FAMOUS DIAMOND The Koh-i-Noor

It has been said that whoever owned the Koh-I-Noor ruled the world, a suitable statement for this, the most famous of all diamonds and a veritable household name in many parts of the world. Legend has suggested that the stone may date from before the time of Christ; theory indicates the possibility of its appearance in the early years of the 1300s; history proves its existence for the past two and a half centuries. The first writer has stated:

"Reguarding its traditional history, which extends 5000 years further back, nothing need be said here; though it has afforded sundry imaginative writers with a subject for highly characteristic paragraphs we have no record of its having been at any time a cut stone."

The earliest authentic reference to a diamond which may have been the Koh-I-Noor is found in the Baburnama, the memoirs of Babur, the first Mogul ruler of India. Born in 1483, Babur (meaning 'lion' -- the name was not given to him at birth but appears to be a nickname, deriving from an Arabic or Persian word meaning 'lion' or 'tiger') was descended in the fifth generation from Tamerlane on the male side and in th fifteenth degree from Genghis Khan on the female side. With the blood in his veins of two of the greatest conquerors Asia has ever seen, it is not all that surprising that Babur himself should have become a great conqueror in his own right.

As a young man Babur owed his survival and success on the political and military battlefields to a combination of winning personal qualities and swift opportunism; these were to insure his conquest of the plains of northern India. But in addition to being a warrior, Babur was a cultured and civilized man - a writer and poet.

In the Baburnama, Babur alluded to the Sultan Al-ed-Din Khalji, the ruler of Delhi from 1295 to 1316. The year before his accession the Sultan had led an expidition to the Deccan or 'the South', the high and relatively cool plateau between the Narmada and the Tungabhadra-Krishna River, where he conquered Malwa and captured a large amount of booty. At that time, Al-ed-Din was just a prince serving under his uncle, Jalal-Ud-Din, but in 1295 he murdered his uncle in cold blood and became ruler himself. In 1297 Ala-ed-Din defeated the last king of Gujrat and secured more treasure. One account states that he got his hands on the diamond at Gujrat; another says that he obtained the stone from the Deccan. The second version is not impossible because after his defeat the king fled southwards where he was plundered for a second time, on this occasion by Al-ed-Din's generals.

More than two centuries later, at the time of Babur, northern India was divided among largely independent chiefs who were in no mood to resist a determined invader. After several probing raids into India, Babur was eventually invited by Daulat Khan, the ruler of Punjab, to help him with his fight against his nephew Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi, who was proving to be a despotic ruler. In 1526 Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi, at the battle of Panipat; another who was slain was Vikramaditya, the former Rajah of Gwailor, who had fought on the side of Ibrahim Lodi. Before going into battle, Vikramaditya had sent all his jewels to the fort of Agra of which he was the Qilidar. Among these jewels was a notable diamond. It has been considered possible -- though, in view of his disposition, unlikely -- that originally Ala-ed-Din may have rewarded Vikramaditya's ancestors, two faithful brothers, not only with Gwailor but also with the diamond.

Babur came to Agra on May 4th, 1526, and the great diamond was most likely given to him there the next day. There is no reference to it recorded in the Baburnama which reads:

"When Humayun [Babur's son] arrived, Vikramaditya's people attempted to escape, but were taken by the parties which Humayun had placed upon the watch, and put in custody. Humayun did not permit them to be plundered. Of their own free will they presented to Humayun a peshkash, consisting of a quantity of jewels and precious stones. Among them was the famous diamond which had been acquired by Sultan Alaeddin [Ala-ed-Din]. It is so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at half the daily expense of the whole world. It is about eight mishquals. On my arrival, Humayun presented it to me as a peshkash, and I gave it back to him as a present."

There is another account which relates that the diamond was owned, not by Vikramaditya, but by Ibrahim Lodi. According to this version of the story, Ibrahim Lodi's mother was responsible for handing it over to Humayun, the son and successor of Babur; who had been assigned to take possession of all the jewels that had belonged to the slain Sultan of Delhi. After Humayun's men ransacked the Royal Treasury and failed to find the diamond, the servants and Treasury officials were questioned. They remained silent, and even after they had been threatened with dire punishments, none came forward with the information. In the end a servant pointed towards the royal palace.

When Humayun entered the palace the female members of Vikramaditya's family were weeping, so he assured them their honor would be safe in his hands and that he would treat them according to their high station. It was then that Ibrahim Lodi's mother went silently into a room and emerged with a gold box, which, with trembling hands, she handed to the young prince. Humayun opened the box and took out the diamond.
This version, however, is not considered to be the true one by most writers, and the recovery of the diamond from the fort of Agra is reguarded as the authentic one. There has also been much discussion and divergence of opinion about the method of calculating the weight of the diamond: its weight of around eight mishquals, as recorded by Babur, has given rise to a variety of mathematical equations. It is interesting and sifnificant to note, though, that a majority have arrived at a figure of around 186 (old) carats.

Four years after Babur's crucial victory at Panipat, Humayun fell ill. Doctors could do nothing for him; he continued to grow worse. Then someone suggested to Babur that he should sacrifice his dearest possession to save his son. Undoubtedly this individual was hoping that the emperor would consider the diamond met such a role. If so, he was disappointed, because Babur did not agree with this suggestion, saying that his most precious possession was his own life. The story goes that Babur moved around the bed of his ailing son, praying that Humayun's life would be spared and his own life be sacrificed instead. From then on Humayun's condition improved while Babur declined and died in December of 1530.

The reign of Humayun lasted for 26 years but it was the subject of much interruption. After an initial period of about 9½ years' rule he was driven out of India by the Afghan forces of Sher Khan. Humayun fled first to Sind, then to Persia, and did not return to India until after 15 years' exile. Having regained his throne his reign would last only six more months: one day, hearing the call to prayers, he hastily got up, but fell headlong down the stairs of his library, possibly under the effects of opium.

After his defeat by the Afghans and during his subsequent wanderings, there is evidence that Humayun carried with him the large diamond that his father had handed back to him at Agra. For the next 200 years or so, it came to be known as 'Babur's diamond'. Leaving behind his kingdom, his only daughter and numerous wives -- he even abandoned his son, Akbar, when feeling from Afghanistan -- Humayun clung to the diamond. His veneration for it is illustrated by one incident. The ruler of a domain where he had sought sancuary wanted to acquire the gem so, taking advantage of the refugee's plight, he sent one of his courtiers, disguised as a merchant, to bargain with him. When this man presented himself and explained the purpose of his visit, Humayun was furious and replied:

"Such precious gems cannot be bought; either they fall to one by arbitrament of the flashing sword, which is an expression of divine will, or else they come through the grace of mighty monarchs."
The emissary departed quietly.

Humayun's wanderings finally took him to Persia where the country's ruler, Shah Tahmasp, received him cordially. The exiled Mogul emperor was so kindly treated by the Shah that ultimately, as an expression of his gratitude, he gave him valuable jewels. One historian, Abdul Fazal, who later was to be employed as secretary to Akbar, Humayun's successor, has told in his Akbarnama that among the jewels which Shah Tahmasp received was the gem known as 'Babur's diamond', so valuable that it was worth the revenue of countries. Another writer referred to Humayun's gift of the diamond and other jewels and related that Shah Tahmasp was so astonished at seeing them that he sent for his jewelers to appraise them. They told him that they were 'above all price'. This was the way in which Babur's diamond was always spoken of - the value of other diamonds could be estimated, but Babur's diamond could not be appraised except by a fantastic reference to the expenditure of the world.

The presentation of this amazing diamond to the ruler of Persia by Humayun was confirmed by Khur Shah, the Ambassador of Ibrahim Qutb, King of Golconda, at the Persian court. he told of the gift of a diamond of six mishquals, that was requarded to be worth the expenditure of the whole universe for 2½ days. However, he also said that Shah Tahmasp didn't think so highly of it and that afterwards he sent it to India as a present to Burhan Nizam, the Shah of Ahmednagar. But the emissary trusted with the diamond, Mehtar Jamal, may have failed to deliver the stone because Shah Tahmasp later sent out orders for his arrest.
These events took place in 1547. From then on until the sack and plunder of Delhi in 1739 the diamond's history must be one of speculation and conjecture. In the mean time a series of happenings took place which have important bearing on the history of Babur's diamond.

In the early 1650s the reigning Mogul Emperor was Shah Jahan, the great-grandson of Humayun. He appointed his third son, Aurangzeb, to the governorship of the Deccan. Aurangzeb, in his own right, was keen to conquer the independent states in this region of India, one of which was Golconda, where the king's domain included the country's main diamond-mining area.