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History of India
Koh-i-Nur
A Diamond's Incredible Journey
 “The
Agate on the wearer strength bestows,
With ruddy health his fresh complexion glows;
Both eloquence and grace by it are given,
He gains favor both of earth and heaven.”
–
Marboeuf, Bishop of Rennes, (11th century),
describing virtues of the Agate.
The most famous
diamond of India, Koh-i-Nur, has a colorful history and journey over more
than five hundred years. It has been said that whoever owned the
Koh-i-Nur ruled the world. But there is also a darker side to the story
of Koh-i-Nur. Some who have owned this coveted diamond also have suffered
torture and blinding, but yet have refused to part with it. The Koh-i-Nur
is a veritable household name in many parts of the world.
It is mentioned first in Babur-nama, an autobiography by the first Mughal
ruler, Babur (1526-1530). After the battle of Panipat, where Ibrahim
Lodhi was soundly defeated, Babur rode to Delhi and Humayun, his son,
swiftly rode to Agra, the Lodhi capital. Here he found Ibrahim Lodhi’s
mother taking shelter and also the family of Raja Vikramaditya of Gwalior.
Vikramaditya had fought next to Ibrahim Lodhi in Panipat, where both of
them had lost their lives. To appease Humayun and to curry favor with
him, VIkramaditya’s family offered him bundles of jewels and diamonds.
Among them was the legendary diamond Koh-i-Nur. (However, Babur did not
know the name of the diamond as Koh-i-Nur. It was Nadir Shah, more than
two hundred years later, who called it by that name).
Babur in his biography called Koh-i-Nur as Ala-ud-din’s diamond. Babur
perhaps was referring to Ala-ud-din Khilji, who had ventured south to
Deccan repeatedly during his rule in Delhi (1296-1316). Even before he
usurped his uncle and father-in- law Feroz Shah I, Ala-ud-din had been in
Deccan where he had subdued Ramachandra, king of Devagiri. Whether he
came to possess Koh-i-Nur here, or from one of his eunuch General Malik
Kafur’s several expeditions to the south in order to plunder and raid is
unclear. Moreover, diamond mines were in Deccan (Golconda – Hyderabad)
and Ala-ud-din was the first of the Delhi sultans to venture that far
south. Another historical postulation is that Khilji took the diamond
from the raja of Malwa, whom he had defeated. It is generally believed
that Sultan Khilji acquired it in the year 1304.
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Koh-i-Nur was an enormous
diamond. It weighed around 186 carats (eight misqals) and according
to Babur, its value was enough to feed the whole world for ‘half a
day.’ Koh-i-Nur had a reputation of either bestowing its owner the
status of world conqueror and ruler, or utter misery, misfortune and
death. Because Babur was the first to mention the diamond in his
memoir, it came to be sometimes known as ‘Babur’s diamond.’ Babur says
that his son Humayun offered it to him because of its beauty and
clarity, but he promptly gave it back to Humayun. |
A drawing of the Koh-I-Noor's
original 186-carat form,
based directly on various illustrations |
"Bikermajit, a
Hindoo, who was Rajah of Gwalior, had governed that country for upwards of
a hundred years. In the battle in which Ibrahim was defeated, Bikermajit
was sent to hell. Bikermajit's family and the heads of his clan were at
this moment in Agra. When Humaiun arrived, Bikermajit's people attempted
to escape, but were taken by the parties which Humaiun had placed upon the
watch, and put in custody. Humaiun did not permit them to be plundered. Of
their own free will they presented to Humaiun a 'peshkesh' (tribute or
present), consisting of a quantity of jewels and precious stones. Among
these was one famous diamond, which had been acquired by Sultan
Ala-ed-din. It is so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at half
of the daily expense of the whole world. It is about eight mishkels. On my
arrival, Humaiun presented it to me as a peshkesh, and I gave it back to
him as a present." – Translation from Babur-nama (entered in the journal
May 4, 1526)
A Priceless Possession
How this
diamond came into the possession of the rajas of Gwalior is a mystery that
is unsolved. (It is presumed that when the raja of Gwalior and Ala-ud-din
Khilji had a peace agreement, the diamond was restored to the Gwalior
family by Khilji). Humayun came to power in 1530 after the death of Babur.
After a reign of ten years, he had become comfortable in his throne, when
an upstart Sher Khan Sur with a well organized army defeated him in a
battlefield near Kanauj. Humayun’s forty thousand men army was thoroughly
defeated by fifteen thousand soldiers of Sher Khan Sur. Humayun barely
escaped with his life and became a fugitive in the deserts of Sind and
Rajastan. But he had escaped with his monstrous diamond, which he put to
good use in Persia. Humayun’s own brothers refused to lend him a hand in
his attempts at regaining Delhi. During his wanderings in search of
shelter, Humayun was offered a price for his precious cargo by some men.
Humayun became quite irritated by the men and said, “Such precious gems
cannot be bought; either they fall to one by arbitrage of the flashing
sword, which is an expression of divine will, or else they come through
the grace of mighty monarchs."
Humayun eventually took refuge in Tehran in the court of Shah Tamasp, the
Safavid ruler of Iran. Fortunately for Humayun, the Shah had a fondness
for diamonds and Humayun used “Babur’s diamond” as barter in exchange for
shelter and military help. This eventually led to Humayun’s march back to
Delhi (with twelve thousand Persian troops) to regain his empire in 1555
from the successors of Sher Khan Sur. However, Humayun had to leave
his precious cargo in Persia. Koh-i-Nur had thus passed on to the Shah of
Iran. Koh-i-Nur had thus passed on to the
Shah of Iran. Abul-Fazl in Akbarnama mentions this event in 1547, when
Humayun gave the Shah of Persia innumerable jewels as gifts, including Babur’s diamond. However, Shah Tamasp was said to have not been too
impressed by the gem.
What happened to Koh-i-Nur next is not exactly known. It had somehow
slipped back from Persia again into Mughal possession. There is
historical record of Shah Tamasp of Persia gifting a great diamond to the
Sultan of Golconda. This was then presented on to Aurangzeb during his
stay as Governor in Deccan (before he claimed the Mughal throne) by Mir
Jumla, a Persian adventurer in the service of the Sultan of Golconda. Mir
Jumla had collaborated with Prince Aurangzeb and attacked Hyderabad.
Aurangzeb defeated the sultan who was besieged in the fort at Golconda.
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According to traveler Jean-Baptiste
Tavernier, Mir Jumla also met Shah Jahan in Agra and showered him with
gifts, one of which was the same Babur’s diamond that his
great-grandfather Humayun had gifted to Shah of Persia in order to
save the Mughal Empire.
There is some evidence that
Jahanara, Shah Jahan’s daughter (and Aurangzeb’s sister), presented
the diamond to her father. (Legend also says that Aurangzeb is
reputed to have been responsible for cutting the diamond from 793
carats to 186 carats, largely due to an inadvertent error by an
incompetent lapidary). When Aurangzeb wrestled the throne from his
father, killing his brothers, a distraught
Shah Jahan wanted to destroy all his jewels and other prize
possessions. Jahanara convinced her father not to do so.
Whether this is myth or fact is not known.
On November
3, 1665 Aurangzeb showed off all his jewels, including Babur's
diamond. The collection was viewed
and recorded by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in his The Six Voyages of
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, published in 1679. This exhibition was only
three months before Shah Jahan died in February 1666, still under
the captivity of his son. |
Jean-Baptiste
Tavernier, who visited Aurangzeb’s court and wrote the book The Six
Voyages of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1679. |
–
Continued
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