Real Kohinoor Diamond

Kohinoor was birthed in the mines of Kollur, Andra Pradesh. This mine has a reputation of lending large diamonds to the world, collectively known as Golconda diamonds. All of these were part of the crown jewels. There was no means to weigh the stones then, but the real Kohinoor diamond is estimated to be nearly 186 carats.

Baburnama has the first reference to Kohinoor, where he stated about a sparkling solitaire that weighed over 187 carats. It said that Alauddin Khilji invaded the Southern Kingdom in the 14th century. It was passed over in the Delhi sultanate, and Babur received it as an accolade for his win in the Battle of Panipat.

Later in 1739, when Nadir Shah invaded Delhi, he looted the Mughal empire and along with numerous other gems he also took the real Kohinoor diamond under his possession. He was the one who named this precious diamond as ‘Koh-i-Noor’, the Persian word for ‘Mountain of Light’.

After Nadir Shah’s death, Ahmed Shah Durani from the Afghan empire received the real Kohinoor diamond as a present for his support. When the descendant of Ahmed Shah Durani fled with the diamond during an invasion by Lahore, King Ranjit Singh sheltered him. The deserted prince then handed over his prized possession to King Ranjit Singh in return for his hospitality.

This was in 1813. Little did we know that this was the last stop of this precious diamond in India.

Lord Dalhousie had his eyes on the real Kohinoor diamond, and he made sure to grab it for the East India Company. It was in 1849 that the East India Company conquered the Kingdom of Sikhs and hence they seized all of its properties. However, the shrewd Britishers made this transfer a legal affair so that there would be no complications even in the future. Therefore, the crown prince Duleep Singh, who was the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was asked to give the real Kohinoor diamond as a present to Queen Victoria. For this ceremony, the prince had to travel to Britain. It is noteworthy that the prince was only 13 years old at the time.

Lots of people believe that the real Kohinoor diamond was cursed. They say that it was due to the possession of this gem that the Kingdoms came to a downfall. However, it is necessary to remember the old saying that only ‘change is constant’. Hence it was evident that the hierarchy rule was bound to fall someday, and that the people would have elected their leader themselves.

The real Kohinoor diamond is placed in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, open for the public to come and relish the beauty of this magnificent gem.