Maharaja.Ranjit.Singh.by.N.B.Sen.pdf

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

&

Koh-i-Noor Diamond

This book is dedicated to the brave

Sikh Community

which Found the Koh-i-Noor and Lost it.

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I Diamond'Mines of India 1

II Legendary Origin of the Koh-i-Noor 11

III In the Hands of the Hindu Kings 18

IV With the Muslim Rulers 24

V Koh-i-Noor Leaves India 29

VI Back in the Hands of the Moghuls 38

VII Nadir Shah Grabs Koh-i-Noor 50

VIII Koh-i-Noor Brings Misery to

Nadir Shah's Dynasty 58

IX Koh-i-Noor Makes History in Afghanistan 64

X Back to India Once Again 71

XI Ranjit Singh Gets it at Last 78

XII Koh-i-Noor, Shah Shuja and Wafa Begum 83

XIII Ranjit Singh and the Koh-i-Noor 92

XIV After Ranjit Singh-The Deluge 99

Xv. How it Came into the Hands of the British 104

XVI Sir John Lawrence and Koh-i-Noor 116

XVII Daleep Singh 'Presents' Koh-i-Noor

to Queen Victoria 126

"Such precious gemscannot be obtained

by purchases; either theyfall to one by the arbitrament

of the flashing sword, which is anexpression of Divine Will or else they

come through the grace ofmighty monarchs."

-Mughal Emperor Humayunon the Koh-i-Noor

PREFACE

KOH-I-NOOR is the most brilliant, the mostdazzling and the most precious diamond of the world.It has been rightly called the King of Diamonds andthe Diamond of Kings. Its entire history is linkedwith Royalties of various countries and of variousages. It was the cause of murder of Kings, dishonourof Queens and fearful intrigues at the Courts of theRoyals.

Koh-i-Noor has a legendary origin in the dawnof history, before the times of the Mahabharata, overfive thousand years ago. It remained with the HinduKings for several centuries, making its presence feltby causing the rise and fall of many a monarch. Laterit fell into the hands of the Moghuls who staked theirkingdoms for its possession.

More than two centuries ago, Nadir Shah, anadventurer from Persia, invaded India in search ofpower and plenty and took possession of this diamondfrom the King of Delhi by cunningly exchangingturbans. It is now known in history as the 'TurbanTrick'. The Persian invader was so much dazzled byits beauty, lustre and brilliance that he exclaimed inwonder 'KOH-I-NOOR', which means 'Mountain ofLight'. The original name of this diamond wasSAMANTIK MAN!. (Prince and Leader amongDiamonds.)

Later, Shah Shuja, King of Afghanistan,managed to get it, but ultimately had to surrender itto the Sikh Ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, underadverse circumstances, during his stay at Lahore. Therejoicings that followed its possession by theMaharaja have created rich folklore in Northern India.

After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, PrinceDaleep Singh possessed the great Koh-i-Noor. Hewas forced to part with it and hand it over to theBritish under the Treaty of Lahore dated 29th March1849. This peerless gem thus left the shores of Indiaand was subsequently presented to Queen Victoria in1850. Since then, this wonder diamond of India is inthe hands of the British Royalty.

In a recent function organized by the MaharajaRanjit Singh Bi-Centennial Coronation CelebrationCommittee at New Delhi, the veteran author andjournalist, Sardar Khushwant Singh made a passionateappeal on behalf of the people of India to the PrimeMinister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee to use his goodoffices to get back the Koh-i-Noor, which was takenaway from Maharaja Daleep Singh, a minor descendantof Maharaja Ranjit Singh, about 150 years ago, undercoerCIOn.

This is not the first time that a demand for thereturn of this King of Diamonds has been made. It wasfirst made in 1947, soonafter India's Independence,again in 1953 arqund the time of the Coronation ofQueen Elizabeth II, and as recently as in 2000, whena group of 25 Members of Parliament from a cross-

section of political parties, led by Mr. Kuldip Nayar,made a petition to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha foradmitting a motion on the subject for debate.

The response of the then governments ( in 1947and 1953 ) led by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru was indeedlukewarm, perhaps for the reasons that the country wasfresh from the yoke of centuries of slavery and plunder,had before it a number of vastly important issues cryingfor attention and had yet to gain its bruised confidenceand self-pride. The role of the British in our economicreconstruction and international affairs was indisputableand the country could ill-afford to annoy the people,the government and the Royalty of a friendly nation.

A lot of water has since flown down both theGanges and the Thames. The youthful and resurgentIndian Nation has restored its pride and looks to thefuture with hope and confidence. It is on way tobecoming an economic and scientific super-power andwill have an increasingly important place ininternational affairs. On the other hand, the Indiancommunity in the U.K. has come of age and has e..~ned,by dint of hardwork and merit, its rightful place in theeconomic, social and political life of the country. Thebond between the U.K. and India as independent,sovereign entities has been well tested during the pastover 50 years and has strengthened. New generationswith new vigour and vitality, new capabilities andcompetences, new hopes and aspirations, new problemsand priorities, and a futuristic outlook, are now on thescene in both the countries and therefore, the issueneeds to be examined in a fresh perspective with thefuture in mind rather than the past.

With the British people and the Royalty, Kohi-Noor may have only some sentimental or ornamentalvalue and it may be just another stone, albeit themost precious one in the Royal Crown; but with thepeople of this country, it is something much morea symbol of our continuity as a nation, an embodimentof our feelings, sentiments and aspirations, an emblemof our past glory, a tale of our vicissitudes, a witnessto our antiquity and a visible representation of whatwe were and what we are. The scales of justice andfairplay therefore warrant that whatever be thetechnicalities and legalities of the manner in which theDiamond changed hands from the Indian Prince to theBritish Queen, a friendly British people and theenlightened British Government and Royalty, at thedawn of the 21st Century, make a voluntary gestureof goodwill towards a seventh of the mankind andrestore to it its indistputable symbol of past glory. Itwill only be appropriate if this unique gesture isextended during this historic year of bi-centennialcelebrations of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Coronation. Afew carats of weight-loss will certainly earn for theGreat Britons tons of unending goodwill of a billionIndians which is bound to solidify the bond of theirc"enturies-old friendship for a long, long time to come.Will the Britons come forward during this eventful Yearand make a new beginning in Human and InternationalRelations based on mutual love, care and respect forone another's feelings? Will they rise to the occasion,show grace and write a new chapter in world Historyby acting on the Gandhian principle of self-evolvedmorality? We Indians, led by our Prime Minister, Mr.Vajpayee, like to believe that they would.

CHAPTER I

DIAMOND MINES OF INDIA

India is famous for its diamonds, gems andjewels. From the earliest times, we find jewels closelyrelated to Royalty. If you turn to the Puranas, thepre-historic accounts of India's deities and kings fromthe ancient times, you will find reference being madeto various jewels worn by the deities described inbeautiful prose and poetry. Turn to the two epics ofthe Hindus; the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, andyou will find court descriptions and pen-portraits ofLord Krishna, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, LordRama, his brothers and Ravana, replete with accountsof the various jewels which they wore. In fact, everyaccount of any deity or a king or a queen, whereverfouPd in the earliest Scriptures of the Hindus, givesdt>Lailed accounts of their pearl-necklaces, diamondear-rings and jewel-bedecked swords.

2 Maharaja Ranjit Singh & Koh-i-Noor Diamond

Coming to the Hindu era, we find the same loveand display of jewels and diamonds. In fact, thegreatness and glory of a monarch was measured bythe vastness of his collection of jewels. They viedwith one another in collecting well-known jewels ofgreat lustre and resplendency. Presents from chieftainsto their sovereigns, from kings to their queens, andfrom one potentate to another, invariably consistedof diamonds and diamond-studded ornaments, swords,etc. We often read about rubies, pearls and diamondsof unusual brightness possessed by different monarchsin the different periods. They passed from one rulerto another, either as presents or as booty. Often theymade history and have left stories which live up tothis time.

Muslim invaders, who settled in this country asrulers and especially the Moghuls, came directlyunder the influence of Hindu civilization and adoptedsome of the ancient customs and ways of theinhabitants of this land. Their Courts and the court-.manners received inspiration from the Hindu rulersof India. No wonder, therefore, that we find theseMuslim monarchs evincing the same love fordiamonds and jewels. Shah-e-Jehan made his wellknown Peacock Throne in which thousands of jewelswere studded. The price of the necklaces and earrings worn by the Moghul queens ran into millions.When one ruler sent any mission to another, he neverforgot to send jewels as gifts. The Moghul rulerspossessed some of the most costly jewels known to

Diamond Mines of India

•

3

history and they played an important part in thehistory not only of this country, but in that of theneighbouring countries as well.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh's love of jewels is wellknown. His collection was one of world-wonders andto every one of his distinguished guests, he showedhis proud- collection much to their delight andadmiration. From his son, the British got an invaluablecollection, incl~ding the historical Koh-i-Noor, whichnow adorns the crown of Her· Majesty QueenElizabeth II of England. Whenever the BritishViceroys visited the Indian States, their consorts werepresented with jewels and diamond necklaces, rings,ear-rings and various other precious stones, as a tokenof respect, goodwill and hospitality.

Thus diamonds have played a very conspicuouspart in the history of this ancient land. In early days,India was known as the home of diamond mines andto India belongs the proud privilege of havingproduced the priceless Koh-i-Noor, round which athousand and one yarns have been woven. It broughtglory and victory to some and misery and agony toothers. ~¥ever it went, it made history. Why is itthat some of its proud possessors rose like meteors,after they got it and others sank down in oblivion,when it came to them? The reason is not far off toseek. According to Hindu science of precious stones,every stone does not suit every possessor. There arecertain streaks of light inside the stones which run

•


parallel or contrary to the lines of fate of the wearer.If they are parallel, the wearer has victory and joy, ifthey are not, the possessor thereof is thrown intomisery. Then, every kind of jewel does not fit in witheverybody. To some, diamonds bring joy andprosperity, to others, pearls and to some, rubies andso on. A diamond may bring prosperity to one andutter ruin to another. So the Hindus of orthodox viewsalways consult an expert in this line, before buyingand wearing any precious stone. If he advises pearls,they will wear pearls alone. This perhaps explainsthat Koh-i-Noor, the biggest and the brightest ofdiamonds so far known to history, brought victoryand prosperity to some and ruin and destruction toothers.

It would be interesting to know something aboutthe diamond mines from one of which the Koh-iNoor, according to some, was found. It had alegendary origin according to many, but withoutentering into any controversy on this point, we wouldlike to say something about the ancient mine of Kolar,the birth-place of this historical diamond. It is notknown to history when this mine was first opened. Itis situated in the Deccan on the right bank of theriver Kistna. Tavernier, who visited it during themiddle of the 17th century, says that it was openedonly about one century before his visit, but this viewof his, like many others of the same kind, seems tobe erroneous; but we do not propose to enter intoany discussion on this subject here. The very nature

Diamond Mines of India 5

of the ground and the houses now found in ruins,easily prove that the mine has been working sincevery long-much longer than is known to history.

But as stated above, without starting anycontroversy, we would give here some idea to thereader as to how a mine was worked in those days.It would not be out of place to quote Tavernier inthis connection:

"At a distance of about seven days' journey eastof Golconda, there is another diamond mine calledGani I in the language of the country and colour inthe Persian tongue. It is close to a large town on thesame river which I crossed when coming from anothermine, and at a league and a half from the town thereare high mountains in the form of a cross. The spacebetween the town and the mountain is covered by aplain where the mine is situated and the diamondsare found. The nearer one scorches towards themountains, the larger the stones which are found, butwhen one ascends too high, nothing is found.

J. This mine has been identified in the Economic Geologyof India, by the routes in Vol. I, 140 and Vol. II, 73 with Kolarin the Kistna, where according to an MS Map by Col. Mackenzie,there was a Mine in 1798. The word Gani is equivalent to thePersian Kan-i, signifying 'mine of'. It is found in use by thepresent writers in connection with another mine namely GaniPartia, 1. It is the title of this mine most commonly used in

. works on numerology and precious stones, sometimesconsiderably modified in spelling as Garee, etc. But it cannot becorrectly used as the name of the mine where the great Moghulor any other diamond was found.


"It is about 100 years ago when a poor mandigging a piece of ground, where he proposed to sowmillets, found a pointed nave (or cubic stone)weighing nearly 25 carats. Thi~ kind of sto~e beingunknown to him and appearing remarkable, he carriedit to Golconda and by good luck addressed himselfto one who traded in diamonds. The trader havingascertained from the peasant the place where he hadfound the stone was much surprised to see a diamondof such a weight, especially because the largest thathad hitherto been seen did not exceed 10 to 12 carats.2

"The rumours of this new discovery quicklyspread abroad throughout the country and somepersons of wealth in the town commenced to mine inthis land where they found and where they still findlarge stones in great abundance. There are found hereat present many stones from 10 up to 40 carats andsometimes indeed much larger. Among others therewas the great diamond which weighed 900 carats,before cutting and which Mir Jumla presented toAurangzeb, as I have elsewhere related.3

2. The statement is not correct. Larger diamonds did exitat that time.

3. This statement too is erroneous. The 9iamond waspresented by Mir Jumla to Shah-e-Jehan and not to Aurangzeb.(Elphinstone's History of India pp. 357 & 373). The weight asgiven by Tav~rnier himself elsewhere was 900 ratties or about787V2 carats and not 900. In fact different people who saw itgive different weights which fact has caused considerableconfusion (See Tavernier's Travels).


"But if this mine of Kolar is of importance onaccount of the number of large stones, which arefound there, it is a misfortune that as a rule thesestones are not clear and that their water containsindications of the quality of the soil where they arefound. If the soil is marshy and humid, the stonetends to blackness; if it is reddish, it tends to be redand with the other conditions, sometimes towardsgreen, sometimes towards yellow, just as there isdiversity of soil in the area between the town and themountain. Upon the majority of these stones, afterthey are cut, there always appears a kind of greasewhich necessitates the carrying of a handkerchief inthe hand of the holder in order to wipe them.

"As regards the waters of stones, it is to beremarked that instead of, as in Europe, employingdaylight for the examination of stones in the rough(brotes) and so carefully iudging their water and anyflaws which they may contain, the Indians do this atnight; and they place them in a hole which theyexcavate in a wall, one foot square, a lamp with alarge wick, by the light of which they judge of thewater and the clearness of stones as they hold itbetween their fingers. The water which they term"celestial" (Aab-i-Aasmani or Pani-i-Aasmani) is theworst of all and it is impossible, to ascertain whetherit is present while the stone is in the rough. Butthough it may not be apparent on the Mill, the neverfailing test for correctly ascertaining the water isafforded by taking the stone under a leafy tree, and


in the green shadow one can easily detect if it isblue.

"The first time I was at this mine, there werenearly 60,000 persons working there, including men,women and children, who are employed in diverseways; the men in digging, the women and children incarrying earth, for they search for the stones at thismine; in altogether a different manner from thatpractised at Rammalakota.

"After the miners have selected the place, wherethey desire to work, they smooth down another spotclose by, of equal or rather greater extent, round whichthey erect an enclosing wall of two feet in height.

"At the base of this little wall, they makeopenings, at every two feet, for the escape of thewater, which they close till it is time for the water tobe drawn off. This place being thus prepared, allwho are about to engage in the search assemble men,women and children, together with their employerand a party of his relatives and his friends. He bringswith him a figure in stone of the god whom theyworship, which is placed standing on the ground,and each person prostrates himself three times beforeit, their priest, however offering up the prayers.4

4. This prayer is an appeal for protection from the Minespirits, which are much dreaded-see Crooke: Popular Religionand Folk Lore of Northern India I, 282 f.


"This prayer being finished, he makes a particularkind of mark upon the forehead of each one with apaste composed of saffron and gum, in order that itmay sustain seven or eight grains of rice, which heplaces upon it. Then they wash their bodies with thewater which each of them carries in a vessel and sitdown in ranks to eat that which is presented at thefeast given by their employer at the beginning oftheir work, in order to give them courage and inducethem to acquit themselves faithfully. This feast merelyconsists of a portion of rice to each, which isdistributed by a Brahmin, because every idolator caneat what is served to him by the hands of priests.Some among them are so superstitious that they willnot eat, what is prepared even by their own wivesand prefer to cook for themselves. The plate uponwhich the rice is placed is made of leaves of a treepinned together; to some extent it resembles the leavesof our walnut trees. To each there is also given abouta quarter of a pound of melted butter in a little cupof copper with some sugar.

"When the dinner is finished, each of them startswork, the men excavate the earth and women andchildren carry it to the place which has been prepared,as I have said above. They excavate upto 10, 12 or14 feet in depth, but when they reach water, there isnothing more to hope for. All the earth is carried tothis place; men, women and children draw water withpitchers from the hole which they have excavatedand throw it upon the earth, which they have placed


there in order to soften it, leaving it in this state forone or two days according to the tenacity of the clayuntil it becomes like soup. This done, they open theholes which they had made in the wall to let offwater, then they throw on more, so that all the shinemay be removed and nothing remains but sand. It isa kind of clay which requires to be washed two orthree times. They then leave it to be dried by the sun,which is quickly affected by the great heat. Theyhave a particular kind of basket made something likea winnowing fan, in which they place the earth, whichthey agitate as we do, when winnowing grain. Thefine part is blown away and the coarse stuff, whichremains, is subsequently replaced on the ground.

"All the earth having been thus winnowed, theyspread it with a rake and make it as level as possible.Then they all stand together on the earth, each witha large baton of wood like a huge pestle, half a footwide at the base and pound the earth, going from oneend to the other, always pounding each part two orthree times; then they place it again in the basketsand winnow it, as they did on the first occasion, afterwhich they spread it out again and range themselveson one side to handle the earth and search fordiamonds, in which process they adopt the samemethod as at Rammalakota. Formerly, instead of usingwooden pestles for pounding the earth, they poundedit with stones and it was that method which producedso many flaws in the diamonds."

CHAPTER II

LEGENDARY ORIGIN OFTHE KOH-I-NOOR

This wonder diamond of India, with its chequeredhistory running into thousands of years and whichlater on came to be known as Koh-i-Noor, had alegendary origin. It is indeed very difficult to proveby unimpeachable historical evidence that the greatdiamond of which we read in the Puranas and otherancient Scriptures of the Hindus, was the same whichlater on played such an important part in our country'shistory; but from the extraordinary size, unsurpassedbrilliance, and other distinguishing features of thedifferent diamonds about which we read in thenarratives of the various periods, one can reasonablyreconcile their identity. It is true that there isdifference in the weight and size given in the variousrecords available, and it raises doubts and evenconfusion; but we should not attach any great


importance to this, as we cannot lose sight of thefact that the different weights have actually differedin the various periods and various parts of India.Thus a seer or chattak of the recent times differsfrom a seer or a chattak prevalent about quarter of acentury back. These weights during the Moghul periodvaried even more. So inspite of this difference in theweight or size, which at times is strikinglyconspicuous, one can safely agree with the view thatin fact this great diamond has an unbroken andcontinuous history, though some of its links are lostin antiquity and unsettled conditions of this ancientland.

Bhagwat Puran connects it with the Sun-God,who imparted to it his own brilliance and lustre. OneSatrajit, a devotee of the Sun-God, pleased him somuch by his austerities and charities, that the SunGod gave this wonderful diamond to his 'bhagta' asa gift. I Its possession meant wealth and prosperity.Satrajit became so rich that he began to distributelarge quantities of gold to the Brahmins every day.This attracted the attention of others and they beganto cast covetous glances on this wonderful possessionof the Sun-God's devotee. His brother Persainsuggested to him that this precious gift should bepassed on to Raja Uggar Sen, the ruler of Muttra,

). It was known at that time as Samantick-Mani. Mani isSanskrit word meaning diamond. A reference to it is made inVishnu-purana as also in Bhagwat Purana.

Legendary Origin of the Koh-i-Noor 13

because he alone of all men was best fitted to be inits possession. How could Satrajit agree to such asuggestion?

Persain who seems to have been determined todispossess his brother of the diamond, took thisopportunity and snatched it from his elder brother.Without delay he started for Muttra to gain the favourof his potentate, by presenting to him this extraordinary gift of the Sun-God. He was, however, notdestined to attain his objective, as he was killed bya lion in a jungle through which he was passing.Hearing the hue and cry of Persain, one Jamavant, awarrior of celebrated brawn and great reputation,came to his rescue; but too late. He· noticed thediamond of extraordinary brilliance and took it awaywith him.2

Persain was a near relative of Lord Krishna. Theformer's sudden disappearance gave rise to many wildstories and there were whispers in quartersantagonistic to Lord Krishna, that it was he who wasat the bottom of this mysterious disappearance ofPersain along with the Sun-God's diamond. Whisperssoon turned into definite allegations and Satrajitopenly accused the Lord of his complicity in thiscrime. To set all such rumours at rest, Krishna setout in search of Persain and the diamond. He heardstories about Jamavant's possession of a preciousstone with extraordinary brilliance and went to take ,-

2. See Bhagwat Purana. 6.


it back from him, but all in vain. Jamavant was deafto reason. All appeals fell flat on him and he stubbornly refused to part with his valuable possession.

Enraged at this, Lord Krishna challengedJamavant to a deadly duel which lasted for twentyseven days. At last the renowned warrior was overpowered and he humbly capitulated. Not only wasthe precious diamond returned, but Jamavant's onlydaughter Jamawati was given away in marriage toLord Krishna. Thus was the great,gift of the SunGod restored to his devotee Satrajeet. When he got itback, he was overjoyed; but he was ashamed of havingaccused such a noble soul as Lord Krishna withoutjustification. He now wanted to do penance for thegreat wrong which he had done to him. In consultationwith his wife, he hit out a plan. Going to Lord Krishnabare-footed, he requested him to accept the hand ofhis daughter Satyabhama in marriage. She wasrenowned for her beauty and charm of manners. LordKrishna accepted the proposal of his penitent relativeand the marriage was solemnized. This well-knowndiamond was given i'n dowry. 3 Though Lord Krishnawas now its rightful owner, and was in every waypre-eminently fitted to retain the prize, yet he did notdeem it fit to keep it with him. So he gave it back tothe Sun-God who in turn bestowed it on Raja Kama,whose God-father he was.

3. Bhagwat Purana, page 253.


Kama was a shining light of the great galaxy ofmen who had gathered round Duryodhana, thecelebrated Kaurava King.4 He had many preciousstones in his possession. His courtly robes and evenhis armour were studded with well-.known diamonds,jewels and rubies. This gift from his God-father nowadorned his crown. In the great war between thePandavas and the Kauravas, fought on the plains ofKurukshetra which is regarded as one of the bloodiestbattles ever fought, Kama who was leading the armiesof Duryodhana as the Commander-in-Chief, waskilled in action by Arjuna, the ace-warrior of thePandavas. It is worth remembering that the chariot ofArjuna in this war was driven by Lord Krishna.

When Kama fell in the battle-field, his armour,crown and weapons all fell to Arjuna. So this greatdiamond passed on from Kama to Arjuna.

When the war was over after eighteen days ofseverest fighting, the Pandavas came out victorious.The eldest of the Pandavas, RaJa Yudhishtra wascrowned King and Arjuna, his younger brother,presented this diamond to him as a token of hisaffection and homage.5 Thus it came into the handsof the rulers of Indra Prastha.

There is yet another story as to how the diamondcame into the possession of Yudhishtra, head of the

4. Mahabharata : Dutt's Translation. Page 786.

5. Mahabharata : Duu's Translation. Page 1870.


Pandava dynasty and strangely enough it relates tothe same period. According to this source, BhuriSharava, the ruler of Kashmir, had the proud privilegeto possess this diamond of unrivalled lustre. He usedto wear it on his right arm, not only as a pricelessornament but also as a sign of good omen, as it wasbelieved that its owner could not come to any harm.It was also considered to be a procurer of goodfortune, fame and prosperity. When the great warbetween the Pandavas and the Kauravas began on thehistorical battleground of Kurukshetra, Raja BhuriSharava joined the ranks of Duryodhana, the king ofKauravas. The two armies got arrayed against oneanother and the different commanders took positionsto begin the deadly combat, this diamond wassparkling conspicuously on the arm of its proudpossessor. Raja Bhuri Sharava, a warrior of greatmerit, showed remarkable feats of bravery and createdawe in the ranks of the Pandavas. It was believedthat he was able to achieve this distinction on accountof this diamond, the wearer of which could not beovercome in the battlefield. A small council of thePandava leaders took place and after hurriedconsultations, it was decided to depute Arjuna, theace-warrior on the side of the Pandavas, to face theRaja of Kashmir. The combat between the two wasterrible and marvellous feats of archery,swordmanship and boxing were witnessed byastonished onlookers, who beheld the almostimpossible sight of Arjuna being brought to bay by


the Raja of Kashmir. It was feared that Arjuna wouldlose the battle, which would turn the tables on thePandavas. For a moment it was thought all was lost.Suddenly the charioteer of Arjuna, who was LordKrishna himself, whispered something into the earsof the Pandava warrior, who composed himself, tookout his unfailing bow and aimed at the right arm ofBhuri Sharava. His aim was flawless and in thetwinkling of an eye, the right arm of the ruler ofKashmir flew into the air, along with the diamondstudded armlet. Arjuna now had no difficulty incompletely overpowering him. Thus it was there thatArjuna came into possession of this wonder diamond,which he presented to his elder brother Yudhishtra,when he was crowned King after winning the greatwar of Mahabharata.

After ruling for a few years, Raja Yudhishtra gottired of the worldly life and decided to abdicate histhrone in favour of Yuvraj Parikshit, the grandson ofArjuna. The young prince was crowned king and atthe coronation ceremony, this diamond was presentedto him by Yudhishtra. From Parikshit it passed on tohis son Janmejya and so it changed hands from sireto son. Peace reigned for a long time, under thepowerful successors of the Pandavas andconsequently, we do not hear anything worthmendoning about this diamond during this longperiod. In fact, nothing was heard about it forcenturies together.

CHAPTER III

IN THE HANDS OF THEHINDU' KINGS

We hear very little about this diamond after thereign of the Pandavas. In fact, we have got nolegendary or historical data of the intervening periodand no links can be found to trace its career. Withthe passing of time, the great Kingdom of theKauravas was split up into small principalities. It isbelieved, however, that the rulers of Jaipur, Jodhpur,Udaipur, Mewar, Kashmir, Punjab and other suchStates were the descendants of Raj~Janmejyaof thePandava dynasty.

There is nothing on record from which to knowabout the activities of these rulers and we find noevidence to connect anyone of these with this preciousdiamond. Though there are not a few who doubt that

~

In the Hands of the. Hindu Kings 19

Raja Porus; the ruler of the Punjab, was a directdescendant of the Pandavas, yet recent researchesreveal that this proud potentate who refused to humblehimself before Alexandar the Great, even whenvanquished, was connected with Raja Janmejya, thePandava King of Indra Prastha. This enlightened ruler,who administered his kingdom on democratic lines,was very popular among his subjects. They fought sovaliantly besides their ruler that the Grecian hordesunder Alexandar, were about to flee, when a strokeof fortune turned the scales in favour of the invaders.The elephant, which Porus was riding, got frightenedand began to run wildly and the forces thought thattheir leader was killed. They lost their ground andbegan to run helter-skelter. Porus was taken prisoner.When he was brought as such before Alexandar, heproudly inquired of his vanquished foe, 'Now whattreatment should be accorded to you? "Treatment?"retorted Porus, with his head erect, "Treatment, whichbefits a King to accord to a King." Alexandar whohad already been greatly impressed by the spirit andvalour of the King's armies was pleased with this aptand proud reply of Porus. He embraced him andbecame his friend. All his possessions were returnedto him. Thus the great and priceless diamond whichwould have fallen into the hands of the Greekconqueror and would have thus left the shores ofIndia, was saved and it remained with Raja Porus as

1. Raja Parikshat by A.B. Pushkarna, Page 160.


one of his proud possessions. This happened in325 B.C.

. From 325. B.C. to 297 B.C., Chandra GuptaMorya ruled over the major portion of India. Hisgrandson Ashoka, who extended his Empire fromNorth to South and from East to West, so that itcomprised almost the whole of India, ascended thethrone in 273 B.C. The history of his descendants isagain lost in darkness and no definite clues areobtainable. This much is known that after the deathof Ashoka, his empire was split up into smallprincipalities over which his sons and grandsons ruled.One of them named Raja Samprati, believed to beone of Ashoka's grandsons, made Ujjain his capital.The diamond in question passed on to this ruler ashis valuable possession.

With the passage of time, Ujjain changed handswith various rulers and dynasties, all of whichremained in possession of the diamond. ChandraGupta, better known as Vikramaditya, the founder ofthe Vikrama era of the Hindus, attacked Ujjain, whichwas at that time being ruled by the Shakas andannexed it to his Empire. All the jewels, includingthis famous diamond, fell into Vikramaditya's hands.After his death the Gupta dynasty was badly batteredby the continued attacks of the Huns. There was chaosin the country for a long period afterwards, exceptfor a short interval between 606 A.D. and 647 A.D.,when Raja Harsha formed some sort of a Central

In the Hands of the Hindu Kings 21

Government with a systematic administration. Hisdeath was again a signal for lawlessness and his vastkingdom was broken into pieces. Raja Lalit Dittyaestablished a new kingdom in Kashmir. Hereorganised a strong army and annexed Tibet, Kanauj,Magadh, Orissa, Assam, Gujarat, Malwa and Ujjain.His empire extended over the whole of northern India.

The break-up of one empire after another andfall of different dynasties, none of which couldestablish themselves sufficiently, failed to give to thepeople some sort of a continued government for anyappreciable length of time. An adventurer appearedhere or there, gathered a number of soldiers aroundhim, established his sway over some area and declaredhimself a King. If he was able to extend his territoryby overpowering his neighbours, he was able to formeven an empire. Lack of homogeneity and anycommon tie in the shape of some ideal or patrioticfervour prevented him to weld the various sections,clans and tribes into an organic body, able to inspireeither confidence or feelings of loyalty in the masses.People recognised no other bond than that of tribesor region and in most cases it was all a question ofpersonal loyalty to this leader or that,· according tothe degree of power he wielded to enforce his will.Petty rivalries between the different clans and theirheads, kept the country in a state of turmoil for along ·time. Might was right and anyone who couldmuster sufficient courage and gather the necessarystrength could get himself recognised as the overlord.


For a time he ruled supreme and then either in hislifetime or during that of anyone of his weaksuccessors, the intriguing elements succeeded in theirplots to bring to an end the achievement of hisambition. Chieftains changed sides with ease as onewould change partners at a game of cards and anyone who could pay was able to buy their loyalty andsupport. Thus, the Hindu rulers of Hindustan sappedtheir power and frittered away their energies infratricidal warfare. They not only weakened Hindustanas a whole, but weakened themselves too. Those whowere humbled and defeated sought to wreakvengeance by fair means or foul. When they couldnot get success from inside, they began to look forhelp outside.

Stories of the fabulous wealth of Hindustan hadreached the freebooters on its North Western Frontier.They had been casting covetous glances on thecountry for a long time; but repute of India's valorouswarriors and their feats of bravery had been keepingthem in check. When they found that Hindustan hadbecome a house divided against itself and some chiefswere inviting them for loot and plunder; they seizedthis opportunity of amassing wealth. Sultan Mahmoodof Ghazni was the first to invade the country. He didso seventeen times returning each time laden withgold, jewels and valuables of all sorts. His targets ofattacks were either the wealthy capitals of Rajputtribes or places of Hindu worship, from where hewas able to plunder booty worth crores of rupees.

In the Hands of the Hindu Kings 23

His loot of Somnath, the well-known centre of Hinduworship, yielded the richest plunder in the shape ofgold, gems and jewels.

After Mahmood of Ghazni came Mohd. Ghaurie.He was defeated by Prithvi Raj Chauhan at Tarawari.Prithvi Raj's cousin Jai Chand, who was jealous ofhis power and splendour, later on joined hands withGhaurie and became the cause of Chauhan'soverthrow. Sultan Ghaurie consolidated his power andsubsequently turned upon Jai Chand and vanquishedthis traitor. A large booty fell to him. We, however,do not hear of the famous diamond in thesediscourses. Where was this priceless diamond? Nomention is made of it in the rich plunders of eitherGhaznvi or Ghaurie. Had it fallen into their hands,certainly the fact would have been brought to lightby historians.

But no; this famous diamond never fell intotheir hands. When the invasions became frequentand the invaders' greed proved insatiable, it wassmuggled out to Malwa where Parmar dynasty wasin power. The diamond was bequeathed from oneruler to another in succession as one of their mosttreasured possessions. The last one to possess it wasRaja Ram Dev.

CHAPTER IV

WITH THE MUSLIM RULERS

Towards the close of the thirteenth century,Alauddin-Khilji ascended the throne of India aftermurdering his uncle JalaJ-ud-Din in cold blood. Hewas a man of warlike nature and loved adventure.Soon after he assumed the reins of power, he beganattacking the neighbouring principalities andkingdoms, with a view not only to extend his empire,but also to acquire riches. In the year 1306 A.D., heattacked Malwa and besieged Arangal, its Capital.The besieged armies of Malwa, defended the cityheroically and inflicted terrible loss on the invaders;but they could not hold on for long as they werehopelessly out-numbered. Finding it impossible toresist any more, they opened the gates of the city tothe invading armies.

With the Muslim Rulers 25

The rulers of Malwa had collected jewels, gold,diamonds, rubies and other precious articles of everydescription worth crores of rupees. All theaccumulated wealth of theirs thus fell to theconqueror. Alauddin was overjoyed to see himselfthe master. of such fortunes, including some preciousstones of rare qualities. Amongst th,em was thisdiamond of great repute. Amir Khusro gives a graphiCaccount of how these valuable jewels weresurrendered to Alauddin. He writes thus: "Rai LadharDeo shut himself inside the fort, like a snake overburied treasure, and called his people around him.He had fastened his hopes on a plan to place beforethe invaders an obstacle which would cause them tostumble and retrace their steps, but the Emperor'sprestige overawed him. All his courage melted awayand he was left a broken man. In his helplessness, hefirst collected in heaps, the treasure he had buriedunder stones, more heavy than can be dragged fromthe hills, in order to provide for his ransom. Next heconstructed a golden image of himself and inacknowledgement of having become a tribute-payer,he placed a golden chain round its neck and sent itthrough ambassadors whose honest word was moreunchanging than the purest gold, to the commanderof the Imperial Army.

"In his petition the Rai submitted that 'If preciousstones, gems and pearls are demanded, I have a stockof them such as the eyes of the mountains have notseen and the ears of the fish have not heard. All of


these will be scattered in the path of the ImperialOfficers.

"The boxes carried out to the victorious armyon the backs of finest of elephants, with trappingsornamented with the purest of gold and most brilliantjewels, were full of valuables and gems the excellenceof which drove the onlookers mad.

"The diamonds would have penetrated into aniron-heart like an arrow of steel and yet owing totheir delicate nature would have been shattered bythe stroke of a hammer.

"When the Rai had sent through his cleverambassadors all that he had received by way ofinheritance from his ancestors, the Ariz-i-Mamalik(Khwaja Haji) went to examine the jewels. Afterclarifying them he thus addressed the ambassadors,'Tell me, as all the gems of the Rai are excellent, hashe sent the best of them hither?'

"By the God who has created man, the finest ofsubstances" swore the ambassadors, "each of thesejewels is of a kind of which no man can calculate thevalue. And among them is a jewel unparallelled inthe whole world though, according to perfectphilosophers, such a substance cannot exist." I

I. This is the famous Koh-i-Noor which according to manywriters, including Khafi Khan, was brought by Ala-ud-Din'sarmy from the Deccan (Sec Memoirs of Babar by Erskire,p. 308). "Though logicians," to put the ambassadors' words in

With the Muslim Rulers 27

From this stage, up to the time of Babar, thehistory of the great diamond is once more lost inobscurity. It is very strange that though thephilosophers and the tribal leaders of those timeswere fully conversant with the worth and value ofthis precious stone of unrivalled brilliance and extraordinary size, no one took into his head to record itshistory. This much alone can be said that it did remainin the possession of the Sultans of Delhi. Khiljidynasty was followed by Tughlaks and they in turnwere succeeded by the Syeds. The last king of thatdynasty Ala-ud-Din Syed, who was a pious and Godfearing man, gave the reins of his kingdom into thehands of Bahlol Lodhi, Governor of the Punjab, andhimself retired to lead a life of seclusion. Thediamond was not in their possession, as we find thatwhen Ibrahim Lodhi was defeated at the battle ofPanipat, it was recovered from Agra where it hadbeen deposited by Raja Vikramaditya of Gwalior.

How did it pass from the hands of the Sultans ofDelhi is not known. There is no record to throw lighton this episode. In fact there are some who believethat it did not pass into the hands of Tughlaks at all,because we find sufficiently detailed records of thetimes of Mohammed Tughlak and his successors.

a different form,"declare that there is no such thing as a uniquesubstance, except the Divine Being, yet the Koh-i-Noor diamondhas no peer and stands in a class by itself. (You cannot find adiamond to match it in the whole world." (translation)


When Amir Taimoor descended on the plains of Indiawith his gangs of freebooters and reached up to Delhiduring the reign of Mahmood Tughlak, he plunderedDelhi for full five days. There was not a single housewhich was not broken into and ransacked. The streetsof Delhi were flooded with the blood of manyinnocent men, women and children who wereslaughtered in cold blood. For fifteen days Taimoorstayed in Delhi and during all this time his armieswere busy in loot and plunder, all of which washanded to their leader. All the jewels, gold andvaluables of the Royal family, the chieftains and thecourtiers as well as of the common citizens, fell intohis hands. Had this diamond been in the possessionof the ruler of Delhi at that time, it could not haveescaped falling into the hands of Taimoor. There aresufficiently detailed accounts available of the loot ofDelhi and the invasion of Taimoor and they areauthenticated too, but we find no mention of thediamond. From this it can be logically concludedthat it was not in the possession of the Tughlaks. Itis just possible that having heard of Taimoor'sinvasion, Mahmood might have passed it on to someone of his Rajput allies, but it would be a mereconjecture as we find no historical evidence tosupport it.

CHAPTER V

KOH-I-NOOR LEAVES INDIA

Abrahim Lodhi, who succeeded his fatherSikandar, was very unpopular on account of his crueldisposition. He was vain, stubborn and suspicious. Ina very short time, his own courtiers became tired ofhim, turned against him and sent an invitation toBabar, the king of Kabul, to invade India. They toldhim of the fabulous riches of Hindustan and held outprospects of an extremely rich booty. Babar wastempted by these offers and hopes and crossed theIndus with twelve thousand tried soldiers and sevenhundred guns. Abrahim called one lac army with onethousand elephants and the two armies met at Panipatin 1526 A.D. A very fierce battle began. The elephantsof Abrahim got frightened by the explosion of theguns of Babar and began to run helter-skelter. Thiscaused panic and the armies of Lodhi began to flee


in all directions. He himself was killed in action andBabar came out victorious. He declared himself .Emperor of India.

In this battle, Raja Vikramaditya of Gwaliorfought on the side of Abrahim Lodhi. Before goingto the battlefield, he sent all his jewels to the fort ofAgra of which he was the Qiladar. Vikramadityahimself was slain in the battlefield.· When this sadnews reached Agra, his family and nobles preparedto flee from Agra to some place of security; but beforethey could put their plans into action, all the roadswere blockaded by the soldiers. Humayun, the son ofBabar, had been deputed by his father to hasten toAgra, in order to take possession of all the wealthand riches of the Raja. He seems to have got clue ofthe fact that valuable treasure was hidden in the fortof Agra. Before Humayun reached the place, hisvictorious soldiers had begun to plunder and loot. Hewas a man of benevolent disposition and a soft temper.He at once issued strict orders that no one was to bemolested in any way. He treated the women andchildren of the late Raja in a most courteous andkind manner and assured them that they would notbe maltreated in any way. As a token of theirappreciation of this graceful action of Humayun, theypresented to him many valuable diamonds and jewels.Amongst them was included this historical diamond.Humayun made a present of this wonderful gift toBabar.

Koh-i-Noor Leaves India 31

Another view is that the diamond was made overto Humayun by the mother of Abrahim Lodhi.According to this version, Abrahim was slain on thebattlefield of Panipat and Humayun was deputed totake possession of the treasure of the late King. Heransacked the whole of the Royal Treasury, but didnot come across this unique diamond. All thehousehold servants and treasury officers were closelyquestioned by the Prince on the point, but all of themkept silent. They were threatened with direconsequences, but none came forward even then togive him the requisite information. At last one of theservants pointed his fingers towards the Royal Palace.When Humayun entered it, he found ladies of theRoyal family sobbing and weeping. Humane, as theyoung Prince was, he could not bear this patheticsight His heart melted and tears began to trickledown his cheeks. He assured the ladies that theirhonour would be safe in his hands and he wouldlook after them in a way worthy of their high rank.The afflicted ladies of the Royal household were thusconsoled and composed themselves.

It was then that Humayun asked the mother ofAbrahim Lodhi to give him the diamond for whichhe had come. Without speaking a word, the old ladywent inside a room and brought with her a gold boxwhich she gave to the young prince with tremblinghands. Humayun opened the box and from inside hegot out the diamond wrapped in many layers of velvet


Beholding the extraordinary brilliance of the jewel,Humayun was dazed.

This story, however, is not supported by historicalevidence and all the authorities support the versionthat it was recovered from the Agra Fort, occupiedby the family of Raja Vikramaditya of Gwalior.Writing about it, Babar thus says in his Memoirs:"Apparently it weighs eight miskats.' Humayunoffered it to me as a 'peshkash' when I arrived atAgra and I just gave it back to him as a present."

In 1530, Humayun fell seriously ill. No amountof medical aid was of any avail. When no hope of hisrecovery was left, one Mir Ata Baqa suggested thatthe dearest possession of Babar should be sacrificed

I. The value of this priceless diamond has been estimatedby the writers according to their own peculiar ways, but all ofthem are agreed as to its rarity. Some say that its value isequivalent to the price of one and a half day's food of the wholeworld. Others put it at the daily expenses of the whole world forone day.

As to its weight, Memoirs of Babar put it at 8 Miskats andone Miskat is equal to 40 ratties. According to Farishta, oneMiskat is equal to 28 ratties. So according to him, the weightcomes to 224 ratties; 320 ratties according to some. 320 rattiesare equal to 187 carats. Gorshia de Orta says that a carat isequal to 4 grains and a ratti is equal to 3 grains. Tavernier,however, thinks tl,·,t a ratti is equal to 7/8 of a carat. Anotherview is that carat ...quals 3/8 rattis or 3 grains and 156 caratsmake one ounce or 3 tolas. Whatever be the difference in thevarious versions as to the weight and value of this diamond, itcannot be denied that it was a unique prize that fell into the'hands of the Moghuls.


to save the life of the Prince. Babar said that hisdearest possession was his son and even dearer thanhim was his own life. So he would sacrifice his ownlife to save that of his son. This sent a wave ofdisappointment and depression amongst his courtiers.They conferred amongst themselves and suggestedto the Emperor that what Baqa meant was that someworldly possession dearest and most precious to himshould be sacrificed. They said that the most preciouspossession of the Emperor was the priceless diamond,which fell into his hands from Abrahim Lodhi. Babar,however, did not agree and maintained that his mostprecious possession was his own life.

The story says that Babar went round the bed ofhis sick son several times, then prayed to God in amost devout manner to spare the life of his son andto take away his own instead. From that very momentHumayun began to recover and Babar's sicknessbegan to grow from bad to worse. Babar died andHumayun recovered.

From the time when this unique diamond cameinto the possession of Humayun, it emerged out ofobscurity and came into limelight for ever. From thisperiod up to the present time, there is an unbrokenchain of events connected with it and there is nodearth of historical evidence to support the variousinteresting episodes with which its chequered careeris re?lete. Humayun was very fond of this invaluablepossession and never parted with it, even in his darkest


~:lYs. An interesting story is related by the well-knownhistorian Abul Fazal in his 'Akbarnama' about theattempts made to make him part with it. Sher ShahSuri who had established a strong kingdom of hisown, decided to oust Humayun out of power with aview to extend his own empire in the whole ofNorthern India. His army of Afghans gave muchtrouble to the Moghul Emperor who was routed' inhis last stand against the forces of Sher Shah in theyear 1540 A.D. Humayun fled towards Multan as adisappointed man. His empire, which was built byhis late father and himself, had slipped out of hishands and he was now a fugitive clinging to the vainhope of securing help from any ruler of some Rajputclan or from the Muslim Governor of Sind. He wassorely disappointed in this, because no one liked toincur the displeasure of the Afghan army which wasbusy in pursuing the fugitive king. He was fleeingfrom one place to another for the sake of his dearlife. He entered the domain of Marwar which wasbeing ruled by Raja Maldev at that time. He hadhoped to get some help from him, but when Humayunreached his State, he found that the Raja wasfavourably disposed towards Sher Shah, who havingdefeated Humayun, had now come to be looked at asthe Emperor of India. Not only did the Raja refuse toside with him, but he added insult to injury by tryingto deprive him of this diamond. Taking advantage ofhis miserable plight, the Raja offered to buy thepriceless diamond from him and actually sent one of


his courtiers, disguised as a diamond merchant, tostrike a bargain with Humayun. When he presentedhimself in the camp of the fugitive king and madeknown the purpose of his visit, Humayun wasenraged. He, however, controlled his feelings andretorted : "Such precious gems cannot be obtainedby purchases; either they fall to one by the arbitramentof the flashing sword, which is an expression ofDivine Will or else they come through the grace ofmighty monarchs." Hearing this, the disguiseddiamond merchant quietly departed. After this episodeHumayun lost all hopes of regaining his empire. Sohe left the country along with the diamond which forthe first time in its history left the soil of India.

His way lay through Sistan and Herat. Afterenduring many a hardship on the way, Humayun atlast reached Persia with a few followers who remainedfaithful to the last. The Shah of Persia received himcordially and extended to him his royal hospitalitywhich Humayun enjoyed for full fourteen years. ShahTehmasp showed him kindness and treated him in amanner which made such a deep impression on thefugitive king that he, as a token of his gratitude,presented him a number of invaluable jewels includinghis most treasured possession, the historical Koh-iNoor. The price of these jewels and diamonds morethan repaid the total expenses incurred by the Shahduring all these fourteen long years.


The Shah was very much pleased to have thisextraordinary diamond but seems to have taken nofancy for the same. May be that because he got thepriceless gift without any ado or may be that he couldnot realize that the diamond was the only one of itskind in existence, he did not keep it with himself anddeposited it in his treasury where it remained for along time.

In those days, the King of Persia being a Shiaruler, was regarded as their head by the rulers ofAhmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda; threeprincipalities which had been built on the ruins ofthe well-known Bahamani Kingdom of the Deccan'.The rulers of these principalities were Shias and assuch they were always harassed by the Sunni Emperorof Delhi. The Moghuls were always anxious to crushthese small principalities and attempts to do so lastedup to the reign of Aurangzeb who was at last able torealize the dreams of his ancestors.

Thus, the Shah of Persia was not only regardedas the religious Head of the Shias of theseprincipalities, but was also looked upon as an ally intimes of need. So very cordial and close relationsexisted between them. Ambassadors and presents wereexchanged between them. In 1547, the Shah sent onAqua Islam 'Mehtar Jamal' as an ambassador toBurhan Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar (Deccan).Through him presents of jewels and diamonds werealso sent and it is believed that amongst them was


the diamond given by Humayun to Shah Tehmasp.Thus it returned to India, the land of its origin. Thisis corroborated by Farishta in his account of BurhanNizam Shah.

C H A·P T E R VI

BACK IN THE HANDS OFTHE MOGHULS

Mir Jumla, a diamond dealer of great repute inPersia, came to India in connection with his business.He was a master of his trade and possesseduncommon knowledge about diamonds and diamondmines. The fact that India was reputed for its diamondmines and diamonds of unrivalled lustre andbrill~ance, caught his fancy and he landed on theshores of this historic country in pursuit of his trade.Destiny, however, was weaving another pattern forhim, for even though a foreigner, he was destined toplay an important part in the i~triguing politics ofthis country. .

Some people have erroneously identified himwith Mehtar Jamal about whom we have read in theprevious Chapter. The confusion is caused by asimilarity in the two names. We, however, find that

Back in the Hands of the Moghuls 39

the latter was sent to the Court of Nizam Shah ofAhmednagar as an ambassador by the Shah of Persiain 1547. Of Mir lumla we hear for the first time inthe forties of the seventeenth century. He lived up tothe year 1663. If we take him as the ambassador toNizam Shah, then this would mean that he lived upto 150 years of age, which in itself is sufficient toprove that the two were not identical persons. Thislongevity, though not impossible, can safely beregarded as improbable, taking into consideration theaverage longevity of those days, which was s9methingabout 68 years.

Mir Jumla was a man of parts. He possessedwonderful talents both for civil and militaryadministration. Besides, by means of his fabulouswealth which he had acquired as a. diamond merchant,he became very influential at the Court and soon gotinterested in the court intrigues. Sultan AbdullahQutab Shah of Golconda was so much impressed byhis attainments that he appointed him as his PrimeMinister. He acquitted himself very admirably in thatpost of great responsibility and the State took veryrapid strides towards progress. Mir lumIa, side byside with his administration of the State, did not failto mind his own private business, which he developedtaking advantage of his high position. He was put insole charge of the working of the diamond mines ofGolconda and hi§ deep knowledge of this trade gavehim great opportunities which none else could exploit.In additio~, he was granted vast Jagirs by the Sultan.


This also gave him a chance to improve his financialposition. In a short time, he became possessed offabulous riches. With his wealth increased hisinfluence, and people began to look up to him ratherthan to the Sultan for the redress of their grievances.This made his master jealous of him and he conspiredto blind him. The wily minister, however, was not tobe caught napping. This plot to blind him wasreported to him and before it could mature, Mir Jumlawas out of the Sultan's reach. The latter was enragedwhen he discovered that the bird had flown. He washelpless to do anything as the minister had gone outof his jurisdiction. Mir Jumla's vast lands and valuableproperty were all confiscated.

During this period, Aurangzeb was appointed theGovernor of Deccan by his father Shah Jehan, therenowned Moghul Emperor, who has made his nameimmortal by constructing the famous Taj Mahal. Theyoung Governor had always been entertaining designsagainst the independent States of Deccan. In thebreach between Golconda and his able Minister MirJumla, he saw his own opportunity. He tried to winover the latter to his side and held before himattractive hopes of his rising at the Moghul Courtwith all his intelligence and administrative experience.He readily agreed to serve the Imperial Governmentand as a first favour from the Moghul Court, he gotback his confiscated property fr<?m the Sultan ofGolconda, on whom great pressure was put for thispurpose by the Emperor himself.


Coupled with his remarkable ability andconsummate skill as an administrator of great parts,Mir Jumla brought with him a large collection ofdiamonds and jewels, which was the talk of theMoghul Court. In his 'Voyages des lndes', Thevenat,the well-known voyager says: "Mir Jumla possessed20 maunds or 408 Dutch lires weight of diamonds.He had acquired these diamonds when, at the headof the army of Golconda, he made war with the Kingof Bijapur against Bisnagar. Bernier, however, is ofthe opinion that he acquired his fabulous wealth inmany other ways too. He caused the diamond mineswhich he alone had got on lease under many borrowednames to be wrought with extraordinary diligence sothat people discovered of nothing but the riches ofMir Jumla and of the plenty of his diamonds, whichwere reckoned out by sacks."

On his arrival at the court of Shah Jehan, -MirJumla was received with great honour and distinction.At this reception, he presented the Koh-i-Noordiamond to the Emperor. Thus it once again cameback into the possession of the Moghul Emperor.Describing the ceremony of Mir Jumla's presentationat the Moghul Court, William Jessop, an agent of theEast India Company at Surat, who was at that momentpresent at Agra on a business errand, remarks:- "MirJumla, upon his arrival into the presence of the King,was courteously received by him, entertained andmade Dewan and was given by His Majesty two


elephants, 202 lackeys and five lacs of rupees for hisexpenses, he presenting the King with a diamond uncut weighing 160 ratties (incorrect weight) besidesother precious stones of great value, which he stillcontinues to do." The letter in which this descriptionis given is dated 15th August 1656.

Another description of this event is given byBernier in his travels into the Moghul Empire. Hesays "Jumla, who had by his address con'Prived toobtain frequent invitations at the Court of Shah Jehan;proceeded at length to Agra and carried the mostmagnificent presents in the hope of inducing theMoghul Emperor to declare war against the Kings ofGolconda and Bijapur and against the Portuguese. Itwas on this occasion that he presented Shah Jehanwith that celebrated diamond which has beengenerally deemed unparallelled in size and beauty.He dialected with earnestness on the benefits whichwould accrue from the conquest of Golconda, whoseprecious stones were surely more deserving of hisconsideration than the rocks of Kandhar, whither theMoghul Emperor was about to lead an army; hismilitary operations in that Kingdom ought not tocease, he said, until the conquest of his armiesextended to Cape Comorin."

Another distinguished writer, Mohammad Wards,who is regarded as an authority on the third decadeof Shah Jehan's reign, writes thus in the third volumeof the famous "Badshahnama" : "On the 18th of Safar


1066 A.C. (17th December 1655 A.D.), MirMohammad said that Mil' Jumla 'Jumlatul Mulki',Muazzam Khan, the newly appointed Prime Minister,offered to Shah Jehan as a 'peshkash' precious jewelsincluding a large diamond weighing 9 tanks or 216surkhs, the price of which was fixed by the Royalorder at Rs. 2,15,000."

The historic diamond was consigned in the RoyalTreasury and after the death of Shah Jehan, it passedon into the hands of Aurangzeb who succeeded tothe throne of his father after putting him into prisonand slaying his two elder brothers. Aurangzeb wasnot fond of pomp and show like his father; so thisdiamond of unrivalled beauty and splendour remainedconsigned into the coffers of the Moghul Treasury·for the major period of the time. Tavernier had anopportunity to see it and gives an interestingdescription of it. He says : "On the first day ofNovember 1665, I went to the palace to take leave ofthe Emperor but he said that he did not wish me todepart without having seen his jewels and witnessingthe splendour of his State. Early in the morning ofthe next day, five or six of the Emperor's officersand others on behalf of Nawab Jafar Khan announcedthat the Emperor wished to see me.

"Immediately on my arrival at the Court, thetwo custodians of the Royal jewels, of whom I havespoken elsewhere, accompanied me into the presenceof His Majesty and after I had made him the


customary salutations, they conducted me into a smallapartment, which is at one of the ends of the Hall,where the Emperor was seated on his throne andwhence he was able to see us. I found in the apartmentAIdI Khan, Chief of the Jewel Treasury who, whenhe saw us, commanded four of the imperial eunuchsto bring the jewels which were carried in two largewooden trays, lacquered with gold leaf and coveredwith small clothes made expressly for the purposeone of red and the other of green embroidered velvet.·After these trays were uncovered, and all the pieceshad been counted three times over, a list was preparedby three scribers who were present; for the Indiansdo everything with great circumspection and patience,and when they see anyone who acts with precipitationor becomes angry, they gaze at him without sayinganything and smile as if he was a madman.

"The first piece which Akil Khan placed in myhands was the great diamond, which is a round rose,very light at one side. At the brasal margin it has asmall notch and flaw inside. Its water is beautifuland it weighs 3191;1 ratties, which are equal to 280of our carats-the ratti being 7/8 of our carat. WhenMir Jumla who betrayed the King of Golconda, hismaster, presented this stone to Shah Jehan to whoseside he attached himself, it was then in the rough andweighed 900 ratties which are equivalent to 7871;1carats and it had several flames.


"If this stone had been in Europe, it would havebeen treated in a different manner, for some goodpieces would have been taken from it, and it wouldhave weighed more than it does instead of which ithas been all ground down. It was the Sicer HortensioBorgio, a Venetian, who cut it, for which he wasbadly reprimanded for when it was cut, he wasreproached with having spoilt the stone, which oughtto have retained greater weight and instead of payinghim for his work, the Emperor fined him Rs. 10,000and would have taken more if he had possessed it. Ifthis Sicer Hortensio had understood his trade, hewould have been able to take a large piece from thisstone, without doing injury to the Emperor's jeweland without having had so much trouble in grindingit, but he was not a very accomplished diamondcutter."

There is, however, a considerable differencebetween the history and accounts of this diamondgiven by European writers of this period. They givedifferent descriptions and varied weights. There isalso a great diversity as regards many an importantfact. The story given above as to the cutting of thediamond is simply unbelievable. Tavernier, Bernierand Maurice, all refer to different men who cut thediamond. Strangely enough, we find no support forthis story in the contemporary Indian chronicles ofthat period who have given authenticated and accurateaccounts of that period, some of which are alsodirectly connected with this historic diamond. If the


stone had been spoiled by a European cutter, asdescribed above, it would have surely found a mentionin the history of Shah Jehan's reign.

There is another reason why this story ought notto be taken as historically correct. It has been admittedby French Bran in accounts that Indians were muchmore skilful cutters of diamonds than Europeans whowere paid smaller remunerations for their jobs due totheir lesser knowledge of the art. In particular, hesays that Hortensio was bad at his trade and a crudecutter of diamonds. How could then the Emperor haveentrusted the difficult task to a foreigner in preferenceto an Indian cutter with superior knowledge andspecially to one who was so unskilled that he grounddown the great diamond from 787V2 carats to 280carats without thinking of cleaving a few pieces fromit. This story of cutting the diamond, therefore, doesnot stand to reason and appears to be incorrect. Infact, the whole history about this historical diamondgiven by these European writers is not verydependable. The reason seems to be that beingignorant of the Indian language, they had to dependon others for their information. They accepted allthat came to their knowledge as· correct withouthaving the means to separate grain from husk.Tavernier has also given a drawing of the diamond.It does not seem to bean exact one and differs widelyfrom the descriptions of the diamond given indifferent places and also from the diamond when it


was presented to Queen Victoda, before it was cut.It appears that this drawing was made" by him frommemory, long after he had actually seen it while inIndia. Along with this drawing Tavernier gives thefollowing description of the diamond :

"This diamond belongs to the great Moghul, whodid me the honour to have it shown to me with allhis other jewels. You see presented here in its formafter having been cut and I was allowed to weigh it,I ascertained that it weighed 319Y2 ratties which areequivalent to 279.9/16 of our carats. When in therough it weighed, as I have elsewhere said, 907 rattiesor 793.5/8 carats. This stone is of the same form asif one cut an egg through the middle."

This operation may be performed in two wayseither transversely or longitudively. From the figuregiven by Tavernier, it appears that it was cuttransversely. When it was presented to Queen Victoriait was of the shape of a half egg, cut longitudively.This appears to be another flaw in the descriptiongiven by him. He assigns to it a value of 11,723,228livres, 14 gols and 3 lires (£ 879,245-18s.-IY2d.the livre being equal to 1.6d. and the gol to 9d.) Hehas given the method by which the value of thediamonds was ascertained. It being interesting, is reproduced below in translation :

"It is first necessary to ascertain the weight ofthe diamond and next, to see if it is perfect, whetherit is a thick stone, square shaped and "having all its


angles perfect, whether it is a beautiful white waterand bright, without points and without flaws., If it isa stone cut into facets, which is ordinarily called arose, it is necessary to observe whether the form istruly round or oval, whether the stone is well-spreadand whether it is not a lumpy stone and moreover,whether it is of uniform water and is without pointsand flaws, as I described the thick stone.

"A stone of this quality weighing one carat isworth 180 livres (£11. 5s.) Supposing it is requiredto know the value of a stone of 12 carats of the samedegree of perfection, this is how it is ascertained :

Square the 12, this amounts to 144, next multiply144 by 150 i.e. the price of one carat and it amountsto 12 x 12 x 150 = 21,600 livres. 1 This is the priceof 12 carats.

"But it is not enough to know the price of onlyperfect diamonds; one must know also the price ofthose which are not so. This is ascertained by thesame rule and on the basis of this price of a stone ofone carat. This is an example. Suppose a diamond of15 carats is not perfect, the water being not good orthe stone badly shaped, or full of spots and flaws. Adiamond of the same nature of the weight of onecarat would not be, worth more than 60 or 80 or 100

I. i.e. £ 1,620. Whatever may have been the case, it is nowapparent that no hard and fast rule can be given to determine theselling value of diamonds, as it is subject to very great variations.


livres at the most, according to the beauty of thediamond. You must then square the weight of thediamond, i.e. 15 carats and next multiply the product125 by the value of the stone of 1 carat, which mayfor example be 80 livres and the product which is10,000 livres is the price of the diamond of 15 carats.

"It is easy to see from this the great differencein value between a perfect stone and one which isnot so. For if this stone of 15 carats had been perfect,the second multiplication would be by 150, which isthe price of a perfect of one carat and then it wouldamount not to 10,000 (18,000) livres but to 33,750livres i.e. 23,750 (15,750) livres, more than animperfect diamond of the same weight."

CHAPTER VII

NADIR SHAH GRABSKOH-I-NOOR

Aurangzeb was a bigoted ruler. He bade goodbyeto the policy of religious tolerance followed soadvantageously by Akbar the Great. The Rajputwarriors of Central India and other powerful Hindu·chieftains, who had been drawn round the MoghulThrone, attracted by the refreshingly liberal outlookof that illustrious monarch, were seething withdiscontent under the iron heels of Aurangzeb. Hisintolerance and fanatical outlook were so pronouncedthat he took the extreme st~p of levying Jazia on hisHindu subjects. It was a tax inflicted on them forfollowing a religion other than the one followed bythe Monarch. He had already alienated the loyalty ofthe Hindus by openly defiling their places of worshipand constructing mosques over the ruins ('f theirtemples. The levying of 'Jazia' proved the last ~traw

Nadir Shah Grabs Koh-i-Noor 51

on the camel's back and there was open revolt inSouthern India, led by that skilful hilly warrior,Shivaji, who, by his dramatic and telling blowsinflicted on the great Moghul Empire, started amovement of Hindu Renaissance which gatheredmomentum and ultimately assumed the form of atiny Marhatta Empire, which sprang up around Poonaand Satara.

Aurangzeb tried his best to nip the evil in thebud and sent his choicest armies under tried andtrusted generals to crush this 'Mountain Rat,' as hecontemptuously called Shivaji; but the . latter'smasterly str~y, surprising courage and swiftnessof action Juoke all the Imperial designs. Shivaji was,in fact, a symbol of the general discontent whichprevailed and the standard of revolt which he raised,soon spread with such amazing rapidity that evenbefore the death of Aurangzeb, the disintegration ofthe mighty Moghul Empire had distinctly set in.

He was followed on the Imperi~l Throne by aset of weak and unworthy successors who made noattempt to regain the lost ground. Steeped indebauchery, they cared not· a jot for the gloriousEmpire which Babar had so heroically founded:,Humayun so bravely defended and Akbar so wiselyconsolidated. It was now breaking to pieces beforetheir eyes. Internal intrigues, family jealousies anddisloyalties of Court nobles, all combined to close aglorious chapter in the history of India. At the time,


of which we are now talking, the occupant of theDelhi Throne was Mohammed Shah Rangila, calledso on account of his gay manners. He loved ease,pleasure and joys of life. Little did he care for thedangers from within and without. He had no timefor them.

At that time, one Nadir Kuli, a shepherd ofPersia, gathered strength and by virtue of his qualitiesas a leader and fighter, attracted a large number ofrobbers and freebooters by his side which he laterorganised into a powerful army. He had no difficultyin snatching the throne of Persia from the weak handsof the Safwid King and proclaiming himself as Kingof Persia in his place. Consolidating his power assuch, he entered the borders of Afghanistan andconquered Ghazni and Kandhar. Some defeatedAfghan nobles crossed into India and sought the helpof Mohammed Shah. They warned him against thegreed of the 'Shepherd King' and cautioned himagainst the covetous glances which he was casting atIndia, the fame of whose jewels and riches hadtravel.ed far and wide. The gay king did not pay anyheed to the Afghan nobles. "Is he in Kandhar?" saidthe pleasure-loving king, "then there is nothing toworry. Kandhar is far off." And he plunged into hisown pursuits of pleasure.

Nadir was losing no time. He had entered theborders of Hindustan. Peshawar fell to him like aripe fruit. Then came the turn of Lahore. When the


news of the capture of Lahore was conveyed to KingMohammed Shah, he again hie-coughed: "Lahore!So Nadir Shah has reached Lahore. Nothing to worryabout; Lahore is as yet far off." And so no seriouspreparations were made by anybody to checkmatethe rising tide of the Persian hordes. With lightningspeed they advanced and reached near Delhi inJanuary 1739. In the plains of Kamal, about 50 milesfrom the Imperial capital, a nominal battle was givento the invader by the Moghul armies under Nazamul-Mulk and Saadit Khan, in which the latter werebadly routed. Mohammed Shah had no means oforganising defence, and finding resistance impossible,he made an offer of capitulation, which was readilyaccepted by the invaders. Nadir Shah entered Delhiwith great pomp and was conveyed to the ImperialPalaces. He was struck by the grandeur of the MoghulCourt and looked at every article in the Palace withcuriosity, which he made no attempts to conceal. Hewas much pleased with Mohammed Shah Rangilawho fed and feasted the conquerors on a lavish scaleand Nadir Shah expressed his intention of leavingthe Moghul Empire to Mohammed Shah.

The Moghul king thought that he had escapedlightly but that was not to be. A few days later, somePersian soldiers were killed in a skirmish with theMoghul army men. Nadir Shah came out of the Palaceto enquire into the incident when a few stones werepelted at him. This aroused th~ worst ire of the Persianking and he unsheathed his sword as a token of his


orders for a general massacre. No sooner did thePersian soldiers get the orders of their angry king,than they began to indulge in killing and looting

I indiscriminately. Everywhere there was fire and blood.Innocent men, women and children were slaughteredin thousands and literally did the gutters of Delhiflow with blood. Houses were broken into, lootedand burnt. This went on for full nine hours and aboutone hundred and fifty thousand people lost their lives.God knows for how long would this carnage havelasted, but the humble appeals of King MohammadShah, (who with tears trickling down his cheeks, andon bended knees, pleaded on behalf of his innocentand helpless subjects) pacified the wrath of the mightymonarch. Granting the humble prayers of thevanquished Moghul Emperor, Nadir Shah put backhis sword in his sheath and soon the general slaughterceased. I

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Mohammad Shahpresented to him all the jewels of the royal treasury,gold, riches and countless objects of great value. Inaddition to all this, the famous Peacock Throne, the

1. Some writers believe that Nadir Shah withdrew his ordersof general slaughter in Delhi on the entreaties of a beautiful andbrave Rajput girl named Sitara, whom Nadir loved passionately.Sitara was one of the fifty young and charming girls presentedto Nadir Shah at Kamal after his victory over the Moghul armiesin 1739. Nadir fell in love with her at the first sight and marriedher in the camp after a brief ceremony.


pride of the Moghul Emperors, was given to him. Itis stated by an authority that King Nadir Shah gotfrom King Mohammad Shah Rangila the followingarticles:

1. Gold and Silver Plates andCash worth:

2. Jewels worth :

3. The famous Peacock Thronealong with nine other Thronesand weapons and utensils, allgarnished with precious stones :

4. Rich Manufactures :

5. Canons, Stones and Furniture:

Rupees

30 Crores.

25 Crores.

9 Crores.

2 Crores.

4 Crores.

Total : Rs. 70 Crores

Besides this, Nadir was presented with 300elephants, 10,000 horses and 10,000 camels. Andabove every thing else he got the historical diamond,the pride of India. How it fell into his hands is notvery clear as there are different versions about it.Bosworth relates a rather interesting story about it.He says that Mohammad Shah gave all he had to hisconqueror except that diamond. All the treasures wereemptied, but the diamond was not there. MohammadShah used to carry it with him in his turban. Thesecret was known only to a selected few including an


eunuch in the Harem of the Emperor. To win thefavour of Nadir Shah, the disloyal eunuch betrayedMohammad Shah and whispered the secret to theformer. Nadir Shah, who was an extremely cleverman, hit out a plan to deprive the unfortunate monarchof his last valuable possession.

He declared that being pleased with thehospitality and generosity of the fallen king, he haddecided to give back his Empire to him as a token ofhis pleasure. To celebrate this event, he ordered publicrejoicings. A Durbar was held where thisannouncement was made after which the two Kingsretired. When they were alone, Nadir Shahaffectionately embraced Mohammad Shah and saidthat they had become brothers as a token of which hedesired to exchange turbans, 2 wi~h him. There waslittle pause between word and action. Nadir took theturban off Mohammad Shah and placed it on his headand gave his own in return to the amazed monarch.The latter was taken aback at what had happened;but he was helpless. He showed no signs of emotionor excitement. His composed behaviour made NadirShah doubtful and he thought that the bloody eunuchhad played a hoax with him. To be sure, he hastenedto his private apartment and searched the turban forthe coveted diamond and lo! it was before him in all

2. It is a well-known oriental custom. The exchange ofturbans is regarded as a solemn ceremony indicating the creationof ties of brotherhood. sincerity and life-long friendship.


its brilliance. Nadir was so much struck withamazement at its brightness that he exclaimed inwonder: "KOH-I-NOOR" which means 'Mountainof Light'. Henceforth this historic diamond came tobe known by this name.

Other historians, headed by Syed Abdul Latif,do not agree with this story and regard it as baseless.According to them, the diamond was presented toKing Nadir Shah by Mohammad Shah Rangila as atoken of his gratitude to him for having restored hisEmpire to him. But all the authorities agree that whenNadir Shah beheld its brilliance, he exclaimed :"KOH-I-NOOR".

After remaining in Delhi for full 59 days, theconqueror departed for Persia and for the second timein history, Koh-i-Noor went out of India to pursue itschequered career. How true were the words ofHumayun, that "such precious gems cannot beobtained by purchases; either they fall to one by thearbitrament of the flashing sword, which is anexpression of the Divine Will, or else they comethrough the grace of mighty monarchs." ShahTahmasp got it through the grace of a monarch(Humayun); but Nadir Shah got it through his tlashingsword from Mohammed Shah Rangila.

CHAPTER VIII

KOH-I-NOOR BRINGS MISERYTO NADIR SHAH'S DYNASTY

Nadir Shah did not live long to enjoy the fruitsof his fabulous loot from India. He was cruel,heartless and ruled with an iron hand. This was toomuch for his nobility who could not bear all this.They revolted in large numbers. Nadir Shah quelledthese uprisings and while busy doing so, he wasassassinated by his nephew Ali Kuli Khan, whoproclaimed himself as King under the title of AliShah. It was in the year 1747 A.D. He was, however,a weak man and remained unsuccessful in knittingtogether the revolting nobility. The Kajurs becamemasters of the northern provinces while the southernparts fell into the hands of the Zands. Ahmad ShahAbdali, a distinguished general of Nadir Shah, turnedhis attention towards Afghanistan and captured Heratand Kandhar. From there he marched on Kabul which

Koh-;-Noor Brings Misery 59

easily fell into his hands without much resistance.Ahmad Shah proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan.

But where was the Koh-i-Noor? In whose handsit fell? Again, we have different versions about itAccording to Messrs. Thompson and Kippling l it fellinto the hands of one Karim Khan, a general of theZand tribe. After his death it passed on to his brother'ssuccessors, Jafar Khan and Kutab Ali Khan. Mellisonand Sykes, however, do not agree with this version.They maintain that it was Ahmad Shah who cameinto the possession of this diamond. They aver thatat the time of the death of Nadir Shah, a convoy wastravelling to Tehran with very valuable booty thathad fallen to Nadir Shah in India. Ahmad Shahintercepted this convoy and took possession of allthe jewels, gold and other valuables. This convoyincluded the coveted Koh-i-Noor which thus fell intothe hands of Ahmad Shah Abdali.

Syed Mohammad Latif does not agree with boththese versions. He is of the opinion that afterassassinating Nadir Shah, Ali Kuli Khan became itsproud possessor. It is very difficult to say which oneof the above stories is more credible than the others.

Ali Shah, as we have stated above, was a weakmonarch. After a short span of an inglorious reign,he was overpowered by his own cousin Ibrahim, whonot only captured his throne, but put out his eyes in

I. History of Lahore: By Syed Mohd. Latif (Page 72-73)


a most cruel manner. Before long, Ibrahim also metthe same fate and was butchered by his own men. Hewas succeeded by Adil Shah, whose first act as kingwas that he put to death all possible claimants to thethrone. So all those connected with the late king werekilled with the exception of a small boy named ShahRukh Mirza. He was the grandson of Nadir Shah.The late king's eldest son was married to Fatima,daughter of Shah Hussain and thus the only one whowas saved from the cruel hands of Adil Shah was atthe same time the only rightful claimant to the throneof the Persian conqueror. Adil Shah gave out thatthis boy was amongst those killed; so that in theabsence of any rightful claimant to the throne, othernobles might accept him as their king, without anydemur. The chief reason which weighed with him insparing the life of this boy was that if the worsehappened and the people insisted on having someone from the family of Nadir Shah as king, he wouldput forward this little boy and make him a nominalking under his own guardianship. By this means hewanted to keep the real power in his own hands. Butman proposes and God disposes. The usurper did notlive long to see his designs completed. He too wasmurdered and Shah Rukh Mirza was proclaimed asthe boy King. He came into possession of the ImperialTreasury which included the Koh-i-Noor. He was veryfond of jewels which fell to him and lest some onemightier than himself grab them, he concealed themin a secret place which was known only to him.

Koh-i-Noor Brings Misery 61

In the year 1749, Ahmad Shah Abdali, who hadestablished himself in Afghanistan, turned his eyeson the Persian territories of his late master. He waswell aware of the weak condition of the Persian kingwho had no hold on his men and armies. He advancedtowards Meshad and Herat and had no difficulty inoverthrowing the forces of Shah Rukh Mirza. He alsoannexed the adjoining territories. Hcrat was added tohis own empire while Siestan was 'Cllilstituted intoanother province under the rule of Shah Rukh whoagreed to acknowledge the overlordship of the Afghanruler. It is said that as a token of gratitude for thefavour shown to him by his conqueror, he presentedKoh-i-Noor to Ahmad Shah Abdali.

He remained in possession of a number ofvaluable jewels which, as we have said before, hehad hidden somewhere. His great love for them costhim dearly subsequently when the founder of theKhagir dynasty, Agha Mohammad Khan, hearing ofthe valuable possessions of this unfortunate princedecided to deprive him of all of them. He marchedon Meshad in 1776 in a rather quaint manner. Itappears that in those times treachery of any sort ordeception by adventurers and conquerors was a validweapon for gaining their ends. All these cases werethose of the end justifying the means and it is rathera sad commentary on the standard of morality ofthose times and of those people who threw all finerfeelings and higher ideals to the winds in order tosatisfy their own greed and lust for power.


Agha Mohammad Khan gave out that he wasproceeding on a pilgrimage to holy Meshad with aview to pay his homage to the shrine of Hazrat AmamRaza. Shah Rukh Mirza was blind at that time andthe administration of the State was being carried onby his son Nadir Mirza as Regent. Agha Mohammad,as soon as he reached Meshad, appeared in his truecolours and surrounded the city as a full-fledgedinvader. Nadir Mirza, who was not prepared for allthis, fled like a coward towards Afghanistan, leavinghis blind father to be persecuted by the invader forthe sake of his concealed jewels. Terrible were thecruelties which were perpetrated on the unfortunateking's head by the conqueror. A description given bySir John Malcolm is given below to give an idea tothe reader as to the length to which greed and avaricecould, in those days, go in making beasts of men:

"Avarice was almost as strong in AghaMohammad as the love for power, and he appearedeven more desirous of possessing jewels thantreasures. On the death of Lutaf Ali Khan he hadobtained some of the richest booty brought from Indiaby Nadir Shah and since he arrived in Khorassan, hehad recovered several of inferior valuables from thechiefs who had shared in the spoils of Nadir'ssuccessors and who now surrendered their dangerouswealth, for Agha Mohammad treated as the guiltiestof criminals all such as retained what he deemed theproperty of the sovereign. Shah Rukh, who had longceased to exercise power, was yet blind to possess

Koh-;-Noor Brings Misery 63

many precious stones of great value, which he hadcopcealed even from his sons; he denied hispossessing them with most solemn oaths, but in vain.Torture in all its forms was applied and we almostcease to pity this degraded prince when we find thathis discoveries kept pace with the pains inflicted.Treasures and jewels were produced which had beensunk in wells and hidden in walls, and at last, whena circle of paste was put upon his head and boilingoil was poured into it, he discerned a ruby ofextraordinary size and lustre which had oncedecorated the crown of Aurangzeb and was the chiefobject of Agha Mohammad's desire. That monarch,the moment he heard this jewel was found, expressedthe greatest joy; he directed the torments to ceaseand accused Shah Rukh, not altogether withoutjustification, of being the author of the great miserieshe had invited and suffered.

"After being deprived of all his diamonds andjewels, the unfortunate Shah Rukh died of the aftereffects of the untold persecutions to which he hadbeen subjected by Agha Mohammad."

CHAPTER IX

KOH-I-NOOR MAKESHISTORY IN AFGHANISTAN

Events were moving fast in Afghanistan. In 1773,the strong man of the Afghans died, leaving behindweak descendants and a crashing kingdom. His sonTamur Shah was a weakling and an unworthysuccessor to the great fighter. He clung to his treasuryand Koh-i-Noor with great tenacity and held to themfast till his death in May 1793. To add to the miseriesof an already crumbling kingdom, he left behind himtwenty-three sons to contest the throne of Kabul. I

Zenana of the late king, as is generally the case withweaklings, had grown very formidable. Through itsinfluence and backed by Payandah Khan, the powerfulBarkzai's chief, the fifth son of Tamur, ascended thethrone of Kabul. He was, however, a weak man like

1. History of Afghanistan : by A.B. Mellison, Page 291.

Koh-i-Noor Makes History ill Afghanistan 65

his father and did not inspire any confidence in hisfollowers. He was constantly harassed by his brotherand especially by Mahmood Mirza, better known asMahmood Shah. He was a dashing prince and soongathered a large number of followers. Afraid of thegrowing power of his brother Zaman Shah, he leftKabul for Jalalabad, with a small following, in orderto gain the help of Afghan chiefs. He was partiallysuccessful by means of tall promises of power andhonour which he held out to them. Prominent amongstthose who promised help was Ahmad Khan, the chiefof the Nurzai clan. Mahmood was in the meantimeadvancing fast and his armies met those of ZamanShah soon after. The plans of the latter crashed downlike a pack of cards, because Ahmad Khan on whosesupport he had built all his hopes deserted him andwent o\:,er to Mahmood with all his forces.

Zaman Shah, baffled and beaten, fled towardsFort Ashiq to take refuge with its Governor AshiqHussain, whom he counted as a friend. He wasaccompanied by his Wazir and three of his mosttrusted lieutenants. They were treated with all honourand the hospitality shown to them was marvellous.Zaman hoped to try his luck once more with the helpof Ashiq Hussain and the latter was even inclined togive him some sort of aid, but destiny was weavinganother pattern for the fugitive king. Mahmood, inth~ meantime, had captured Kabul and establishedhis sway over the surrounding territory. As soon asAshiq heard of it, he thought discretion to be the


better part of valour. He did not think it worthwhileto run any risk of espousing a lost cause. At once hechanged his plans and instead of hitting out someplan to help Zaman Shah, he decided to hand himover to his brother Mahmood. Zaman was imprisonedin a cell and quick messengers were despatched toinform Mahmood of this grand achievement of his.

Zaman Shah had no hopes left now. He hid theKoh-i-Noor (which he was always carrying with him)in a crevice in one of the walls of the cell and hisothers jewels in a hole dug inside it with his dagger.2

Mahmood, as soon as he heard of his brother'sconfinement at the hands of Ashiq Hussain, calledhim to Kabul. On the way, he was met by Asad KhanBarakzee, brother of Fateh Khan. A surgeon wasaccompanying the Sirdar. As soon as the unfortunateprisoner saw them, he guessed the cruel designs ofhis victorious brother. The poor man was blindedwithout any loss of time and conveyed to the FortBala Hissar as a prisoner.

But his miseries did not end there. Havingsecured him as a prisoner, the next step of Mahmoodwas to force his brother to deliver all his jewels andvaluables to him. So his tortures began. Zaman Shah.however, remained firm and told Mahmood that whilecrossing the river on his way, he had thrown all hisjewels including the Koh-i-Noor in it. Mahmood had

2. Rambles and Recollections by Sleeman. Vol. 1, Pg. 475.

Koh-i-Noor Makes History in Afghanistan 67

no time to pursue this matter any further as his brotherShuja Mirza won over the nobility to his side bydistributing large sums of money and makinghandsome promises of rewards. He proclaimedhimself King and marched towards Kabul with astrong force. For a long time, the wavering fortunetoyed with the two brothers, now favouring one andthen smiling on the other. Small skirmishes werefollowed by a pitched battle in July 1803, whereinMahmood's armies suffered a defeat and left the fieldhelter-skelter. Shuja Mirza entered Kabul victoriousand proclaimed himself King as Shah Shuja. His firstact as King was to hasten to Fort Bala Hissar whereMahmood had hid himself, to lance his eyes, just asthe latter had done in the case of Zaman Shah.Mahmood was, however, saved from this justretribution, through the intervention of SherMohammad, one of the chief supporters of ShahShuja.3

His next step was to release the blinded ZamanShah from his prison cell and to put in his place thevanquished Mahmood. Zaman Shah expressed hisgratitude to his brother by presenting him with allhis jewels in which was included the historical Kohi-Noor. He, in return, avenged the treachery of AshiqHussain by blowing him, his wife and his childrenfrom the mouth of a cannon.

3. History of Afghanistan by MeIlison, Page 313.


Even the lightning speed with which Shah Shujacaptured the throne of Kabul failed to instill feelingsof reverence and awe in the minds of the turbulentAfghan chiefs, who continued to back their respectiveclaimants for the Kabul Throne. The mostconspicuous of this band was Fateh Khan, one of thegenerals of Mahmood, at that time a prisoner in theFort of Bala Hissar. Fateh Khan had valiantly foughtfor his master and gave a tough battle to the forcesof Shah Shuja, but his own men deserted him and hehad to flee. He, however, did not give up hope andcontinued trying to rescue Mahmood from hisconfinement and place him on the Kabul Throne onceagain.

He thought out a plan to release his master fromthe clutches of Shuja. He conspired with some of thesentinels guarding Bala Hissar and managed to supplyMahmood with necessary implements to work outhis escape. He also sent him a word that he shouldkeep everything strictly secret and not to trust anyone except the Khizilbash who still espoused hiscause. Mahmood acted upon this advice and wassuccessful in making good his escape along with DostMohammad. He fled to Girishle and plundered threecaravans on the way.

Shah Shuja, in the meantime had been planningan attack on Sind. By the time of Mahmood's escape,these plans had been completed. Sher Mohammad,the Chief Minister of Shuja, advised him to change

Koh-i-Noor Makes History in Afghanistan 69

his plans and try to capture his brother once more,but Shuja was inclined not to attach much importanceto Mahmood's escape and insisted on attacking Sind.Shuja did not listen to the. wise counsel of his Wazirand even treated him with slight. This touched himto the quick and he revolted, proclaiming the nephewof Shah Shuja as king under the title of Kaisar Shah.Shah Shuja was caught in a tight corner. He gatheredthe forces which he was intending to use on Sind andmet Sher Mohammad in a deadly battle. SherMohammad's armies were routed and he was himselfkilled in action; but this victory cost the foolish kingvery dear.

Mahmood in the meantime took this opportunityand with the help of the Barakzais, he marched onKandhar which easily fell to him. Calamities, theysay, never come alone. At that very moment, newsrea~hed him that his trusted general Akram Khan,whom he had sent to Kashmir to subdue Ata.Mohammad Khan, the son of his vanquished WazirSher Mohammad, had been badly defeated. This wasa telling blow as the army which had been sent underAkram Khan was the main force of Shah Shuja.

Shah Shuja was at that time negotiating with theBritish Mission sent by the Governor-General of Indiaunder Elphinstone, to negotiate with him a treaty offriendship. He was at his wit's end to know what todo. He had no alternative but to wait for the returnof Akram Khan. Shah Shuja made every endeavour


to raise troops. By degrees the remnants of theKashmir army and their leader returned and by themiddle of June 1809, the Shah set out for Kabul. ButMahmood Shah and Fateh Khan had been therebeforehand. They had marched on Kabul and fromthere started towards Peshawar. They met ShahShuja's army advantageously posted near Gandmak.Mahmood attacked it in front, whilst Fateh Khan tookit in the flank. The result was never in doubt. AkramKhan was killed. Shah Shuja fled into the mountainsleaving all the jewels (except the Koh-i-Noor) andhis luggage in the hands of his rival.4

For full nine years, Shah Shuja was makingstrenuous attempts to regain the Throne. He made anumber of attacks, but without success. At last in1810, he was badly defeated at Kandhar. He madeyet another feverish attempt, but was again overpowered in 1811 at Akora. He was made a prisonerby the Governor of Attock, who handed him over tohis enemy, Ata Mohd. Khan, the Governor of Kashmir.

Before being captured and defeated, he hadsucceeded in sending his family to the Punjab, whereafter experiencing great difficulties and sufferinguntold miseries they reached safely and placedthemselves in the hands of Maharaja Ranjit Singh atLahore.

4. History of Afghanistan : by Mellison, Page 333.Subsequent events show that Shah Shuja was able to take all hisjewels with him besides the Koh-i-Noor.

CHAPTER X

BACK TO INDIA ONCE AGAIN

Shah Shuja had hoped that with the return offortune, he would bring back his riches and familyfrom the Punjab, whose capital he intended to use asa temporary asylum. Events, however, took quiteanother turn and he was not only defeated but alsofell into the hands of his worst enemy. ·AtaMohammad, as we know, was the son of his erstwhilelieutenant Sher Khan, who had helped him to gainthe Kabul Throne and who was subsequently killedby him in a battle. When Wafa Begum, his wife,heard of the misfortune which had befallen herhusband, she was prostrate with grief. The event isdescribed by the Court Vakil of Maharaja RanjitSingh, named Sohan LaI, in the following words :

"On hearing this dreadful news, Wafa Begum,struck with thousands upon thousands of troubles and


distresses, felt very sorrowful and morose and becamethe target of different kinds of arrows of torment andthe victim of arrows of affliction. She displayed apolicy of sagacity for the emancipation of the peerlessone and sent reliable Vakils to the King stating thatas ordained by the Almighty God, Shah Shuja-ulMulk had become a prisoner in the clutches of Fate.If by 4is benevolent and intense efforts he was able

'".. ,to effect the Shah's release and the Shah was broughtto Lahore and openly welcomed in the city, a pricelessdiamond would be presented to him in return for hishelp. Accordingly, Ranjit Singh undertook to obtainthe Shah's release."

This request from the Queen suited Ranjit Singhand it wholly fitted into his scheme of conqueringKashmir, the beautiful valley and health resort ofIndia. He had long been entertaining designs to addit to his own kingdom. The only difficulty in his waywas that while his Sikh soldiers were unconquerablein the plains and had acquired a great name and fameas fighters and warriors, they were not acquaintedwith the technique of fighting in the hills. He wantedthe guidance and help of some one conversant withhilly warfare. The opportunity to have it was nowfast arriving and events were taking a shnrc whichwas most favourable to him. Mahmo( III had by thistime established his sway in Afghanistan. The realforce behind the throne, however, was Fateh Khanthrough whose strategy and help he had secured notonly his release but the throne of Kabul. The latter

Back to India Once Again•

73

was in fact the real ruler and Mahmood was only apuppet in his hands. He· was convinced that as kmgas Ata Mohammad Khan was in possession ofKashmir, neither he, nor his master, Mahmood wassafe or secure. He, therefore, decided to crush himand throw him. out of their way. He was conscious ofhis power and fully aware that he could notaccomplish this task alone. He, therefore, thought ofRanjit Singh and sought his help in this enterprise.Negotiations were opened and Fateh Khan offered topay to the Sikh Ruler a subsidy of Rs. 9,00,0001- ayear, in return for his help.

In this offer, Ranjit Singh saw his opportunity.He wanted to kill two birds with one stone-therelease of Shah Shuja and the capture of Kashmir.He at once accepted the offer of Fateh Khan andagreed to help him with an army of 10,000 Sikhs.Kashmir was, therefore, attacked from two sides andthe Afghan and Sikh armies converged in Srinagar.Ata Mohd. Khan realised the situation and found thatit would be useless to offer any pitched battle to thecombined armies. He shut himself in the fort ofSrinagar from where he offered resistance to theAfghan armies besieging the city of Srinagar. Forthirteen days, the siege lasted and Ata Mohammad,finding it difficult and useless to continue resistance,surrendered to Fateh Khan.

He thus had an almost easy victory. The Sikharmy had not reached Srinagar by this time and this

74 Maharaja Ranjit Singh & Koh-i-Noor Diamond.gave to Fateh Khan an excuse to withhold the subsidypromised to Ranjit Singh. He placed his brotherMohammad Azim Khan in charge of the Provinceand went back to Kabul, leaving instructions thatMaharaja Ranjit Singh was not to be paid a singlepenny. The news got wind and the Sikh ruler waylaidthe returning Afghan army, inflicting severe lossesand plundering it.

Another result of the defeat of Ata MohammadKhan was that Shah Shuja got his freedom. He couldnow either return to Kabul or join his family atLahore. Fateh Khan advised him to adopt the formercourse and dwelt on the dangers of his falling intothe hands of Ranjit Singh. He argued that by doingso, he would run the risk of losing not only his dearlybought freedom, but also his valuable possessionsincluding the much-coveted Koh-i-Noor. But ShahShuja could not trust his brother Mahmood, whomhe had tried to blind after depriving him of his Throne.He, therefore, decided to try his lllc~ with RanjitSingh and quickly walked into his parlour. Even whenRanjit Singh was busy in his Kashmir expedition, heat once thought of squeezing out the jewels andespecially the well-known Koh-i-Noor from WafaBegum. His trusted lieutenants, Dewan Devi Dass,Faqir Aziz-ud-din, Raja Ansari, Dewan Bhawani Dass,Munshi Karam Chand, along with Lala Ram Nand, agoldsmith of Amritsar, were sent to the unfortunateQueen to demand the Koh-i-Noor, which she hadpromised to hand over to Ranjit Singh. In vain did

Back to India Once Again 75

the Begum plead that she had promised to deliver theKoh-i-Noor in case Ranjit Singh secured the releaseof her husband. The deputation pleaded, however,that the armies of Ranjit Singh had gone to Kashmirwith the express purpose of securing his release andthey had definite orders not to return withoutachieving this purpose. He averred that Shah Shujawould, therefore, be in Lahore within a very shorttime. The arguments went on for a long time.Eventually, Mir Abul Hasan Khan, Mala Jafar andQazi Sher Mohammad pleaded for the unfortunateQueen and stood sureties for her, promising solemnlyon her behalf tnat the diamond would be handed overto Ranjit Singh on the very day when Shah Shujaarrived in Lahore.

The Shah's arrival was not delayed. We havedescribed above that he was released from Kashmiras soon as Fateh Khan defeated Ata Mohammad Khan.In March 1813, he reached Lahore and was receivedon behalf of the Maharaja by his son Kharak Singhand Bhayya Ram Singh, with great honour anddignity. On a horse decorated with gold and silverstrappings, he was escorted to the city with greatpomp and ceremony. But as soon as he reached withinthe city walls, he was made a prisoner and confinedalong with his family in the house of Dewan LakhpatRai, near the Shahalmi Gate, known then as thePutree Darwaja.

76 Maharaja Ranjit Singh & Koh-i-Noor Diamond'•

Securing him, the Punjab Ruler lost no time indemanding the promised Koh-i-Noor which he wasanxious to secure without the least delay. With thisobject he sent Bhayya Ram Singh, Faqir Aziz-udDin and Dewan Mati' Ram to demand it from theprisoner king. Their plea was that his release wasdue to the attack of Sikh army on Kashmir. ShahShuja was taken aback at the time and the manner ofthis unexpected demand. He tried his best to evadethem and put several conflicting excuses. Sometimes,he said that he had lost it along with his other jewelsand sometimes he gave out that he hild mortgaged itfor Rs. six crores at Kandhar. The deputation wasnot inclined, however, to listen to these excuses. Thegreater the excuses put forward by Shah Shuja, themore insistent became the demands of the Royalmessengers. All tacts were used; promises,persuasions, arguments and threats. Bhayya RamSingh even offered an insult to the king which hegreatly resented. At last, to save himself from theindignities which were offered to him, he produceda large topaz (Pukhraj) of yellow colour and gave itto the messengers of the Maharaja for being handedover to him, saying that it was the famous Koh-iNoOT. When this was shown to Maharaja Ranjit Singh,he at once sent for the jewellers to ascertain whetherthis was the Koh-i-Noor or not, and on being told bythem that it was not the Koh-i-Noor he kept the topaz;but sent immediate orders to place the Shah underrestraint and to prevent him from eating or drinking

Back to India Once Again 77

until the Koh-i-Noor demanded was given up, as theKing had attempted to deceive the Maharaja bysending a topaz instead.

For full two days the unfortunate King and hisfamily had to go without food or any other kind ofnourishment resulting in great depression to all. Butthey were made of a sterner stuff. Even this coercionfailed to have the desired effect and the Koh-i-Noorwas not forthcoming. Finding it of no avail, RanjitSingh ordered that food and nourishment be restoredto the King and his family. It was done. The guardat the Haveli was strengthened and no one wasallowed to go in or come out except with thepermission of the Maharaja. Ranjit Singh was verymuch angry with Shah Shuja for his withholding theKoh-i-Noor from him and to which, he thought, hewas fully entitled in view of the solemn promise madeby 'Wafa Begum, which was subsequently confirmedby her when the deputation waited upon her. He,however, controlled his anger and thought of someother plan to have the coveted diamond which wasgiving him sleepless nights.

CHAPTER XI

RANJIT SINGH GETSIT AT LAST

Ranjit Singh was determined to get the Koh-iNoor. Having failed to achieve his purpose throughharsh methods, he changed his strategy. Orders towithhold food and water were withdrawn, the guardat the Haveli, where Shah Shuja alongwith his familywas detained, was strengthened and secret agents ofthe Maharaja were set about to induce the Shah topart with this precious diamond on any terms he liked.Up to that time Ranjit Singh could not be sure whetherthe Koh-i-Noor was actually with the unfortunatefugitive King or with his wife, even though she hadpromised to hand it over to the Maharaja as soon asher husband reached Lahore.

Shah Shuja was told that Ranjit Singh wasprepared to buy it. Even earnest money amounting toRs. 50,000 was sent to him as a token of good faith

Ranjit Singh Gets it at Last 79

regarding this offer to pay him adequate price for it.Into this trap, Shah Shuja was caught. He gave anindication to sell the diamond, which was an indirectconfirmation of the fact that it was with him and that.the story of his having mortgaged it at Kandhar wasnot true. As soon as the Maharaja became sure of thefact that the diamond was actually in Shah'spossession, he was overjoyed and decided to carryout his plan to its logical conclusion. The AfghanKing was offered a cash price of Rs. Three Lacs andthe grant of a Jagir of Rs. 50,000 per annum. Heassented to this and on "29th of Samadi-ul-Awwal"(Ist of June 1813 A.D.) Faqir Aziz-ud-Din, BhaiGurbaksh Singh and Jamadar Khushal Singh went toShah Shuja and asked for the diamond. The Shahreplied that the Maharaja should personally takedelivery of it. Ranjit Singh was very glad to hear thisnews.

Sohan Lal, the Vakil of Maharaja's Court, writesthus: "His Exalted Majesty, on hearing of this newswith great cheerfulness, came out of the Fort andriding a horse with the speed of wind andaccompanied with a few high officials and postingone thousand foot-soldiers on his left and right cameto the Haveli. There he was received by Shah Shujawith due respect and honour, and he bended his kneeto him out of courtesy. All other courtiers anddignitaries stood up with folded hands. Both thenbeing seated, a solemn pause ensued which lastedfor nearly an hour. At length, the patience of Ranjit


Singh being exhausted, he whispered in the ear ofone of Shah's attendants who reminded the latter ofthe object of the meeting. The Shah returned noanswer, but made a signal with his eye to one of hisservants, who retired and after a while brought in asmall roll which he placed on the carpet at an equaldistance between the two Chiefs." Ranjit Singh, afterfriendly protestations stained a paper with saffronand swearing by the Granth of Baba Nanak and hisown sword, he wrote the following security andcompact : "That he delivered over the provinces ofKote Kumaleeh, Jhang Sial and Khuleh Noor to usand our heirs for ever, also to offer assistance introops and treasure for the purpose of again recoveringour throne. We also agree that if we should everascend the Throne, to consider Ranjit Singh alwaysin the light of an ally. He then proposed himself thatwe should change turbans which is among the Sikhsa pledge of eternal friendship and we then gave himthe Koh-i-Noor.'"

When the Koh-i-Noor was presented to theMaharaja, he asked from the Shah its price. The vexedmonarch replied that its price was the sword andthen kept silent. Wafa Begum had before this givenan idea of the price like this : 'If a man were tothrow stones on all sides with all his might and thenthrew one upwards towards the heaven, and jewelsand gold were amassed in the atmosphere thus

l. Shah Shuja's autobiography.

Ranjit Singh Gets it at Last 81

indicated by the throwing of stones; that wouldconstitute the price of the great diamond.' Ranjit Singhwas overjoyed to get the historic diamond and thoughone can well imagine the inward pangs which theunfortunate Afghan king must have been suffering atparting with one of his most valued possessions towhich he had been so tenaciously sticking, in face ofsuch heavy odds, he revealed a wonderful selfcomplacency while handing it over to Ranjit Singh,in return for his promises, which ultimately provedto be empty.

As soon as Ranjit Singh got hold of the diamondhe put it into his pocket and retired forthwith to gloatover his new possession. He held a grand Durbar inhonour of this unique event and the city wasmagnificently decorated and illuminated. A Courtdiarist thus describes the event:

"Diohri of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Bahadur;Tuesday, dated 8th of June, 1813 (8th Jamadius-Sani1228 A.H.) the Royal Fort, Lahore.

"Yesterday the Hon'ble Sarkar kept showing theKoh-i-Noor which had been very kindly given to himby Hazrat Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk, to the jeweller fromwhom he asked its price. It was found in weightequal to three hundred and a few more Surakhs andin value it was declared priceless as no other similarjew'~l existed anywhere else." Sohan Lal gives itsweight as 42 mashas or 336 rattis. This shows thatby the time Koh-i-Noor reached the hands of Ranjit


Singh, it had diminished in weight by about 38 carats.This decrease may be attributed to various causes. Itis just possible that during the wars between ZamanShah and Shah Shuja, it might have been broken orelse some one of them may have sold a piece takenout of it in times of need.

One can easily imagine the great delight ofMaharaja Ranjit Singh when he was able to securethe cherished diamond after trying so many methods,some of which can even be described as questionable.

CHAPTER XII

KOH-I-NOOR, SHAH SHUJAAND WAFA BEGUM

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, instead of being satisfiedwith having got that big prize, became avaricious.He thought that Shah Shuja must be in possession ofmany other jewels like the Koh-i-Noor. The greatinvaluable diamond confirmed this idea of theMaharaja, who now thought of depriving the AfghanKing of his other jewels. Shah Shuja, who had beenallowed to see his ~ife two days after handing overKoh-i-Noor to the Maharaja, was thinking offormulating so'me plans to secure back his throne;but once again events took just the opposite turn.Instead of fulfilling his promise of helping him to tryhis luck, Ranjit Singh determined to take possessionof all the jewels that were left in his possession. Hewas charged with corresponding secretly withMohammed Azim Khan, the Governor of Kashmir,

84 Maharaja Ranjit Singh & Koh-i-Nnor Diamond

and as a punishment Shah Shuja was taken intocustody once again.

In vain did Shah Shuja protest against thistreatment. He pleaded with the Maharaja that such abehaviour towards a fellow king in trouble was notbecoming on the part of so valiant a King as MaharajaRanjit Singh was, but the latter was not prepared togive an C:lr to these arguments. He was bent uponh:l'~i~lg the other jewels also in all the ways open to"lin.

In 1816 when the Sikh Ruler marched towardsPeshawar, he took Shah Shuja along with him. Assoon as Ranjit Singh reached Rohtas, Fateh Khanfled towards Kabul. The former did not like to pursuehim further as he was not fully prepared for it. He,therefore, returned to Lahore, leaving Shah Shuja atRawalpindi in the custody of Sardar Ram Singh. Herea thorough search was made of all the belongings ofShah Shuja, but no jewels were found in hispossession. When Ram Singh failed to find anythingwith him and was even unsuccessful in making Shujaagree to his handing over his other jewels to RanjitSingh, the Shah was conveyed to Lahore under strictsurveillance.

On reaching Lahore, the Shah was kept alongwith other members of his family in some unknownplace and a heavy guard was put on him. Shah Shujawas now desperate and decided to employ desperatemethods, which would either put him out of the

Koh-i-Noor, Shah Shuja and Wafa Begum 85

Maharaja's reach or destroy him. He managed theescape of Wafa Begum with all the jewels and afterexperiencing many hardships and miseries she wasat last able to cross the Sutlej and delivered herselfto the British at Ludhiana. After Wafa Begum, herson, Prince Taimoor tried to reach Ludhiana and joinhis mother but the news of his attempt leaked outand he was arrested and produced before Ranjit Singhwho was wild with rage. It was then that he learntfrom the Prince that his mother Wafa Begum hadbeen successful in making good her escape, with allher gems and jewels. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was nowhelpless, as by this time, Wafa Begum had gone outof his hands.

The guard on Shah Shuja was furtherstrengthened and increased to four thousand. Inaddition, about twenty torchmen were constantlykeeping his camp illuminated all the night. He gavestrict orders that if the Shah was able to escape withhis life, the guard would be severely punished. Noservant of the Shah was allowed to step out and nonefrom outside was able to go in, so that communicationwith the Shah was totally stopped. The Shah, as wehave stated above, had grown desperate and haddcided not to leave any stone unturned to effect hisescape. By rewards, promises and sweet words, hewas able to win one of the guards named Balak Ramto his side. Through Balak Ram, the Afghan Kingwas able to secure the necessary weighments bymeans of which a hole was made in the roof of his


cell. When the arrangements for his escape werecompleted, one the attendants of the Shah namedHaji Rajah was dressed in the apparel of Shah Shuja.He was also trained to act, behave and talk like theimprisoned king.

Other servants were directed to show all honourand respect to him as if he were the real king. Havingdone this, one lucky night, Shuja came out of his celland escaped in the guise of a mendicant and thus theonce king of Afghanistan ingloriously stepped out ofLahore to which he was received on the back of'gilded strappinged horses'. He was accompanied byhis two trusted servants, Mir Abu-ul-Hassan Khanand Mir Abu-ul-Talale Khan. He made a futile attemptto re-conquer Kashmir with the help of the Governorof Afghanistan. So, crest-fallen and beaten, thisfugitive king decided to join his wife, Wafa Begum,who was living at Ludhiana under the protection ofthe British who were showing every considerationand respect to her, besides granting her a handsomestipend to make a decent living. When Shah Shujareached Ludhiana, he was received most cordially bythe British, who showed him all the respect andhospitality and gave him protection which the refugeeKing needed so much. Moreover, they had their ownplans to use the Afghan King for political purposes.

At this juncture it would not be out of place tomention that the escape of Shah Shuja would nothave been possible had not Balak Ram, one of the


guards posted at the Haveli, where he was confined,helped him in carrying out his plans of escape. Afterhis flight, a searching enquiry was made and all theproperty of Balak Ram at Lahore and Amritsar wasconfiscated. In addition to this, he was' arrested and ,imprisoned. Shah Shuja entertained feelings ofgratitude for the man who took pity on him in hismiserable plight and helped him to carry out a planwhich was subsequently to put the Shah on the throneof Kabul, an event of which he had never dreamt.

It happened thus : In those days the GovernorGeneral of India, Lord Auckland, scented danger fromRussia. It was being talked that Russia was makingpreparations to attack India through Kabul. So it wasnecessary to have a friendly Afghanistan. With thisend in view, the Governor-General sent a mission toAmir Dost Mohammed Khan, who was at that time,on the throne of Kabul. The Amir did not like theidea of siding with the British and started puttingconditions which it was not easy for them to accedeto. For example, he demanded that they should helphim in winning back Peshawar from Ranjit Singhwho had always been on very friendly terms withthem. The Governor-General could not- possiblyalienate the loyal friendship of the Sikh Ruler inexchange for a doubtful alliance with the Amir ofAfghanistan. At the same time, it was not safe tohave an antagonistic Afghanistan at a time when therewas the genuine danger of Russian invasion. So LordAuckland decided to espouse the cause of Shah Shuja


who was a direct descendant of Nadir Shah, as againstDost Mohammad who was an usurper and had noright to the throne of Kabul. He took into confidenceMaharaja Ranjit Singh and the combined armies ofthe Sikhs and the British defeated Dost Mohammed.Shah Shuja, the fugitive king, who had seen the riseand fall of fortune a number of times, saw himselfonce again on the Throne of Afghanistan, for whichhe had lost all hopes. This unfortunate king, however,was not spared for long to enjoy his good fortune,because he was assassinated soon after.

This episode of Shah Shuja and Maharaja RanjitSingh, with reference to Koh-i-Noor, is a matter ofgreat controversy between different historians andcommentators. One party holds that the Sikh Rulerwas unnecessarily cruel to Shah Shuja who wasentirely at his mercy and had thrown himself in hisprotection unreservedly. To shower indignities at himin his misfortune was unbecoming. The meansadopted were unnecessarily humiliating and unworthyof~llgreat monarch like Ranjit Singh. He ought to

. ha~e\·' they aver, adopted a more dignified mannerespeCially when he knew that the Afghan King wasabsolutely in his power and would have to bow to hiswill. Moreover, Ranjit Singh did not fulfil his part ofthe terms on which Koh-i-Noor was handed over tohim by Shah Shuja. Not only that, he continued hispersecutions even after the great diamond came intohis po~session, with a view to squeezing out otherjewels also from the unfortunate king. The Maharaja


after getting Koh-i-Noor wanted to have another wellknown ruby which was also once a proud possessionof the Moghul Rulers and was given to Nadir Shahby Mohammad Shah Rangila along with the Koh-iNoor. The attitude of the Maharaja, they argue, cannotbe justified on any grounds.

The other point of view is that Ranjit Singhcannot be blamed for the ordeal through which ShahShuja and his family had to pass before handing overthe Koh-i-Noor. The wife of Shah Shuja, Wafa Begum,had made a solemn promise to hand over the diamondto the Sikh Ruler as soon as Shah Shuja reachedLahore. It was a fact that a strong Sikh army hadbeen despatched to attack Kashmir where Shuja wasimprisoned by the Governor, Ata Mohammad Khan.The fact that the Afghan army of Fateh Khan was thefirst to reach Srinagar did not matter at all, becausethe Sikh armies had played their part equally well. Itwas a result of the joint operations of the two armiesthat Ata Mohammad was defeated and that Shuja hadbeen released. So when he reached Lahore there wasabsolutely no reason why the promised Koh-i-Noor.should have been withheld from the Maharaja underthe terms of the solemn assurance for the fulfilmentof which respectable nobles of Wafa Begum had stoodsureties. It was clearly a breach of the solemn promisemade and if the diamond was being withheld in breachof that promise, the Maharaja was quite justified inusing other methods to get it. Not only was thediamond not handed over to him but it was denied


that it was with them. Shah Shuja in fact gave outthat while in Kandhar he had mortgaged it in orderto raise funds. This constituted not only a breach ofpromise, but an attempt to deceive a party which hadfaithfully carried out his part of the contract.

As for the confinement of Shah Shuja after thehanding over of the diamond to Ranjit Singh and thelatter's failure to carry out the promises made at thetime of handing over the diamond, it is argued thatit was Shah Shuja who was the first to break theterms of the understanding arrived at that time. Itwill be remembered that on that occasion Ranjit Singhand Shah Shuja had exchanged turbans as a token oftheir being brothers. The Afghan King was notjustified in opening secret negotiations with theGovernor of Kashmir, against the interests of RanjitSingh who had helped him in coming out of theformer's clutches. Shah Shuja had been accused ofdoing so after a thorough enquiry and unimpeachableevidence was produced to prove that. Shah Shujacould not offer any explanation to refute the chargeslevelled against him. How could Ranjit Singh then,this point of view argues, allow a person to remainat liberty? So even after exchanging turbans withhim, he began to plot against him with their erstwhilecommon enemy.

Whatever be the strength in arguments advancedby these respective points of view, the whole episodeis nauseating, indeed. In fact, the entire history of


this ill-omened diamond is full of such episodes. Wehave seen kings being blinded, murdered and we haveseen kingdoms being overthrown and strong menbreaking into controversies raging round this strangediamond which brought misery to so many and goodluck only to a few.

CHAPTER XIII

RANJIT SINGH AND THEKOH-I-NOOR

The difficulties in attaining a thing, they say,increase its value. This was never more true than inthe case of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was able tosecure the Koh-i-Noor with the greatest difficulty.He tried all means; persuasion, bargaining and evencoercion. So when he got it after trying all thesemethods, this invaluable diamond became all the morevaluable to him. He deposited it with the greatestcare in a place of safety, the secret of which wasknown only to a trusted few. The Maharaja generallycarried it with him wherever he went.

Mir Maharaj, the treasurer of the Maharaja, intowhose custody it remained for a considerably longtime and from whose possession it was ultimatelytaken by the British, writing about it says : "It wasat time set alone (singly) in an enamelled setting,

Ranjit Singh and the Koh-i-Noor 93

with strings to be worn as an armlet. Maharaja RanjitSingh placed it on his arm, and admired it, then,after a time, replaced it in its box, which with thetopaz, he made over to Beli Ram, to be placed in theTosha Khana, under the charge of Mir Bustee Ram,Tosha Khanea. The Toshakhana, being then in theMoti Bazaar at the house of Ramsakar Gurwai (nowLal Singh's Toshakhana) he placed it in a chest there.After a little while, it was taken by the Maharaja toAmritsar, under charge of Beli Ram, along with otherarticles of the Tosha Khana, and it was carried alongwith the Maharaja, wherever he went, under a strongguard."·

"It was always carried in a large camel trunk,placed on the leading camel (but this was knownonly to the people of the Tosha Khana). The wholestring of camels, which generally consisted of aboutone hundred, was well-guarded by troops. In camp,this box was placed between two others alike, closeto the pole of the tent (Missar Beli Ram's bed beingvery close to it) none but his relatives and confidentialservants having access to the place."

The Maharaja wore the Koh-i-Noor only on Stateoccasions and even then for a short while only.Immediately after it was taken from Shah Shuja, itwas used as an armlet or bazu-band, as it is popularly

1. Lady Login : "Sir John Login and Daleep Singh."pp. 195-198.


called. After about five years, it was fitted up as aSispesh and used on the Maharaja's turban. To it wasattached a diamond drop of a tola in weight. Afteranother year it was fitted in the pole suspender forhis horse; but again it was studded in the armlet witha diamond each on both sides. They were, however,smaller in size than the Koh-i-Noor. In this shape, itremained for over twenty years and when it wassurrendered to the British, it was still there in thearmlet.

Ranjit Singh loved it so much that he showed itto every distinguished guest, who came to his Durbar.Many European travellers saw it with the Maharajaand everyone who had an occasion to do so, admiredthe sparkling splendour of this unrivalled diamond.In 1838 when Lord Auckland's Military Secretary,the Hon'ble Mr. H.W.G. Osborne, paid a visit to theSikh Court, he specially expressed his desire to seethe Koh-i-Noor. It was at once sent for. Writing aboutit, Mr. Osborne says: "It is certainly the mostmagnificent diamond, about an inch and a half inlength and upwards of an inch in width and standsout from the setting about half an inch. It is in theshape of an egg and is set in a bracelet between twovery handsome diamonds of about half its size. It isvalued at about three million sterling, is very brilliantand without a flaw of any kind."

The diamond remained with Ranjit Singh till hisdeath in 1839. "Shortly before the death of Ranjit


Singh," says Mir Maharaj. "Raja Dhyan Singh Wazirsent for Beli Ram and stated that the Maharaja hadexpressed, by signs, that he wished the Koh-i-Noorto be given away in charity (the Maharaja being thenspeechless). Missar Beli Ram objected saying that 'itwas only fit to be possessed by a king and to whomcould it be given in charity?' Raja Dhyan Singh said:'to the Brahmins at Jagannath.' But Beli Ram objectedto this, stating that it ought to remain with theMaharaja's descendants and that already twentyonelakhs of rupees and jewels and gold etc. had beengiven away to the Brahmins. He thus exposed himselfto the greatest enmity on the part of Raja DhyanSingh and after the accession of Maharaja KharakSingh and the assassination of Chet Singh, RajaDhyan Singh obtained uncontrolled power and threwMissar Beli Ram in prison where he was kept forfour months; the keys of the Tosha Khana havingbeen handed over to Tej Chand."

Sohan Lal gives an account of this episode inhis own way. He says: "Bhai Gobind Ram requestedthat the Exalted Sarkar had frequently uttered fromthe blessed tongue that the past kings had goneleaving the Koh-i-Noor behind them and none of theSultans had taken it with him. So his heart's desireis that after entrusting the affairs of State toKanwarjee, I would retire to Holy Places and placethis diamond on the head of Shri Jagannath Ji. Nowthat this sudden calamity has come, he had told bysigns to observe Sankalp and reach Jagannath Ji with

96 Maharaja Ranjit Singh & Koh-i-Nflor Diamond

all haste. The Bhai told that this order was made tothe Raja. The Raja requested that the order was meantfor Kanwarjee. After this, Kanwarjee was ordered toproduce the diamond. Kanwarjee stated that it waswith Missar Beli Ram. Then Jamadar Khushal Singhasked Missar Beli Ram to bring forth the diamond.The Missar prevaricated and said that it was atAmritsar. On this reply of the Missar, the Jamadarreprimanded him and told him, 'You have come tothe Exalted Sarkar for this service. All the wealthand the property belong to the Kanwars.' The ExaltedSarkar, on hearing this altercation, became angry.Then on the request of Bhai Gobind Ram, the Sankalpwas done with an armlet, two diamonds, articles worthtwo lakhs, inlaid ornaments, eight crowns, twoelephants with golden 'howdas' and five lakhs ofrupees in cash. The Exalted Presence put on all theornaments and then removing them from the bodyfell down in prostration and observed the Sankalpwith the words that this was the last apparel."2

About this very incident the Hon'ble Emily Edenwrote in a letter to her sister thus: "Simla, Monday,July 19, 1839. We heard of dear old Ranjit's deathon Saturday. It took place on the 27th June. It israther fine, because so unusual in the East, that evento the last moments his slightest signs (for he hadlong lost his speech) were obeyed. It is almost a pitythey were, only that one is glad such a master-mind

2. Translated from the original in Persian.


should have its due to the last; but the despatch says,that on the last day the Maharaja sent for all hisfamous jewels, his horses with their splendidstrappings, and pearls given him and ordered them tobe sent to different shrines with directions that theBrahmins should pray for him that Kharak Singh (theheir) and the Sirdars who were sitting round his bedburst into loud lamentations and said: 'What willbecome of us if you give everything away?' and theMaharaja wept but said it must be so. Then he orderedthe Koh-i-Noor (the famous diamond) to be sent downto the Temple of Jagannath, but his Sirdars againrepresented that not such another diamond in theworld existed and that the whole wealth of India couldnot purchase it and he consented to let that remain.But the distribution of the jewels went on till theevening and he is supposed, his news writers say, tohave given away the value of two crores of rupees;it is a great pity that such a collection of preciousstones, quite unequalled, should be dispersed to theseshrines, where they will never be seen again."

Yet another account of this episode reads:"During the last days of his illness, prayers weresaid and offerings were sent to the different shrinesfor his recovery and His Highness bestowed in charitymoney, jewels, and other property to the value ofnearly 50 lakhs of rupees. Among his jewels, hedir~cted the well-known Koh-i-Noor to be sent to thetemple of Jagannath at Puri, muttering at the sametime the great truth, 'no one carried with him his


worldly wealth and that such a bequest wouldperpetuate his name.' But Missar Beli Ram objectedto its delivery on the ground of it being 'StateProperty' ."

CHAPTER XIV

AFfER RANJIT SINGHTHE DELUGE

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the first and the lastpowerful Sikh monarch. From humble b~ginnings,

he rose to make history by virtue of his uniquefighting skill, spirit of adventure and indomitablecourage. He was a born leader of men and inspiredfeelings of loyalty and devotio~ in his followers. Itwas not an easy job to weld into a homogeneous unitthe Khalsa Chiefs, antagonistic to one another andalways warring between themselves; but he workedthe miracle. With a band of devoted Generals at hisbeck and call, who were ready to do or die for him,he was able to carve out for himself a gloriousEmpire, the boundaries of which extended fromPeshawar to Sutlej and from Kashmir to Multan. Heeven went beyond Peshawar and invaded the Afghanterritory, creating awe in the hearts of his opponents.


His distinguished band of Generals who spread in alldirections, subduing the rebellious and conqueringfresh lands for him, compare favourably with thebravest of the brave of all times in human history. Itwas the unconquerable spirit of Maharaja Ranjit Singhthat helped him to build an Empire and maintain it.

He was not only a skilled General but also aseasoned administrator and a shrewd statesman. It isstrange that even though quite illiterate, he gave proofof wonderful intelligence. Great was his wisdom asalso his political foresight. By his liberal policy andwide healthy outlook, he created around him anatmosphere of goodwill and loyalty equalled only byAkbar the Great. Amongst his commanders andgenerals were Muslims, Hindus and SHms and evenforeigners, all of whom were trusted by the Maharaja.They in return always vied with one another in theirloyalty and devotion to him. To his subjects, headministered justice, irrespective of caste, colour andcreed. ,For their welfare, he was always up and doing.All these factors combined to give to the 'Maharaja aname which is remembered up to this day by hiscountrymen with feelings of admiration, devotion andpride.

He was fond of pomp and show. His durbarswere imposing and he loved this valuable possessions,especially the invaluable Koh-i-Noor of which he wasboth fond and proud. He alwa.ys exhibited it to his4istinguished guests with.great zest. It remained in

After Ranjit Singh-the Deluge 101

the custody of Missar Beli Ram who was in chargeof the Tosha Khana. The subsequent history of Kohi-Noor would have been quite different but for thisfaithful and loyal officer of the Royal household. Itis said that while Ranjit Singh lay on death-bed andall hope of his recovery was lost, a priest of thehousehold suggested that the diamond should be sentto Jagannath Temple as a present from the dyingking. This gift of the most valued possession of theKing to the deity would, he suggested, res~ore hishealth. Ranjit Singh assented with a nod, as he wasunable to speak, but Missar Beli Ram, whenapproached, refused to part with this historicaldiamond stating that he required specific orders fromthe Maharaja to do so. Ranjit Singh expired soonafter and so his Dewan saved the Koh-i-Noor for theroyal successors of Ranjit Singh.

But after Maharaja Ranjit Singh, there was thedeluge. The old tribal jealousies of the Nobility, whichthe Maharaja had been controlling and curbing, raisedtheir ugly head and the Court of the deceased rulerbecame a hot-bed of intrigues and conspiracies.Maharaja Kharak Singh who succeeded his fatherwas a weak man. Though well-meaning, he had noneof the great qualities of his distinguished father. Hecould not check the rising monster of courtmachinations and soon lost control over his Nobles.The result was that he was imprisoned and his youngson Naunihal Singh was seated on the Throne.


He was a promising lad with a personality of hisown. He was brilliant, smart and brave. Had he lived,he would have proved a worthy successor of RanjitSingh, but alas! he too fell a victim to Court intrigues.Maharaja Kharak Singh having died while in custody,Naunihal Singh, when returning from the cremation,was killed by the falling of a door of the HazariBagh. This happened in 1840.

In January 1841, Sher Singh was crowned King.He was the second son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Hewas a man of high ideals. Justice-loving and Godfearing, he took particular care of the common peopleand saw that they were not troubled or looted by anylaw-breakers. During his brief reign, cases of dacoity,murder and high-handedness by the officers were onthe decrease. With all these good qualities, he wasease-loving and passed most of his time in theBaradari built by the late Maharaja, just opposite theLahore Fort. This gave a long rope to the intriguingSirdars who conspired against him. One fine morning,when Maharaja Sher Singh was busy enjoying playingof fountains emitting rose water, SandhanwaliaSardars rushed into the fort and murdered the trustedPrime Minister of the Maharaja, Raja Dhian Singh.From there they bounced forward and with one strokeof the sword, they cut the head of the unsuspectingKing. From him they turned to the heir-apparent,Kumar Partap Singh, a promising lad who had madea great impression on Lord Elinborough, theGovernor-General of India, when the former went to

After Ranjit Singh-the Deluge 103

see him at Ferozepur. When the young Prince sawthe assassins running after him, he folded his handsand entreated, "Uncle, I shall clean your stables, praydo not kill me," but the cruel assassins-theSandhanwalia Sardars-paid no heed to his entreatiesand killed him. Their plot to seize power, however,did not succeed even after all these foul deeds. RajaHira Singh, the son of Raja Dhian Singh and hisbrother Raja Gulab Singh gathered their men nearLahore and gave a crushing defeat to the men ofSandhanwalia Sardars. The heartless assassins werebeheaded and Maharaja Daleep Singh, the infant sonof the late Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was seated on thethrone with Raja Hira Singh as his Prime Minister.

Koh-i-Noor was presented to the late MaharajaSher Singh at the time of his Coronation by RajaGulab Singh, the brother of Raja Dhian Singh andafter his assassination, the Koh-i-Noor came into thepossession of the infant Maharaja Daleep Singh.

CHAPTER XV

HOW IT CAME INTO THEHANDS OF THE BRITISH

With a young and inexperienced King at the headof the State, the Sikh Nobles and Sirdars instead ofrallying round their monarch and coming to the rescueof the tottering Sikh Empire, which Maharaja RanjitSingh had built up with his might and wisdom, beganto grind their own axes. Everyone of them was thirstyfor power and endeavoured, by hook or by' crook, toestablish his own overlordship. They were tornasunder'by mutual jealousies and their greed blindedthem so that they could not see the right path. Theresult was that the mighty Sikh Empire which hadstruck terror into the hearts of the Afghan warriorsacross the Indus, broke down with a crash.

Raja Hira Singh who had avenged sodramatically the death of Maharaja Sher Singh andhis Prime Minister, Raja Dhian Singh, his own father,

How it came into the Hands of the British 105

was chosen as the Prime Minister of Maharaja DaleepSingh. This was not liked by Maharaja's maternaluncle, Raja Jawahar Singh and Sardar Suchet Singh,the uncle of Raja Hira Singh. Both of them werethemselves aspirants for the job, which the latter hadobtained by virtue of his fearlessness, bravery andskill with which he handled the delicate situationafter the cruel assassination of Maharaja Sher Singh.He was popular with the Khalsa Army with whosehelp he was able to capture his uncle who wassubsequently killed. He did not spare his comradesand associates, which included Kashmira Singh(another son of the late Maharaja Ranjit Singh) andother Sandhanwalia Sirdars. He was, however, unablefor long to hold the reins of power. In fact, the internalintrigues and mutual jealousies of the SikhSirdars,who had at one time been the pillars of the SikhThrone, had assumed such dangerous dimensions thatit was not possible for anyone of them to remain inpower for long. Jawahar Singh, brother of RaniJindan, the mother of the young king, by virtue ofhis advantageous position, gathered round him anumber of Sikh Sirdars and besieged the Haveli ofRaja Hira Singh. It was not possible for the latter tooffer any resistance on account of the superior numberof the forces surrounding them. In consultation withMissar Jalla, one of his trusted lieutenants, hemanaged to escape with all the treasures and jewelsin his custody; but Raja Jawahar Singh got the newsof this daring bid for power. His men gave a hot


pursuit to the fleeing party and near Kala Shah Kaku,about 10 miles from Lahore, the party was overtakenand put to the sword. Jawahar Singh then assumedpower as Prime Minister of his young nephew. Hetoo shared the sad fate of his predecessor. OnePeshawara Singh, a popular Sikh Sirdar, was put tothe sword. This created a flutter in the ranks of thearmy which suspected the hand of the Prime Ministerin this cruel assassination. They revolted and RajaJawahar Singh was, in the very presence of his sisterRani Jindan, beheaded. Raja Lal Singh was then chosen as the Prime Minister of the tottering Sikh State.

Raja Lal Singh was afraid of the Sikh Army.There was no love lost between the two. His policywas to keep the soldiers busy somewhere or other sothat they might not turn their attention towards him.Rani Jindan had great confidence in Lal Singh and shebacked him in his selfish policy. On the borders ofthe Sikh State, British armies were holdingmanoeuvres. Raja Lal Singh and Rani Jindansuspected that they were trying to take advantage ofunsettled conditions of the Sikh Empire byprecipitating some crisis in order to annex the fertileregions of the Punjab in their fast-swelling Empire.They, therefore, induced the Sikh Nobles to unite inface of the common enemy. A huge army under RajaTeja Singh, forty-two thousand strong besides tenregiments of infantry and strong cavalry, weredespatched to attack the British forces. Raja TejaSingh was supported by Lal Singh himself with a force


of infantry, twenty-two thousand strong. The fIrst fighttook place at Mudki near Ferozepur on 18th December1845. Raja Lal Singh fled from the battle at a criticaltime resulting in the defeat of the Sikh Army, Thesecond encounter took place at Bhai Bhairon on 21 stDecember 1845. Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy andCommander-in-Chief, was himself leading the BritishForces. The Sikh army gave proof of its mettle andoffered a very tough resistance to the trained Britishforces. Now it was the turn of Raja Teja Singh to taketo his heels. His flight decided the fate of this battle.At Bheronwal, the Sikhs were defeated once again.They, however, gathered their scattered forces and metthe British army at Ali Wal in 1846. This time, it wasanother chief, Sardar Ranjodh Singh, who fled andsealed the fate of the Khalsa. Sardar Sham SinghAtariwala, the father-in-law of the late MaharajaNaunihal Singh was now chosen as the SupremeCommander of the Khalsa forces. He gave a verytough fight to the British at Sabraon. His lead of theKhalsa forces was distinguished by the dramaticallybold stand made by the Sikh soldiers and for a timetheir victory seemed almost certain; but alas! fate onceagain cast its die against them. The brave Commanderin-Chief, Sham Singh Atariwala, was killed in action.As soon as the soldiers came to know that they hadbecome leaderless they ran away helter skelter. On11 th of February 1846, the British forces enteredKasur. These battles weakened the Khalsa very muchand many brave soldiers and generals were killed.


Finding further resistance useless, the Sikhsentered into negotiations with the British through RajaGulab Singh and settled the following terms:-

(i) Sikhs were to pay one and a half crore ofrupees as reparation to the British.

(ii) All arms were to be surrendered to theBritish and size of the Sikh Army was tobe considerably reduced.

(iii) The British Government was to be giventhe power of supervision and control overthe Lahore Durbar.

(iv) Raja Lal Singh and Maharaja Daleep Singhwere to be presented to the GovernorGeneral.

Having got a hand in the affairs of the LahoreDurbar, the British began to play their favourite gameof sowing seeds of discord amongst the Sikh nobilitywhich was already torn asunder by a thousandrivalries and jealousies. Their internal differenceswere widened and manipulated and each one of themwas set against the other in such a skilful mannerthat in a very short time, the Khalsa Nobility wasreduced to utter helplessness. Raja Lal Singh wasinterned at Benaras, where after a short while he wasjoined by Rani Jindan, who was also ordered to quitthe Punjab. A Council of Regency consisting of eightmembers was formed under the presidentship of SirJohn Lawrence, to look after the affairs of the State.


Now, no one was left to organise the failing.forces of the Khalsa and everyone of the onceferocious Khalsa Chiefs became tame as lamb. OnlyDewan Mool Raj, Governor of Multan, did not stoopbefore the British and maintained his dignity andindependence. He was a thorn in the side of the Britishwho were determined to establish their overlordshipin the fertile Punjab. On some pretence or otherDewan Sawan Mal who was proving an impedimentin the way of the British design over the Punjab, hadto be removed. A handle to do so was soon foundand accounts were demanded from him. By raisingmany a storm in the tea cup, the British managed tocapture Dewan Mool Raj and he was sentenced totransportation for life. This brave man, luckily orunluckily, died during his journey to the gaol.

Dewan Sawan Mal, the son of Dewan Mool Raj,was able to secure the help and co-operation ofvarious Sirdars who united to make a last bid to wrestpower which was quickly passing out of their hands.At Ram Nagar, Saadullahpur and Chalianwala, fiercebattles were fought which proved very costly to boththe sides. The Sikh army was fighting under thecommand of Sardar Sher Singh and inflicted somecrushing defeats on the British forces but the star ofthe Khalsa was fast sinking and they could not fightthe fates which had ranged themselves against themon the side of the British. At Gujrat, the last bigbattle was fought on 12th March 1849, where aftershowing wonderful feats of valour, the Khalsa army


at last capitulated to the superior and better organisedforces. On the 29th of March 1849, the Punjab wasannexed to the British Empire by Lord Dalhousie.The Treaty drawn on this occasion effaced fromexistence the glorious Empire which Maharaja RanjitSingh had so magnificently built. The chief terms ofthis Treaty were as below :-

(i) His Highness Maharaja Daleep Singh shallresign for himself, his soldiers and hissuccessors, all rights, titles and claims tothe sovereignty of the Punjab or to anysovereign power whatsoever.

(ii) All property of the State of whateverdescription and wheresoever found, shall beconfiscated to the Hon' ble East IndiaCompany in part payment of the debt dueby the State of Lahore to the BritishGovernment and of the expenses of the war.

(iii) The gem· called Koh-i-Noor which wastaken from Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk byMaharaja Ranjit Singh shall besurrendered by the Maharaja of Lahoreto the Queen of England.

(iv) His Highness Daleep shall receive from theHon'ble East India Company for the supportof himself, his relatives and the servants ofthe State, a pension of not less than fourand not exceeding five lacs of Company'srupees per annum.


(v) His Highness Daleep Singh shall be treatedwith respect and honour. He shall retain thetitle of Maharaja Daleep Singh Bahadur andhe shall continue to receive during his lifesuch portion of the pension abovementioned as may be allotted to himpersonally, provided he shall reside at suchplace as the Governor-General of India mayselect.

This treaty called the Treaty of Lahore was drawnand accepted at Lahore on the 29th of March 1849and ratified by the Right Hon'ble the GovernorGeneral on the 5th of April 1849.

Lord Dalhousie felt very proud of hisachievement in adding a rich and fertile province tothe British Empire in India. Writing about it to hisfriends at home, he said, "What I have done, I havedone on my own responsibility. I think it to be just,politic and necessary, my conscience tells me thework is one I can pray God to bless, and I shall awaitthe decision of the country with perfect tranquillity.If the Government disapproved of my act, you willsee me at Frogmore before summer is over. If theysanction and approve (as unless they are maniacsthey must do) their approval must be full andconspicuous. It is not every day that an officer of

.their Government adds four millions of subjects tothe British Empire and places the historical jewel ofthe Moghul Emperors in the Crown of her sovereign."


It would be interesting to read the followingremarks of Mr. -Ludlow in this connection. Theirhumour and sense of sarcasm are worthy of note:

"Daleep Singh was an infant, his minority wasonly to end in 1854. We were his declared protectors.On our last advance into his country we hadproclaimed (18th November 1848) that we came topunish insurgents and to put down all 'armedopposition to the constituted authority'. We fulfilledthat pledge by annexing his whole country within sixmonths. On the 24th March 1849, the kingdom ofPunjab was declared to be at an end, the child, ourprotege, was pensioned off; all State propertyconfiscated to the Company, the celebrated diamond,the Koh-i-Noor, surrendered to the Queen. In otherwords, we 'protected' our ward by taking his wholeterritory from him.

"If it was right to annex the Punjab, it shouldhave been after the first Sikh War. Then the Sikhswere the aggressors and we had no pledges towardsthe boy sovereign. We were entitled, having conqueredthem, to make what terms we pleased. The quick eyeof Sir Charles Napier saw this, he literally censuredthe blunder. But having once recognised andundertaken to protect Daleep Singh, it was a mockeryto punish him for the faults of his subjects. Asbetween us and him in putting down insurrection, wewere simply fulfilling our duty towards him. No suchact on the part of his subjects could give us any title


against him. Fancy, if you can, a widow lady with ahouse full of mutinous servants who turn out andattack the poFce. The police knock them on the head,walk into the house and kindly volunteer to protectthe mistress against any violence on their part. Aquarrel again breaks out, the treacherous are againsuccessful and the inspector now politely informsthe lady that her house and the estate on which itstands are no longer her own; but will be treated asfee to the Police that on being turned out she willreceive and annuity equal to about one and six pencein the pound of her rental and that she must handover for the use of Chief Commissioner her bestdiamond nceklace. Is this an exaggerated version ofour conduct towards that innocent boy Daleep Singhnow grown into a Christian gentleman."

£12,000 per annum.£15,000" "£25,000" "

1846 to 18491856 to 18581858 onwards

The terms of the Treaty they certified, thoughvery harsh indeed, were disregarded by the contractingparty, the British conquerors. The terms as to theconfiscation of the property and the territories werestrictly followed but term regarding the pension tothe helpless and unfortunate Maharaja was nevercarried out. Taking that ten rupees of the cqmpanycould be exchanged for one pound sterling, he wasentitled to about £45,000 per annum. But he was notpaid that amount as would be clear from the detailsgIve'. :-

FromFromFrom


These figures speak for themselves and constitutea ~~d commentary on the attitude of the British. Thegrabbing of the Koh-i-Noor was the most unjustifiablepart of this unfair and unjust treaty of which LordDalhousie was so much proud. Why was thishistorical diamond snatched away from the youngMaharaja? There was absolutely no justification forthis. But the history of this ill-omeneddiamond is somuch full of such acts of high-handedness andinjustice that this act of the British constituted onlya link in a long chain. Shah Shuja had once remarkedthat this diamond could be acquired by the flash ofthe sword or could come through the grace of king.To what category did this grabbing belong?

It did not stop at that. Many other jewels of theyoung and innocent Maharaja, who was only a minorand could not be held responsible for what hisMinisters or Generals did, were quietly taken awayfrom him. No mention was made about them in theTreaty. It is stated that Lord Dalhousie was veryparticular about the jewels of the Sikh Treasury andhad an eye on them long before the Sikh territorieswere actually annexed. He ordered a detailedinspection of the Maharaja's treasury and issued strictorders that none of the jewels, especially the Koh-iNoor, should be allowed to be taken away. He orderedstrong and reliable guard for the period of transitionof the valuable jewels.


In this connection it would not be out of placeto quote here a passage from that valuable book ofBosworth, entitled "Life of Lord Lawrence""Shortly before the decree of annexation went forth,Lord Dalhousie had written to Henry Lawrence tomake every disposition for the safe custody of StateJewels, which were about to fall into the lap of theEnglish." In a letter dated April 27th on the subjectof the Maharani, who had just escaped from ourhands, he remarks : "This incident, three months ago,would have been inconvenient; now it does not signifyso much. At the same time it is discreditable as Ihave been annoyed by the occurrence. As guardiansseem so little to be trusted, I hope you have takenproper precautions in providing full security for thejewels and the crown property at Lahore, whereremoval would be a more serious affair than that ofthe Maharani." .

"On entering a palace, which they dreamedwould be stocked with valuables ready for Englishuse, they found that the treasury was empty and thejewels were gone. Great care was, therefore, needed,especially as among the Punjab jewels was thematchless Koh-i-Noor, 'the Mountain of Light', whichit was intended should be expressly surrendered bythe young Maharaja to the English Queen."

So it would appear that great care was taken thatthis unique and historical jewel should not go out ofthe hands of its new masters.

CHAPTER XVI

SIR JOHN LAWRENCE ANDKOH-I-NOOR

Koh-i-Noor was brought out from theToshakhana' by Dr. Login who was placed in chargeof the minor Maharaja. It was then carefully depositedalong with countless other jewels in the citadelunderground.

I. A picture of the Toshakhana is thus drawn by Mr. RobertAdams, a cousin of Lady Login, in a letter written to her fromLahore on the 2nd of November, 1849:-

"I wish that you could walk through that same Toshakhanaand see its wonders! The vast quantities of gold and silver, thejewels, not to be valued, so many and so rich! the Koh-i-Noor,far beyond what I had imagined and perhaps above all theimmense collection of magnificent Kashmere Shawls, rooms fullof them laid out on shelves and heaped up in bails-it is not tobe described! And all this made over to Sir John Login withoutany list. or public document of any sort, all put in his hands to

Sir John Lawrence and Koh-i-Noor 117

The Koh-i-Noor was formally handed over tothe Punjab Government, which consisted of threemembers, Sir Henry Lawrence, John Lawrence ande.G. Gausel, with the former as President. The Kohi-Noor was given in the custody of John Lawrenceby the Board. Perhaps the other members of the Boardthought him of the three, the most practical andbusiness-like-and no doubt in most matters he was.How could a man so careless of the conventionalitiesof life, a man who never wore a jewel on his persontill ordered and when compelled to do so, and eventhen he used to put them so remorselessly in thewrong place, that the court custumier exclaimed indespair that he would lose reputation by him, inspiteof all his pains-how, I ask, was it likely that sucha man would realise the inestimable value of the jewel

set in order, value, sell, etc. that speaks volumes, does it not, forthe character that he bears, with those whose good opinions areworth having. Few men, I fancy, would have been so implicitlytrusted.

"The old Treasurer Misr Maharaj gave him every assistanceand said, 'the relief to his mind was great at being free ofresponsibility'. He said that the Koh-i-Noor had been the causeof so many deaths having been fatal to so many of his ownfamily, that he never expected to be spared.

"Login followed the advice given him by Misr Maharajwhen showing the jewels to visitors, to keep it in his own hand,with the ribbon cards that tied it as an armlet twisted round hisfingers. It was still set, as before described, as an armlet with adiamond on each side of the Koh-i-Noor as a contrast of size."


entrusted to him? And again, what was the custodyof a court jewel compared with that of the happinessof the millions for which he was also responsible?Anyhow, half-unconsciously he thrust it, wrapped upin numerous folds of cloth, into his waistcoat pocket,the whole being contained in an insignificant littlebox, which could be thus easily put away. He wentworking as hard as usual, and thought no more of hisprecious treasure. He changed his clothes for dinne.and threw his waistcoat aside, still forgetting all abOQtthe box which contained the Koh-i-Noor.

About six weeks afterwards a message came fromLord Dalhousie saying that the Queen had orderedthe jewel to be transmitted to her at once. The subjectwas mentioned by Sir Henry at the Board, when Johnsaid quietly, "Send for it at once?" "Why, you've gotit!" said Sir Henry. In a moment the fact of hiscarelessness flashed across him. He was horrorstricken and, as he used to describe his feelingsafterwards, when telling the story, he said to himself,"Well! this is the worst trouble I have ever got into.But such was the command over his countenancethat he gave no external sign of trepidation. "Oh!yes, of course, I forgot about it", he said and went onwith the business of the meeting as if nothing hadhappened. He soon, however, found an opportunityof slipping away to his private room and with hisheart in his mouth, sent for his old bearer and saidto him : "Have you got a small box which was in mywaistcoat pocket some time ago?" "Yes, Sahib," the


man replied, "the dibbia (the native word for it); Ifound it and put in one of your boxes." "Bring inhere," said the Sahib. Upon this the old bearer wentto a broken down tin box and produced the little onefrom it. "Open it" said John Lawrence, "and see whatis inside?" He watched the man anxiously enough asfold of the small rags was taken off and great was hisrelief when the precious gem appeared. The bearerseemed unconscious of the treasure which he had inhis keeping. "There is nothing here, Sahib!", he said,"but a bit of glass."

"The Koh-i-Noor was then quickly presented tothe Board so that it might be forwarded to the Queenand when John Lawrence told them this story, greatwas the amusement it caused. The jewel passed, I amtold on good authority, through one or other strikingvicissitudes before it was safely lodged in the Englishcrown. But never I feel sure whether flashing in thediadem of Turk or Moghul or in the uplifted swordof a Persian or Afghan or Sikh2 conqueror did it passthrough so strange a crisis or run a greater risk ofbeing lost for ever than when it lay forgotten in thewaistcoat pocket of John Lawrence or in the brokentin box of his aged bearer."

2. The Koh-i-Noor was never placed in the crown by anyTurk or Moghul possessor and was not studded in the hilt ofanybody's sword, Persian, Afghan or Sikh. This is evidently amis-statement.


Still more adventures awaited the Koh-i-Noor.Its journey from Lahore to Bombay was full of perilsand is described by Col. P.T. Etherton in an admirablearticle entitled "Diamond That Dazzled The World"published in "Everybody" Journal dated 7th Feb.1953. This graphic account is reproduced below :

"The let-off gave Sir John such a fright that heapplied at once for permission to send the stone toBombay, a critical 'enterprise, owing to the dangersof the road, the immense value of the packet, and thelength of time that would be taken by the 1300 milejourney.

"In those days the road from Lahore to Bombayswarmed with robbers, dacoits and Thugs. The Thugscaused great anxiety, for a robber comes at you fairand straight, but a Thug had so many dodges anddisguises that you never knew when he was after youuntil the noose was round your neck.

"The Thugs were the gangsters of their day andtheir instrument of destruction was a silk handkerchiefwith which, by a dexterous movement, they strangledtheir victims. This, however, by no means, describesthe full activities of these travelling killers.

"Strangling was a religious cult with them andconsidered to be an honourable profession. They oftenfollowed their intended victims for hundreds of miles;they had a code of laws and neither women nor oldmen were strangled. Before taking the road, their


deity was consulted and if the omens wereunfavourable, they would not dream of starting.

"So powerful did they become that theGovernment determined to break up the organisation,which they eventually did under the direction ofCaptain Sleeman.

"Sir John Lawrence was set a problem as to howbest to get the jewel to England, and whatsubsequently happened seems to be a matter ofdispute. Some deny the part Lawrence played in it,whilst admitting that this role appears in accounts ofthe gem. It would also seem that he sent two specialmessengers, to travel fast and alone, one with theprecious packet, the other to act as a decoy.

"Anyway, a trustworthy officer was apparentlychosen who carried the gem, and his ride becamelegendary. It was a tale that very nearly had no oneleft alive to tell it.

"The Thugs had got scent of the mission and itwas clear that the officer, who was disguised as aMoslem Merchant, had to contend with the mostformidable confederation of thieves and murderersin Asia. He had not travelled far when he was accostedone morning by a well-dressed and mounted Moslem,but without attendants. He suggested that in view ofthe dangers of the road, the Two Sons of Islam shouldjourney together, but the officer was too old inexperience to be caught by so transparent a device.


The newcomer, however, showed markedunwillingness to be shaken off, until he was told thathe was at liberty to ride ahead or behind, but if infive minutes he was within pistol range the otherwould certainly have a crack at him. So the strangerchecked his horse and fell behind. Farther on, andout of sight of the Thug-for he could be no otherthe officer took shelter in a thicket with the object ofdiscovering whether his affable friend was on histrail. In a short time he came along, and since theirparting had so completely altered his appearance thatno one would have known him for the same man.Imagine his surprise when the officer recognised theperson who had accosted him as a syce (groom) whohad applied for a job a few days previously.

"The officer saw nothing more of his 'friend',but there is little doubt that he rode ahead of him allthe way warning the entire Thug community en routethat the bearer of the Koh-i-Noor was within rangeof their nooses. Some days later he reached the bankof a broad river in full flood; to cross it that nightwas impossible; so he decided to bivouac.

"Just after this two sepoys came up andshuddering at the sight of the rushing river, askedpermission to camp by the officer's fire, explainingthat they belonged to a certain native regiment andwere going home on furlough.

"After supper the sepoys retired to rest and weresoon fast asleep. As the carrier of the gem lay smoking


beside them, he sifted their story and discoveredinaccuracies in their statement about a recentcampaign. His suspicions turned to certainty whenhe saw that in choosing their positions for. the nightthey had placed themselves one on each side of him.So he adopted such precautions as the circumstancesdemanded. He got up and quietly exchanged coveringswith the man nearest to him, shifting his own positionso as to leave the sepoy in the centre and himself onthe flank. Then cocking his pistol, he lay watchful asa weasel, awaiting the result.

"About 3 0'clock, whilst it was still dark, theman sleeping farthest off arose and glided across tohis comrade, who, covered by the officer's cloak,occupied his former position. A moment or two later,he heard a horrible gurgling noise. When the stranglerslackened the noose he threw off the covering to riflethe body; the starlight, which had not been brightenough to reveal his error, now cast a glint on thebuttons of the uniform.

"Appalled at his mistake he turned quickly, onlyto see himself covered by a long cavalry pistol.Grovelling for mercy he was told to take the body tothe river and swim across with it, which he did,striking out for the opposite bank he was never toreach in the still rushing torrent.

"A few days later in this awesome ride the officerfound himself sleeping at an inn where the only otherlodger was a squalid-looking beggar. The night was


intensely hot and both had a bowl of drinking waterbeside their sleeping mats. Although the officer hadno reason to suspect his yellow lodger of sinisterdesigns, he nevertheless adopted the precaution ofplacing a thin piece of muslin on the surface of thewater in his bowl. Waking up in the middle of thenight he struck a match and looked at the bowl; themuslin still floated on the water, but it had intercepteda quantity of fine brown powder that was not therewhen he went to sleep.

"Creeping over to where the man was lying hedetected a long handkerchief of faded yellow silk,wetted with a bullet at one end and stained withblood. Once again he turned the tables-this time byexchanging bowls, and, mounting his horse, rodeaway.

"This was only the beginning, for he had still topass through the centre of the Thug country, the heartand focus of the great Thug system, gloomy junglesin the depths of which were situated temples wherethe Thugs worshipped with dreadful rites and darkincantations. Within a short distance of him werecaves-deep graves containing murdered peopleburied by fifties, the head of one at the feet of thenext, in the approved Thug fashion.

"The road leading past this gruesome spot wasknown among the Thugs by the humorous name of'Strangle Street', for the entire population of thedistrict were Thugs, deeply dyed in villainies


innumerable and flourishing on the proceeds ofmurder.

"The carrier was a brave man and he rode onwith the Koh-i-Noor still safe in his pocket. Everystranger was suspect, for death had many disguises.But he trusted no one and slept as little as his strengthwould permit, until at last he pulled into Bombay."

CHAPTER XVII

DALEEP SINGH 'PRESENTS'KOH-I-NOOR TO QUEEN

VICTORIA

When the diamond reached Bombay, it washanded over to Lt.-Colonel Mackenson and CaptainRamsey for taking it most carefully to London. Thetwo officers sailed with their precious trust forthwithand it was handed over to the Board of Directors. Onthe 3rd of July 1850, this unique jewel was formallypresented to Her Majesty Queen Victoria the Goodby Sir J.W. Hogg, the Deputy Chairman of the EastIndia Company.

In 1851, the Diamond was exhibited by Messrs.Osler in the Great Hyde Park Exhibition. Adescription of this matchless diamond thus appearsin the official Description Catalogue of the Exhibition:

H.M. The Queen ProprietorThe Great Diamond calledKoh-i-Noor, or the

Daleep Singh 'Presents' Koh-i-Noor 127

Mountain of Light. Main AvenueJewel Case in Engine-Cento.Style designed by L. Grover.

. It is followed by a brief history of the Diamondfrom the days of the Mahabharata to the time of itsacquisition by Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

The exhibitors prepared a glass imitation ofthe historical Koh-i-Noor. It was an exact modeland was later on presented to the Punjab Exhibitionand is still preserved in the archives of the LahoreMuseum.

The year next following, i. e., in 1852, thisdiamond was subjected to an unfortunate cuttingoperation which detracted a great deal from itsuniqueness, beauty and lustre. The process wasentrusted to Messrs. Garrad, the well-known diamonddealers, who secured the services of M. Voarsanagar,a famous diamond cutter from M. Coslier's at,Amsterdam. The work was carried on in London andlasted for 38 ~ays. When complete, it reduced thediamond from 186 1/6 to 106 1/16 carats. The costof the cutting was £8,000.

The results, as we have remarked above, weremost unfortunate. A learned authority on the subjectof diamonds, Mr. C.W. King, writing about the cuttingsays: "A most ill-advised proceeding, which hasdeprived the stone of all its historical andminerological value; for as a specimen of a monster


diamond whose native weight and form had been aslittle as possible diminished by Art (for the grandobject of Hindu lapidary is to preserve the weight) itwas unrivalled in Europe, and giving in their stead abadly' shaped shallow brilliant but of inferior waterand only 102lA carats in weight." I

The historic diamond, after it was cut was shownto Maharaja Daleep Singh. How it was done,constitutes an exciting story not without pathos. Theyoung Maharaja was living in London under theguardianship of Lady Login who had been appointedto take charge of him, after the death of her husband,Dr. Sir John Login. The episode is described at lengthin the book, "SIR JOHN LOGIN AND DALEEPSINGH" and we make no apologies for reproducingit here :

"Hitherto, since the arrival of the Maharaja inEngland, the subject of Koh-i-Noor had not beentouched on in his presence; his Governor and ladyLogin were, however, well aware of his sentimentson the matter, as indeed he had made no secret ofthem. They knew that to him Koh-i-Noor meantsomething beyond a mere jewel of fabulous value inhis eyes and in the eyes of the oriental nations; itwas an object of superstitious veneration as thesymbol of Imperial Sovereignty over Hindustan andthe countries adjacent marking its possession as chief

l. This is again incorrect. The weight is 106 1/16 carats.


amongst the rulers of Southern Asia. It was on thisaccount that Ranjit Singh had made such strenuousefforts to get it into his hands, as setting the seal tohis ambitious designs and for this reason too that henever trusted it far from his own person, but had italways conveyed with him, under a strong guardwherever he went.

"Lady Login was present, by special desire, atall sittings for the Maharaja's portrait, given by himat Buckingham Palace. At one of these, the Queen inthe course of conversation, asked her "If the Maharajaever spoke of the Koh-i-Noor and if so, did he seemto regret it," observing at the same time that she hadnever mentioned the Jewel to him and would feel acertain delicacy about wearing it in his presence. LadyLogin replied that he had never spoken of it since hecame to England though he had often done so inIndia, and had been greatly interested in thedescriptions of the operation of re-cutting it. HerMajesty then said that she hoped Lady Login wouldbe able, before the next sitting, to ascertain what theMaharaja's feelings were on the subject and whetherhe would care to see it now that it was re-cut, adding,'Remember to tell me all he says'.

"This was by no means an easy task for LadyLo~,in for she dreaded what the Maharaja might sayand did not wish to bring the matter formally intodiscussion. No good opportunity presented itself asdays went on, until just the day before the next sitting,


when, as she was riding with him in Richmond Park,sl:~ managed to lead the conversation up to thesubject, then trying to put the question in a casualmanner. "Would you like to see the Koh-i-Noofagain?" She waited in some anxiety for the reply."Yes" was his answer, "I would give a great deal tohold it again in my own hand." "Why? For whatreasons?" "I should like to take it in my power, myselfto place it in her hand, now that I am a man. I wasonly a child then when I surrendered it to Her Majestyby the Treaty, but now I am old enough to understand.

"The feeling of relief caused by this answer wasgreat and it was with a light heart that she repeatedit to the Queen on the following day.

"Unknown to the Maharaja, who was engagedwith the painter at the farther end of the room, HerMajesty' at once gave orders for the Koh-i-Noor to besent for from the Tower. After some interval therewas a slight bustle near the door, the arrival of thejewel and its escort was announced and it was broughtin and presented to Queen Victoria.

"Taking the diamond in her hand, Her Majestythen advanced to the dais, on which the Maharajawas posed for his portrait and before the astoundedyouI\gman realised what was passing, he foundhimself once more with the Koh-i-Noor on his handswhile the Queen was asking him if 'he thought itimproved', and whether he would have recogn'sed itagain'. At first sight, indeed, he would hardly have


done so, the cutting and European setting had soaltered its character, yet in spite of these it remainedstill the 'Mountain of Light' and it was with someemotion and eagerness that he walked to the windowand minutely examined it, making remarks on itsdiminished size and greater brilliance, whilst thespectators could not help watching his movementswith some anxiety. It was a nervous quarter of anhour for Lady Login.

. "But when at length he had finished hisinspection, Daleep Singh walked across the room and,with a low obeisance, presented the Koh-i-Noor tohis sovereign, expressing in a few graceful words thepleasure it afforded him to have this opportunity ofhimself placing it in her hands. Whereupon, he quietlyresumed his place on the dais and the artist continuedhis work."

One cannot say whether the description givenabove about the feelings and emotions of DaleepSingh genuinely paint them in their true colours, but·if it does, then wonderful must be the self-possessionand resignation of Maharaja Daleep Singh!

After the re-cutting, the Koh-i-Noor was placedin the Royal Crown worn by the Queens of England.It is so by ch'ance or is it so by purpose? Havingbrought miseries and misfortunes to so many rulersin India, Persia and Afghanistan, it was perhapsthought safer by the wise Englishman to fix it in theCrown of the King's consort, rather than in that of


the King himself. So the Koh-i-Noor, the mostglamorous, the most dazzling and the most preciousDiamond of the world, now embellishes and decoratesthe Royal Crown of the Queens of England.

Maharaja.Ranjit.Singh.by.N.B.Sen.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Maharaja.Ranjit.Singh.by.N.B.Sen.pdf