The story of the world's most famous diamond

This incident is on March 29, 1849. Ten-year-old Maharaja Dilip Singh was brought to Shesh Mahal in the middle of the fort. The boy's father, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, had died a decade ago. His mother Rani Jindan Kaur was forcibly sent to another palace outside the city.

Dilip Singh was surrounded by Englishmen in red overcoats and hats. Shortly afterwards, in a public ceremony, he signed the document that the British government had been waiting for for years in front of the remaining chiefs of his court.

Shortly thereafter, the Khalsa flag of the Sikhs was taken down from the Lahore Fort and replaced by the striped flag of the East India Company. Along with this, not only the East India Company gained control over the great empire of the Sikhs, but the world's most famous diamond, Koh Noor, also came into their hands.

A diamond the size of a small hen's egg

Koh Noor is said to have been carved by the Turks from the eye of an idol in a temple in South India. William Dalrymple, the author of the book 'Koh Noor The Story of the World's Most Famous Diamond' says, 'The first official mention of Koh Noor was made by the Persian historian Muhammad Marwi in 1750 under Nadir Shah's invasion of India. Marvi writes that he saw Mount Noor with his own eyes.

He was then attached to the upper part of Takht Taus, which Nadir Shah had returned from Delhi and taken to Iran. Koh Noor was the size of a hen's egg and it was said that it could be sold to feed the entire world for two and a half days.

The Takht Taos cost twice as much to build as the Taj Mahal. Later, Koh Noor was removed from the throne so that Nadir Shah could wear it on his arm.

Nader Shah carried out massacres in Delhi

Nadir Shah with his 150,000 soldiers defeated the 1000,000 army of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah Rangela near Karnal. On reaching Delhi, Nadir Shah carried out a massacre the likes of which are rarely seen in history.

Famous historians Sir HM Eliot and John Dawson in their book 'The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians' write: 'As soon as Nadir Shah's 40,000 troops entered Delhi, the prices of food and drink skyrocketed. Arrived. When Nadir Shah's soldiers started trading, a clash broke out with the shopkeepers and people started attacking the soldiers.

By noon, 900 Persian soldiers had died. Then Nadir Shah ordered the massacre of the population of Delhi. The massacre started at nine o'clock in the morning. Most of the people died around Red Fort, Jamia Masjid, Dariba and Chandni Chowk. A total of 30 thousand people were killed.

Another historian William Floor writes in his book 'New Facts of Nadir Shah's India Campaign': 'Nizam Mulk, Muhammad Shah's commander, went before Nadir Shah without a turban.

'Both his hands were tied to his turban behind his back. He knelt before them and said that instead of taking revenge on the people of Delhi, take revenge on them.'

Nadir Shah stopped the massacre on the condition that Rs 100 crore be given to him before leaving Delhi. In the next few days, Nizam-ul-Mulk paid that amount by looting his own Dar-ul-Sultant. In short, 'in a moment someone else became the owner of the wealth accumulated by the Mughals for 250 years.'

Change Nadir Shah's turban and get Koh Noor

William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have worked hard to understand the history of Koh Noor. Dalrymple says: 'I started my research by talking to experts on Mughal jewellery. Most of them were of the opinion that the general statements about the history of Koh Noor were not correct. After going to Nadershah, Koh Noor first got people's attention.

Theo Metcalfe writes that Noor Bai, a court dancer, informed Nadir Shah that Muhammad Shah had hidden Mount Noor in his turban. Hearing this, Nadir Shah said to Muhammad Shah that let us exchange our turbans for the sake of friendship.

Thus, Koh Noor came into the hands of Nadir Shah. When he saw Mount Noor for the first time, he was stunned. They named it Koh Noor meaning mountain of light.'

Persian historian Muhammad Kazim Marvi has written in his book 'Alam Arai Nadri' in a very interesting way about the looting of Delhi being taken to Afghanistan. Marvi writes: 'After staying in Delhi for 57 days, Nadir Shah left for his country on 16 May 1739. They took with them all the wealth of the Mughals accumulated over centuries. Their biggest booty was Takht Taos, which was studded with Koh Noor and Timur's rubies.

All the looted treasures were loaded on 700 elephants, 400 camels and 17000 horses and taken to Iran. When the entire army passed through the Chenab bridge, every soldier was searched. Many soldiers buried the diamonds for fear of confiscation. Some people threw them into the river in the hope that they would come back and pick them up later.

Koh Noor reached Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1813

Koh Noor could not stay with Nadir Shah for long. After his murder, this diamond came into the hands of his Afghan protector Ahmad Shah Abdali and in 1813 it passed through many hands and reached Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is mentioned in documents in the National Archives of India.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh wore it on his arm during Dussehra, Diwali and major festivals. Whenever a British officer came to his court, this diamond was specially shown to him. Koh Noor was with him whenever he went on trips to Multan, Peshawar or other cities.'

In the Anglo-Sikh War, Koh Noor came to the hands of the British

Ranjit Singh died in 1839. In the year 1843, after a hard struggle for power, five-year-old Dilip Singh was made the king of Punjab. But after the British victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, both his kingdom and Koh Noor were captured by the British. Dilip Singh was separated from his mother and sent to Fatehgarh Fort to live with an English couple.

Lord Dalhousie himself came to Lahore to collect Koh Noor. The diamond was taken out of the vault there and placed in Dalhousie's hands. At that time it weighed 190.3 carats. Lord Dalhousie decided to send Koh Noor to Queen Victoria by ship 'Medya'. The ship faced many problems on the way.

Ship carrying Koh Noor in trouble

Anita Anand, co-author of 'Koh Noor: The Story of the World's Most Famous Diamond,' says, 'When Koh Noor was taken on board, its captains were not even allowed to guess what to take with them. have been. There was no trouble for a week or two after the Media left for England, but then some people got sick and cholera spread on board. The captain of the ship told his crew that there was no need to worry as Mauritius was about to arrive.

There we will get medicine and food and everything will be fine. But the ship was about to reach Mauritius when the news of sick people on the ship reached the people there. They threatened to blow up the ship with cannons if it came near their shore.

The ship's crew were suffering from a cholera epidemic and hoped to somehow reach England. On the way, they encountered a huge storm that nearly broke the ship in two. When he arrived in England, he found that he had brought the Koh Noor diamond with him, and perhaps that is why he had to face so many problems.'

Unprecedented reception of Koh Noor in London

When Koh Noor arrived in London, it was placed in the Crystal Palace for the British public. William Dalrymple says; 'The Koh Noor was exhibited three years after it was taken to Britain. The Times wrote that never before had such a large gathering of people been seen in London. It was raining when the exhibition started.

'When people reached the entrance of the exhibition, people had to queue for hours to enter. The diamond became a symbol of British power in the East and also represented the growing influence of British military power.'

Dilip Singh presented Koh Noor as a gift to Queen Victoria

Meanwhile, Maharaja Dilip Singh, residing in Fatehgarh Fort, expressed his desire to go to London to meet Queen Victoria. Rani also agreed to it. It was at this place that Dilip Singh presented the Koh Noor diamond to Queen Victoria. Anita Anand says, 'Queen Victoria always resented how her government treated a child.

'She loved Dilip Singh dearly, so she was angry at his treatment. Although the Koh Noor had reached him two years earlier, he had yet to wear it in public. He wondered what Dileep would think of him if he saw him doing this.'

Franz Xaver Venterhalter used to be a famous painter at that time. The queen asked him to paint a picture of Dilip Singh which she wanted to put up in her palace. While Dilip Singh was sitting in the white drawing room of Buckingham Palace drawing his portrait on stage, the Queen called a soldier and asked him to bring a box containing Koh Noor.

She told Dilip Singh that I want to show you one thing. As soon as Dilip Singh saw it, he took Koh Noor in his hands. He took it to the window and saw it in the light. By this time the shape of the Koh Noor had changed and it was cut down.

It was no longer the Koh Noor that Dilip Singh wore as the Maharaja of Punjab. After watching Koh Noor for a while, Dilip Singh said to the Queen, 'Your Majesty, it is a great honor for me to present this diamond to you.' Queen Victoria took the diamond from him and continued to wear it until her death.

Dilip Singh arrived in India to meet his mother

Despite being very dear to Queen Victoria, after some years Dilip Singh expressed his desire to go to India to meet his real mother, Jandan Kaur. The British government allowed him to go to India. Jindan was currently residing in Nepal. He was brought to Calcutta to meet his son. Anita Anand said: 'Dileep was already there. Rani Jindan Kaur was brought before him. Jindan said she will never leave him.

'She will go with them wherever they go. By this time, Jindan had lost her sight. When she touched Dilip Singh's head, she was shocked to find that his hair had been cut. They cried out in despair. At the same time, some Sikh soldiers were returning from China after taking part in the Opium War.

When they came to know that Jindan had reached Calcutta, they arrived outside Spence Hotel where Jindan was meeting her son Dilip. They started chanting loudly 'Bolo So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.' Because of their fear, the British took the mother and son on a ship and sent them to England.

Dilip Singh 's displeasure with Queen Victoria

Dilip Singh gradually turned against Queen Victoria. They began to feel that they had done injustice to them. It also dawned on him that he would regain his kingdom. He left for India but could not go beyond Aden.

He was arrested along with his family in Port Said on 21 April 1886. Later he was released but everything was taken away. On October 21, 1893, his body was found in a very modest hotel in Paris. There was no family member with him at that time. With him, the family of Maharaja Ranjit Singh ended forever.

Koh Noor is preserved in the Tower of London

After Queen Victoria, her son King Edward VIII did not wear Koh Noor in his crown. But his wife Queen Alexandra replaced him in her crown. A superstition spread along Koh Noor that anyone who touched it would be doomed. But women had no problem wearing it.

It was later worn by Princess Mary, wife of the future King George V. But after that, Queen Elizabeth II did not place Mount Noor in her crown. Today, the world's most famous diamond is housed in the Jewel House in the Tower of London.