K is for...Kollur .... Kakatiya.... n ... Khilji

Starting with Kesariya by Suneeta Rao today - a mid-nineties track which combined Rajasthani folk music with Rap for the first time in the Indipop genre, a chart topper at the time and still a popular dance number in live shows.

From the North to the South - the next track, Kolaveri Di, is a 2011 internet sensation, composed and sung by Dhanush in Tanglish (colloquial Tamil and English), combining ancient Tamil instrumentation and elements of South Indian folk music. It was part of the soundtrack of a Tamil film and went viral upon its release, not just in India but worldwide.

Krishna. Kings. Koh-i-Noor.

Yup, that’s my object for today – a book on Koh-i-Noor, which is going to be my springboard to leap into its story. 

From the time of their discovery in 9th century BCE till 1725, India was the only known source of diamonds. The diamonds were known as the Golconda diamonds, and many of them over the centuries have found their way onto the crown jewels of royal families around the world.  


The origin of the Koh-i-Noor is not known definitively. It was probably extracted from the Kollur mine and belonged to the Kakatiya dynasty  during 12th-13th century. Alauddin Khilji, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, sent his slave-general Malik Kafur to Warangal in 1310, where the Kakatiya king Prataparudra was subjugated. Malif Kafur obtained significant amounts of moolah and materiel from this expedition, and the diamond probably went to Delhi with him. The Delhi Sultanate passed from the Khilji dynasty to others and finally to the Lodhi dynasty in 1451.  Then the Lodhis fell at the battle of Panipat in 1526 as Babur established Mughal rule.

As you can see, I'm a fan of the Mughals!

Babur was a consummate diarist, he wrote one of the most interesting journals written by a ruler - the Baburnama. At the time that Agra fell to Babur, he records that his son Humayun captured the family of Raja of Gwalior, who were in the city. They made him 'a voluntary offering of a mass of jewels and valuables, amongst which was the famous diamond which Alauddin (Khilji) must have brought...every appraiser has estimated its value at two and a half days' food for the whole world. Apparently it weighs 8 misqals.' 


This description could be a reference to the Koh-i-Noor, or some other diamond, as there were clearly a number of large diamonds floating around in India at the time. However, this diamond, the possible Koh-i-Noor, went right out of India soon after. Babur died in 1530, without the time to secure his empire. 


The son Humayun, did not possess the same military acumen as the father. Within ten years, he had frittered away his father's gains in India and was forced into exile in Persia. Humayun negotiated a cavalry for himself from the Shia monarch of Persia by the gift of some jewels, paramount among them the 8 misqal one. And so won back Babur's territories 15 years after he had left India. The diamond passed out of Mughal hands and disappeared for about a generation.


It eventually made its way back to Delhi into Mughal possession again. We know that Shah Jahan, the great grandson of Humayun and a builder par excellence,  set it atop his super opulent Peacock Throne. And ruled from it an empire that by then stretched from Bengal to the borders of Afghanistan.  Delhi, its sophisticated capital, had become the megacity of its time with a population of 2 million, and three separate treasuries were required for the Mughal hoards of precious stones, gold and inlaid jewellery. 



The last effective Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, died in 1707, ushering in a time of great uncertainty and squabbling, weak contenders on the Mughal throne.  Disaster struck in 1739, when the ruthless Persian war-lord Nader Shah invaded and sacked Delhi. When Nader saw the diamond for the first time, he exclaimed, "Koh-i-Noor!" - the Mountain of Light. Nader Shah left after nearly two months of plunder, taking with him the Peacock Throne and eight generations' worth of Mughal imperial wealth.  The Koh-i-Noor went west again to Persia but this time permanently out of Mughal possession. 


From Nader Shah the Persian the diamond passed to Ahmed Shah Durrani the Afghan and then to Shuja al Mulk, his descendant, as the balance of power shifted. Meanwhile in India, as Mughal control crumbled away, the Sikh kingdom under Ranjit Singh wrested Lahore and the Punjab, even as the East India Company grabbed the Bengal Subah and eyed the pivotal, plum throne of Delhi. 

Credit The Koh-i-Noor it its original setting

Ranjit Singh got the Koh-i-Noor from Shuja-al-Mulk in 1813, and it remained with him till his death in 1839, after which Punjab descended into anarchy. A controversy erupted as to whether the Koh-i-Noor was Ranjit Singh's personal property to will away or a state jewel to be passed onto the next ruler. The Koh-i-Noor had been long thought to be the mythological, legendary gem Syamantak, associated with the Hindu God Krishna. Ranjit had vaguely indicated he wanted the gem gifted to the Jagannath Temple in Puri. 


However, his officials could/did not agree and so the diamond passed into the hands of Kharak Singh the next ruler, and then through a series of deaths, palace coups and possible assassinations ultimately to his minor son, Duleep. Meanwhile, the East India Company intervened - they and the Sikh army fought two bloody wars through the 1840's. Finally the British forces won and Duleep Singh, the boy ruler, signed a treaty ceding his territories and the Koh-i-Noor to the British.

Credit Queen Victoria wearing the Koh-i-Noor

And so the Koh-i-Noor left Indian shores for the last time. It sailed to England and was unveiled to the public in the Great Exhibition of 1851. Its rose cut did not find favour in the West and so it was recut and lost a a good chunk of its mass. It was set and reset in the various crowns of the British royal women. The last royal to use it was Queen Mother Elizabeth. The current Queen herself has never worn it. It is on display at the Tower of London where millions of visitors throng to see the most famous diamond.  



The Indian government first demanded that the Koh-i-Noor be returned in 1947, repeating at judicious intervals, the latest I think was 2010. And India isn't the only one, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran all claim the diamond as part of their history. The British have steadfastly refused. So far.



Did you know that in Mughal India, coloured stones, especially rubies and emeralds, were prized above diamonds? Do you think the Koh-i-Noor should go back 'home' to India? 

A-Z Challenge 2020