The Koh-I-Noor Diamond

The Koh-I-Noor diamond is one of the most famous diamonds known dating back 5000 years before the time of Christ. Koh-I-Noor means “Mountain of Light”. The first mention of the stone that I could find was in 1296 when Ala-ed-Din defeated King Gujrat at which time he acquired many treasures. The Koh-I-Noor diamond was believed to be one of them. Two centuries later, Barbur meaning “lion” invaded India and was later invited by Daulat Khan, the ruler of Punjab, to help him fight his nephew Ibrahim Ladi, the Sultan of Delhi who had been proven to be a tyrannical ruler. In 1526, Barbur killed Ibrahim Lodi and his military partner, Vikramaditya. He had sent Vikramaditya’s jewels including the Koh-I-Noor diamond to the fort of Agra. Some believed the diamond was in the possession of the mother of Ibrahim Lodi. After coming to Arga and the diamond was given as a gift to Humayun, Barbur’s son after a battle with Vikramaditya people. Some say it was given to Humayun by Ibrahim Lodi’s mother who actually owned the diamond. Others say it was passed down by Humaan’s father Babur. Humayun went to Persia to see the leader Shah Tahmash. He was treated royally and it was believed he gave the Kol-I-Noor diamond and other jewels to the Persian leader. He did not see its real value and sent it to India as a present to Burhan Nizam, the Shah of Ahmednagar. The emissary never delivered the diamond and orders were sent out for his arrest. Much bloodshed, many murders and wars have since passed since that time and in 1850 the Koh-I-Noor diamond showed up in England. Today, the Koh-I-Noor diamond is set in the Maltese Cross at the front of the crown made for Queen Elizabeth. During maintenance and cleaning in 1988, the diamond was taken out and weighed. Its current weight has been revised from 186cts to 105.60cts.