The History Behind The Cursed Diamond, Koh-I-Noor

The Koh-I-Noor was first mentioned in 1306 and considered as one of the oldest and the world's dangerous diamonds in the world. This valuable diamond is referred to as the "Mountain of Light", which was originated from the Persian words "Koh-i-Noor", and some believe that this name was first used by Nader Shah who owned the diamond in 1739. Some might say that The mysterious diamond "Koh I Noor" was a gift to earth from the sun god "Surya", based on an evidence that can be found in the "ancient Sanskrit writings", traced back to more than 5000 years ago. Others will say that Krishna had obtained the diamond from "Jambavantha". Krishna was married to Jambavantha's daughter "Jambavati". The legend says that the diamond was stolen from Krishna while he was sleeping.

Krishna is considered as a Hindu god and the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and the most popular of all Indian gods, also the god of love, tenderness, and compassion in Hinduism. The word Krishna means “dark as a cloud,” or “Black”. He is the son of Devaki the princess of the city of Mathura and Vasudeva. he was born in the Pandava family. The story of Krishna has two sides: the first part of his story that he was a prince who decided to disguise himself as a commoner and as a god but he disguised himself as a mortal.

The origin of the Koh-I-Noor

Nader Shah on the Peacock Throne | source

The origin of this mysterious diamond is from India in the city of Golconda at the Kollur mine. It was mined from the Rayalaseema, which is a diamond mine, refers to as "Land of Stones" during the rule of Kakatiya dynasty, and since then it was passed from one dynasty to the next. The diamond was originally named as ‘Samantik Mani’ which means "leader and prince among diamonds", and later on in 1739 "Nadir Shah" the Persian king invaded India, and since then the diamond was referred to as the "Mountain of Light". The Kohinoor diamond has a symbolic value which resembles the power of an entire Empire. It has a bloody history full of stories of torture, betrayal, murder, and mutilation. The legend says that "The one who will own the koh-I-Noor will rule the world, but will also suffer from its misfortunes and curse"

Description of the Kohinoor

Originally this mysterious diamond had 793 carats before its first cutting. later on, it weighted 186 carats, and it had an oval cut shape and the size of a small egg, While it was in the possession of the Kakatiya Dynasty. Through history, the ownership of the Kohinoor had been passed from one dynasty to another "The Indian and Persian empires", and end up to be a part of the Crown Jewels of Queen Victoria of England, who was proclaimed the Empress of India at that time. The diamond weighted back then 108.93 carats and kept safe and preserved in the Tower of London.

The value of Koh-I-Noor

The real value of the Koh-I-Noor is not exactly known, and it is really hard to give it a monetary price because of its history. It was either gifted, stolen or traded with.

Koh I Noor Worth the value of one day’s food for all the people in the world.
Emperor Babur of the Great Mogul

Koh I Noor worth half the daily expense of the whole world and value equal to half-day production costs of the world.
Sultan Ibrahim Lodi "The last sultan of Delhi"

Some try to estimate the real value of this amazing diamond, and It was compared with the "Graff Pink" diamond. This diamond weights around 25 carats. 60 years ago in Hong Kong, it was sold for $46 million. The Koh-I-Noor is one of the 2,800 diamonds that the Royal British Crown has. The crown it self-worth between $10 and $12.7 billion which makes it really difficult and hard to determine the real price of this amazing diamond.

The curse of Koh-I-Noor

The Curse of Kohinoor can be traced back to an ancient Hindu text, from the time of its first appearance in 1306. the legend behind the curse says "The owner of this diamond will be granted the power and might to rule the world, but also will suffer from all of its misfortunes and will face death, in the end Only a woman and god can wear it". The legend also says that it makes the queens who wear it self-seeking, selfish, self-centered and more possessive, which might lead to loss of territory, reputation, and bringing misery and misfortune that eventually will lead to breaking homes and in the end may end the monarchy. It is believed that the story behind the curse of the Koh-I-Noor is related to the bloody history behinds it, Countless battles, violence, murder, and treachery. The royal families of Britain were aware of its curse and since the reign of Queen Victoria, it has always been passed to the wife of the successor of the throne.

The Cutting of Koh-I-Noor

The diamond weighed around 186 carats (37 grams), first when it had arrived in the British royal family. later on Prince Albert after a long search for a skilled diamond cutter with high reputation. He entrusted this task to the Dutch jeweler Mr. Canter. it took him 38 days of extremely hard work on the diamond, and the final result was an oval shape diamond which weighted 108.93 carats. Prince Albert was not happy and satisfied with Mr. Canton's cutting work on the diamond as the diamond did not shine like before.

History of the Kohinoor Diamond

• It is said that the Koh I Noor was mentioned for the first time more than 5000 years ago in a Sanskrit script. Up until 1304, the diamond belonged to Rajas of Malwa.
• In 1304, Emperor of Delhi "Allaudin Khilji" took control of the diamond.
• In 1339, the diamond was transferred to Samarkand where it stayed there for 300 years.
• In 1526, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur the Mogul ruler had mentioned the diamond in his writings the "Baburnama". The diamond was given to him as a gift from the Sultan Ibrahim Lodi.
• In 1739 the King Nadir Shah of Persia decided to invade the Mughal empire in India. He managed to defeat their emperor and he took the Kooh-I-Noor back to Persia, the name Koh-I-Noor was given to the stolen diamond by the king Nader Shah.
Nader Shah | source
• In 1747 the king Nader Shah was assassinated. The diamond was then passed to Ahmad Shah Durrani. later on Shah Shuja Durrani, a descendant of Ahmad Shah brought back the diamond to India in 1813. The Koh-I-Noor was given to Ranjit Singh, which considered the founder of the Sikh empire in exchange for Ranjit's help to bring the throne of Afghanistan back to Shah Shuja.
• In 1849 as a result of the conquest of the Sikh Empire by the British forces, the diamond had become part of the treasury of the British East India Company as the diamond was taken as war compensation, to be handed later on to Queen Victoria in July 1850.
• In 1852 Prince Albert decided to reshape the diamond and it was taken to Mr. Cantor a Dutch jeweler, who cut it to 108.93 carats oval shape diamond.

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