Recently I visited United Kingdom to participate in nephrology conference . I utilized this opportunity for tourism . I visited many places and museums . The unforgettable experience was my visit to Tower of London because here I saw Kohinoor , the diamond about which I had heard many stories since my childhood and always yearned to see it . I was dumbfounded with the beauty of it , this large glittering diamond is now glorifying the crown of her majesty , the queen of England .
The authentic history of this jewel begins in the 14th AD when it was reported to be in the possession of the rajas of Malwa. It later fell into the hands of Baber, who founded the Mogul dynasty in 1526. It decorated the peacock throne of Shah-e-jahan. During the next two centuries the diamond was one of the most prized items in the treasure of the Mogul emperors. In 1739, Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India and all of the treasures of the Moguls fell into his hands except the great diamond. Nadir Shah was told by one of the emperor's harem women that the stone was hidden in the emperor's turban. The conqueror then invited the conquered to a feast and offered to exchange turbans as a gesture of friendship. The emperor had no choice but to agree. Later, in the privacy of his tent, Nadir Shah unrolled the turban, the gem fell out, and Nadir is supposed to have exclaimed "Koh-i-noor", mountain of light.
The stone continued in the possession of the Persian dynasty, although many attempts were made to gain ownership of it. The Persian king was assassinated, and his son Shah Rukh, was deposed. In an effort to discover the whereabouts of the diamond Shah Rukh´s eyes were put out, and boiling pitch was poured on his head, but he refused steadfastly to reveal its hiding place. Later, a Persian king fled with it to the Sikh court and Ranjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, took the stone and wore it as a decoration. It was later placed in the Lahore treasury.
In the mean time Englishmen learnt about Sone ki chidiya , the golden bird , India and they sailed in search of it till they reached America and then Africa . Ultimately they reached the west coast of India and took permission of Jahangir (in fact from her majesty , Noor e jahan , wise queen of Jahangir , who virtually ruled India behind the
veils ) . Englishmen found that India is really very rich , had fertile lands , rich in garam masala , cotton , jute , resham , jungle wealth , coal mines , and what not ! You name it and you would find it in India .
To their great joy , Englishmen found that India is a divided lot , many kingdoms existed in India fighting with each other . Englishmen took full advantage of the situation . They had brought gun powder with them . They sided with one or other king and destroyed both . They found dishonest ministers , likes of Mirjafer who was bribed by Englishmen which led to the defeat of king of Bengal , Siraujudoulla and East India Company could set its feet in India .
After the Sikh wars, Kohinoor was taken by the East India Company as part of the indemnity levied in 1849, and was subsequently presented to Queen Victoria at a sparkling levee marking the company's 250th anniversary.
Queen Victoria thought that the jewel displayed insufficient fire . It was decided to recut it from its original Indian form. The cutting took 38 days, but did not add much to the stone's brilliance. It was rather believed that the historical value of the diamond was diminished by the cutting.
There were three good things that happened because of English rule - firstly India was benefited with the great discoveries occurring in England those days like railways , telephone and electricity. Secondly English abolished the age old horrifying custom of sati , wherein ladies were burnt alive in the pyre of their dead husbands . Last and most important benefit reaped was the formation of United states of India . Against the oppressive rule of British empire , all different states of India united and fought for freedom . In the process we have a single country of varied culture which never happened in the history of India in last thousands of years !
As a partying gift , English inflicted India with two deep wounds - they divided western India as west Pakistan and intellectual capital of India , Bengal in to west Bengal and East Pakistan .
Mother India was gifted with the crown of thorns and continues to bleed relentlessly while our Kohinoor glorifies the crown of Her Majesty , the queen of England .
