italy, perhaps? Some key contents of the Frick Collection and the Wallace Collection return to France? The only fair governing point has to be what was legal at the time. Otherwise, where to stop in rewriting history?

As all William Dalrymple books fascinating, and well researched and beautifully written.

This is a fascinating story and well worth reading about, especially how it came to Britain.

The story of the gem is intricately weaved into a history lesson of India/Pakistan. It is so well written, that I was able to go through it in one day. I found it fascinating how some of the history, written fairly neutral,, had very different interprétations at our book club - whether you were British or not - the view was very different of who did what damage. It is of course sad to not have this jewel intact (its original size) and returned to its rightful owners. You will learn plenty by reading this book and will want to learn more.

Ein wunderbarer Author schreibt wieder ein wunderbares super recherchiertes Buch

Visiting the Jewel House in the Tower of London is a truly awe-inspiring experience. Crowns, orbs, sceptres, and other pieces of royal regalia, some of them centuries old, lie before the crowds of viewers, priceless as much for their history as for the intrinsic value of their gold and precious stones. Among the most impressive pieces must be the crown created for the late Queen Mother for her coronation in 1937. It contains many beautiful diamonds and other precious stones, but the paramount feature of the crown must be the very large diamond at the front, the fabled Koh-i-Noor, or Mountain of Light. One of the most famous, yet still mysterious, diamonds in the world, the Koh-i-Noor's history is wrapped in legend and rumor. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have sifted through the fables and come up with as accurate a history of the Koh-i-Noor as we are ever likely to see. That true history, as readers of this well told tale will find, is as remarkable as any fantasy.The origins of the stone which eventually came to be part of the British royal regalia are shrouded in the mists of history. India was the ancient source of most of the world's diamonds, and the large, irregularly shaped stone called the Koh-i-Noor was probably extracted from a river bed hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago. There are many tales of mysterious large diamonds in Indian history, but the undisputed record of the Koh-i-Noor begins with the establishment of the Mughal Dynasty in the 1500s. Throughout the vicissitudes of the Mughals, who included some of the most powerful and wealthy rulers in Indian history, the Koh-i-Noor blazed its own trail: adorning the Peacock Throne, taken to Iran, returned to India, taken to Afghanistan, and then coming into the possession of the Sikh rulers of Punjab. In 1849 the British East India Company, which had succeeded in taking over much of the Indian subcontinent, obliged the last Sikh maharajah to hand over the Koh-i-Noor as a present for Queen Victoria. In England the Koh-i-Noor was a star attraction at the Great Exhibition of 1851, then shaped by jewellers into a more sparkling and multi-faceted stone. Queen Victoria wore it , and it adorned the coronation crowns of three queens consort. But Queen Elizabeth II has never worn it, nor have any male British monarchs.Dalrymple and Anand trace the fascinating tale of the Koh-i-Noor as well as possible, given the ambiguity with which early records speak of it and other large Indian gems. The various owners of the Koh-i-Noor in India, Afghanistan, and Iran led colorful and often violent lives, but the most interesting parts of the story to me were the chapters that dealt with the last Sikh ruler, Duleep Singh. At the age of 10 he was coerced into giving up his nation's sovereignity along with handing over the great diamond. Raised by English caretakers, he converted to Christianity and went to live in England where he became a sort of adopted son of Queen Victoria,. Becoming rebellious and resentful in later years, he led an unhappy life and in many ways symbolizes the complex relationship between Britain and India. I also found the final chapter detailing the efforts of various Indian, Pakistani, and Afghan governments to reclaim the Koh-i-Noor interesting for the light it sheds on the complex relationship between a former mother country and its colonies.The story of the Koh-i-Noor stretches for centuries and involves great artists and craftsmen as well as venality and violence. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand's history does full justice to their remarkable subject.

1) This book is divided into the following two parts, the first part was written by william Dalrymple and the second part was written by Anita anandPart 1 : The jewel in the throne* The Indian prehistory of the koh-i-noor* The mughals and the koh-i-noor* Nader shah : The koh-i-noor goes to Iran* The durranis : The koh-i-noor in Afghanistan* Ranjit Singh : The koh-i-noor in lahorePart 2 : The jewel in the crown* City of Ash* The boy King* Passage to England* The great exhibition* The first cut* Queen Victoria's 'Loyal subject'* The jewel and the crown* 'We must take back the koh-i-noor'2) According to the pious hindus the koh-i-noor was actually the "Syamantaka" gem as the 'Prince of gemstones' which is mentioned in the Bhagavad and vishnu puranas. And according to these ancient text Syamantaka was the brilliant jewel of the sun god Surya who wore it around his neck and from which he derived his dazzling appearance,but later the sun god gave the precious gem to satrajit, the yadava king of Dwarka because of his devotion towards him. But later the yadava king accused vasudeva shri krishna of stealing the gem but the latter proved his innocence and because of this the king gave her daughter and the diamond to him in marriage and because of these tales the Hindus considered Syamantaka as koh-i-noor and connect it with shri krishna.2) Though majority of the world's diamond came from India until the discovery of diamond mines in Brazil in 1725 and the world's oldest treatise on gems and gemmology were also written in ancient India and collectively these text are known as "Ratnashastras".3) Though nobody knows how the great mughals got the koh-i-noor but according to various travellers it came from the southern India and precisely from vijaynagar.But one thing Is clear that nobody knows about the origin of koh-i-noor and how it entered into the treasury of the mughals but we know how it left.4) Babur mentioned about a great diamond in his Autobiography ' Baburnama ' but is this the koh-i-noor no one knows but during the reign of shahjahan when he ordered the magnificent 'Peacock throne' to be built it is the first time koh-i-noor came into light and it is fitted in one of the two peacocks. But during the rule of Muhammad Shah rangila ,the persian speaking warlord Nader Shah (son of a shepherd) invaded India and entered Delhi and ordered the massacre of civilians of Delhi and his army looted the entire city and grabbed the peacock throne and koh-i-noor and crores of rupees and precious gems and stones on his way back to Iran. But nadir shah was brutally killed by his own Men, but the first lady of Nader shah's harem gave the koh-i-noor to his trusted bodyguard Ahmad shah abdali/durrani .5) Ahmad Shah abdali (the founding father of Afghanistan) who bring the koh-i-noor with himself in Afghanistan and the diamond remained with the durrani family for sometime but during the reign of afghan ruler Shah shuja he was incarcerated in prison by his rivals and his family reached in the court of Maharaja ranjit singh and shuja's wife promised maharaja ranjit that she will give koh-i-noor to Maharaja if he freed and saved the life of his husband Shah shuja and later ranjit singh freed shuja and takes the koh-i-noor from the afgan ruler.6) Infact it was the lion of punjab maharaja ranjit singh who glorified the Value of koh-i-noor than any other king and he always wore the diamond in his arm as a armband but later when Ranjit Singh on his last stage of life he wanted that koh-i-noor should be donated to jagannath temple in Orissa but somehow his treasurer defied him and the great diamond stayed in punjab. But after the death of ranjit singh and afterwards the two anglo-sikh wars and finally British annexed the kingdom of punjab and lord dalhousie Cleverly forced the juvenile maharaja Duleep singh to gave the diamond to queen victoria which later he did and later koh-i-noor left the shore of hindustan for forever and reached london with great pomp.7) But the matter does not settle here people from India, pakistan,Iran , afghanistan and Infact taliban Demands the koh-i-noor should be given to there respective countries and each claim the great diamond as its own ,but the sad reality is that koh-i-noor will remain in london forever in her Majesty crown. But the fame of koh-i-noor radiates all over the world Though it is not the world's biggest diamond but still it retains it's fame and that's why it is known as koh-i-noor- "The mountain of light"8) This book is awesome and both the authors had done a good amount of research and the language of the book is very easy to read, there are some rare pictures of koh-i-noor, of peacock throne and the various kings who wore the diamond ones very proudly.9) The reader will also get a chapter on the life of Maharaja Duleep singh and how the latter was converted to Christianity.10) I will recommend to Readers don't think too much just grab this book and read it thoroughly.My ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)I hope you like the review, thanks for reading, Jai Hind.

As an avid reader of many books, there is busload of myth, old folks tales, all types of legendary stories and legends on the Kohinoor Diamond. Sir William Dalrymple and Mme Anita Anand have done an awesom job of separating fact from friction, as always all their books are gems and praise worthy, great job. 👍 Sennen Dourado.