Kohinoor: The Cursed Diamond?
The tour
manager handed over the entry tickets to the tourists and announced:
“Please pay
attention. Indian tourists visit Paris to meet Monalisa at the Louvre, and
London- for a selfie with Amitabh Bachchan at Madame Tussaud’s, and this Tower Museum
for the privilege of proximity with the Kohinoor at a kissing distance! Beware,
you are prohibited to kiss, touch, or click a photo inside the museum.
Don’t miss
it. It is among the Crown Jewels collection. When you reach the section
exhibiting the most precious jewels with two conveyor belts on either side, take
the belt to your right for better visibility. Kohinoor is at the end, set in
the cross at the front on the Queen’s Crown. Do not fret if you miss to spot it,
you may step onto the belt once again, or climb up two stairs to watch it from
a little elevation.
(Queen Mother's Crown with Kohinoor embedded, Image Source: Smithsonian Magazine)
How could
the tourists miss the Koh-i-Noor (Mountain of Light) with such detailed tips?
Among the thrilled tourists were an amateur historian and a pundit on India’s
puranas who continued to discuss the history and legacy of the Kohinoor for a
few hours after the museum visit.
“Kohinoor is
none other than the fabled Syamantaka mani[i]
mentioned in Srimad Bhagavata. In Kali yuga, the mani had passed on from
Utkala-Kalinga to the Vijayanagara empire from which the Mughals plundered it and
renamed it,” said the purana expert.
“But that’s
mythology, not history.”
“Our puranas
are called itihasa, meaning ‘thus it happened,’ and therefore,
historical.”
“Is that one
of the arguments offered by India claiming ownership and repatriation of the
diamond?”
“Not sure,
but they must cite it.”
“UK claims it
has legally obtained Kohinoor.”
“That’s the
height of sophistry. Wasn’t Maharajah Dalip Singh only seven years old when he
was coerced to sign the Treaty of Lahore in 1846, and ten years old when he ‘gifted’
Kohinoor to the British at the Lahore Durbar on March 29, 1849? And why did the
British overrule Maharajah Ranjit Singh’s last will and testament gifting the
Kohinoor to Lord Jagannath of Puri? What if it was an oral will, didn’t it have
the same validity and force as a written and registered will?”
Maharajah’s Last Wish
Sensing that
his end was near, Maharajah Ranjit Singh summoned Dhyan Singh, his wazir, and
the treasurer of the toshkhana, and instructed them to donate many jewels
including the Kohinoor to Jagannath temple of Puri. Knowing that his end was
near, the wazir and the treasurer promised to comply with his orders, but didn’t.
Why did the
Sikh Maharajah donate this precious diamond to a Hindu god? Hoping for a
miracle to save his life, or to return the precious stone to Jagannath, the
Ruler of Utkala-Kalinga (with the Gajapati King as His First Servant), and
owner of Kohinoor, an alluvial diamond possibly found in the Kollur mines of river
Krishna, or in Hirakud at the confluence of Mahanadi and Ib?
Kohinoor: A Cursed Diamond?
As recently
as 2016, India has reiterated its demand for the repatriation of the Kohinoor
from UK, but the present status of India’s claim is unknown. Has UK summarily
rejected it, ignored it, or constituted a committee to consider it after due
deliberations by its civil servants whose exceptional competence is known to
all the world through Yes Minister?
Is the
Kohinoor auspicious or cursed; is it famous or infamous? It depends on who is
replying to the query. At present, the British have it, as a prized possession,
a symbol of their past glory even though the Empire in which the sun never set
is dead and gone. India wants it since it is a product of India and an emblem
of its wealth and eminence prior to the colonial plunder. For the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, it is the world’s ‘most famous;’ and for authors Dalrymple and
Anand, it is ‘world’s most infamous’ diamond.
Notably, during
the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023, Queen Camilla wore a
newly-designed crown, and not the crown embedded with the Kohinoor which Queen
Elizabeth wore during her coronation in 1936. Was that to ward off the evil eye
or to avoid diplomatic problems with India?
Were the
British very superstitious or sensitive, they would have long since sent back the
Kohinoor to India or Pakistan or Iran or Afghanistan, each of which has claimed
ownership of the precious diamond. Cunning as they are, they could have even devised
a formula for rotating ownership based on several critical parameters such as
place of origin, duration of ownership, and legal title.
Why should
UK give back the precious diamond? Because, possession of Kohinoor is invariably
followed by a series of misfortunes as is evident from history.
The British summoned
the Lahore Durbar on March 29, 1849 and proclaimed annexation of the Punjab to
the Empire. Maharajah Dalip Singh, the ten-year old boy-king, was made to hand
over the Kohinoor to the British. A gift at the point of a bayonet, as author
Anita Anand calls it.
What
happened to the East India Company (EIC), the United Kingdom and the monarchy
after the acquisition of Kohinoor?
India’s
First War of Independence in 1857 surprised and shocked the British, and the administration
of India passed from EIC to the Crown; thus commencing the decline in the
fortunes of EIC leading to its demise in the future. UK was devasted by World
War I and II. In 1922, Ireland seceded from UK and became an independent
country. In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne. In 1947, UK lost
India, its Crown Jewel. In 1956, UK was humiliated in the Suez Crisis. In 1997,
the British Empire finally ended with the handing over of Hongkong to China. In
1996, Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced; the royal ‘affairs’ diminished
the monarchy; and the Peoples’ Princess met a tragic death in 1997. Sanjiv Mehta, an Indian entrepreneur acquired the
East India Company (EIC) in 2015. An ironical reverse-colonisation! UK quit the
European Union in 2020, and is still struggling with the adverse economic
impact of Brexit. Rishi Sunak, a grandson of Punjab became UK’s PM and moved
into 10, Downing Street in 2022.
Lest it be
condemned as a gravedigger’s morbid list, it is asserted that each event
mentioned above is historical and verifiable.[ii]
Has the
Kohinoor brought in prosperity to UK? Possibly not. Is the diamond a curse? The
British are still mulling over the matter. However, to protect the country and
the monarchy and the Tower of London, they have appointed six guardian Ravens
to ward off the evil eye.[iii]
Kohinoor before 1849
Did the
Kohinoor bring prosperity to its possessors before 1849? Consider the following
events.
Shah Jahan got
Kohinoor embedded in the Peacock Throne, but his own son deposed him and incarcerated
him in the Agra Fort. After eight years in jail and solitude, he died a broken
man.
The mighty
Mughal empire was humiliated when Nadir Shah seized and plundered Delhi, and
returned to Iran with the prized war trophies- the Peacock throne and the
Kohinoor.
Following an
assassination attempt on his life, Nadir Shah suspected his eldest son of
complicity in it and blinded him.
Nadir Shah
was assassinated by his own people. After his death, Kohinoor fell into the
hands of his general, Aḥmad Shah, founder of the Durrani dynasty of Afghans.
Ahmad Shah’s
descendant Shah Shoja, when a fugitive in India, was forced to surrender the
stone to Maharajah Ranjit Singh.
After the death
of Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1839, his successors- Kharak Singh, Nau Nihal
Singh, and Sher Singh- died during a brief and bloody period of four years (1839-1843).[iv]
Moral of the Story
Jewels and
diamonds may be objects of desire and prized possessions but do not guarantee
prosperity for the possessor. Syamantaka,
the fabled auspicious mani, did not save Krishna from death by a hunter’s
arrow, and the Yadava clan from total annihilation. Diamond engagement rings do not make marriages
indestructible, nor guarantee togetherness ‘till death do us part.’
Born in
India, a hundred kilometres or more in the womb of the earth, pushed up by volcanic
eruptions, and excavated by a river; Kohinoor may or may not be auspicious, but
its restless movement across empires and geographies is notable. Possessed temporarily
by empires dead and gone- Utkala-Kalinga, Vijayanagar, Mughals, Shah of Iran,
Afghanistan, and Lahore; it’s only a question of time before Kohinoor decides
to travel again, from London to Delhi to Puri.
Empires are
not forever, nor are diamonds.
***
Resources & References
· Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab –
Khushwant Singh
·
Kohinoor:
The World’s Most Infamous Diamond by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, published
by Juggernaut!
· Encyclopaedia Britannica
· The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni
· Srimad Bhagavat (Odia) by Jagannath
Das
· Krsna by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada
· Discourses on Srimad Bhagavata by Swami Tejomayananda
· Co-Pilot, Meta AI, archive.org
· Link for image of Queen’s Crown set with Koh-i-Noor: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-crown-jewels/#gs.cybh3e
[i] Syamantaka Mani
The Sun god gifted it to
Satrajit (a Yadava in the city of Dvaraka) whose brother Prasen wore it during
a hunt, was killed by a lion which was killed by Jambavant (the ancient
Bear-General of Sriram in the Lankan war) who gave the mani to his child to play.
To retrieve the gem, Krishna wrestled for 28 days with Jambavant who realised
that Krishna was Vishnu and gifted his daughter in marriage with the mani as an
accompanying gift. Krishna gave it back to Satrajit who gifted his daughter
Satyabhama in marriage to Krishna and the mani as an accompanying gift.
Satadhanva killed Satrajit and snatched the mani. Fearing Krishna’s wrath, he
gave the mani to Akrura before running away. Krishna chased and killed
Satrajit.
Thus, Syamantaka, too,
had a gory legacy.
[ii] Events related to Kohinoor (1846-2022):
1846: The British won
the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1846). Maharajah Dalip Singh, aged seven years,
was made to sign the Treaty of Lahore.
1845-1852: The Great
Famine of Ireland, aka The Great Hunger. The worst year was 1847. More than one
million people perished from starvation.
1857: India’s First War
of Independence which the British choose to call the Sepoy Mutiny. The
vehemence of the upsurge to drive away the firangs caught them by surprise.
1914-1918: World War I
devastated UK’s economy. The country lost 7.15 men in the war, 10 per cent of
its domestic assets and 25 per cent of its global assets.
1922: Ireland seceded
from UK and became an independent country.
Dec 11, 1936: King
Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry the woman he loved.
1939-1945: England was
devastated and enfeebled by World War II.
1947: The British Empire
lost India, its Crown Jewel; but before quitting partitioned the country with
disastrous consequences.
1956: Britain’s
humiliation in the Suez Crisis confirmed its diminished status as a second-tier
global power.
1996: Prince Charles and
Princess Diana formally divorced on August 28, 1996 after four years of
separation.
July 1, 1997: The End of
the British Empire with the handing over of Hongkong to China.
2005: The East India
Company was acquired by Sanjiv Mehta, an Indian entrepreneur who uses it for
his luxury goods business, hoping to capitalise on the brand value of EIC!
January 31, 2020:
Brexit- the UK officially left the EU.
October 25, 2022: Rishi
Sunak became the Prime Minister of UK. His grandparents were from Punjab!
Revenge of the Punjab Kingdom?!
[iii] Ravens of Tower of London:
At least six ravens must
protect the Tower of London at all times. This tradition is based on the
superstition that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, both the Crown and the
Tower will fall. Currently, there are usually around nine ravens reside in the
Tower premises, their expenses met from the Exchequer!
[iv] Events related to Kohinoor (17th
CE-1849):
Early 17th
century: Reign of Shah Jahan (1628-1658), the Golden Age of the Mughal Empire
during which the glorious monuments- Taj Mahal, Moti Masjid, Jama Masjid, Red
Fort, Agra Fort- were constructed, and the Peacock Throne was fabricated.
Kohinoor was possibly the prized war-trophy from the Deccan conquest.
But Shah
Jahan was dethroned by Aurangzeb, his son and incarcerated in Agra Fort from
1658 to 1666 when he died sad and miserable.
1739: The
mighty Mughal empire was humiliated when Nadir Shah seized and plundered Delhi,
and returned to Iran with the prized war trophies- the Peacock throne and the
Kohinoor.
1741: Following
an assassination attempt on his life, Nadir Shah suspected his eldest son of
complicity in it and blinded him.
1747: Nadir
Shah was assassinated by his own people. After his death Kohinoor fell into the
hands of his general, Aḥmad Shah, founder of the Durrani dynasty of Afghans.
1813: Ahmad
Shah’s descendant Shah Shoja, when a fugitive in India, was forced to surrender
the stone to Maharajah Ranjit Singh.
1839: Death
of Maharajah Ranjit Singh.
1839-1843:
Death of successors to Maharajah Ranjit Singh- Kharak Singh, Nau Nihal Singh,
and Sher Singh.
1846: The
British win the First Anglo-Sikh war, and Maharajah Dalip Singh signs the
Treaty of Lahore ceding Kashmir and the fertile Jullundhur Doab.
1849: The
British win the Second Anglo-Sikh war, and Punjab is annexed to the British
Empire.
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