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Sat 30 May 1953 - Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954)
Page 6 - Fascinating History of World's Best Diamonds
With the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth next Tuesday, and the many
references to the Crown Jewels that she will wear, the history of the world's
best known diamonds - the Koh-i-Noorr, the Mughal and the Pitt or Regent -
make fascinating reading.
The Indian mines of Kil-
lur produced all three. Al-
though none of these
stones is in India today,
their early and eventful
history is closely knit in
the pattern of India's poli-
tical history.
It is perhaps the Koh-i-Noor
that has left tile most blazing
trail in its slow but exciting
journey from Killur to the
British Crown.
Literally speaking, the words
"Koh-i-Noor" mean "a moun-
tain of light". The stone weigh-
ed 793 carats. There is a state-
ment corroborating the above
fact in the literature of Aur-
angzeb's time (1619-1707). As
the Indian lapidary hates cut
ting a stone, it may be safely
assumed that the Koh-i-Noor
originally did weigh 793 carats
and lay uncut till the Mughal
king ordered its cutting. Hor-
tense Borgia, a Venetian lapid-
ary, who undertook the task,
was so clumsy that he reduced
the weight of the stone to 186
carats. It was again cut in
1852 and the weight reduced to
106 or 102 carats.
Whereas once Orloff was the
only rival of Koh-i-Noor, sev-
eral stones weigh more today.
The Koh-i-Noor's greatest
merit today is its age. It is one
of the most ancient gems
known. In water and colour it
is inferior and it has a greyish
tinge. Its shape is of the regu-
lar brilliant.
The first mention of the
Koh-i-Noor, according to tradi-
tion, is in 57 B.C., when it is
said to have been in the pos-
session of Raja Vikramaditya
of Ujjain and Malwa. The
stone seems to have laid ih the
Malwa treasury for some cen-
turies. In 1304, When the Khilji
ruler ransacked Malwa, he ap-
pears to have brought the
stone to his treasury in Agra.
When in 1526 (after the
battle of Panipat) Babar laid
the foundation of the Mughal
kingdom, his son discovered the
diamond amongst the treasures
of Agra. For three centuries it
remained in the proud posses-
sion of the Mughals. Strangely
enough, so far it bore no name!
When Nadir Shah plundered
Delhi in 1729 and entered the
Mughal palace, the defeated
ruler Mohammad Shah was
wearing this huge unnamed
stone in his turban. "A verit
able mountain of light," shout-
ed Nadir; hence the stone's
christening.
In 1730, the Koh-i-Noor left
India for Khorasan as part of
Nadir's loot. After 80 years, it
came back to India in 1810,
safely hidden in the bosom of
the fugitive king, Shah Shu-
jah Durrani. When Sha Shu-
jab sought asylum in North
India, Maharaja Ranjit Singh
was the ruler of the Punjab.
It was the lion of the Punjab
who extorted the Koh-i-Noor
out of Durrani's possession in
exchange for promised aid to
recover the lost Afghan throne
for him.
When after the Sikh wars
the British occupied the Pun-
jab in 1850, Sir John Law-
rence took it out of the treas-
ury and used to carry it in
his waistcoat pocket till Lord
Daihousie presented it to
Queen Victoria and it was set
in the British Crown.
® Now Lost
Known to the world as
the largest authentic speci-
men of a diamond, the
Mughal is now lost.
According to the great trav-
eller Tavernier, the stone
weighed 787½ carats (only a
few carats less than the Koh-i
Noor). It was full of flaws, so
Shah Jehan, the great lover of
diamonds, wanted it cut.
Again, Hortenso Borgia, the
best available lapidary (Who
had cut the Koh-i-Noor also),
was given the task of cutting
it. He tried giving it a ro-
sette shape with a high
crown on it and so ruined
it. In the process of cutting
it came down to 240 carats.
The stone had at this stage a
crack, but was of very high
water.
In 1650, Mir Jumla, the Per
sian Wazir of QolCodna. found
the Mughal while farming the
Gani diamond mines of Kol
hu\ The amazing diamond, ac
cording to Bernier, the trav
eller-historian, was only one of
the sackful of diamonds " Mir
Jumla had. When this fact
came to be known, the willy
wazir presented the Mughal
to Prince Aurangzeb who was
then the Governor of the
South on behalf of Shah
Jehan, his father.
In 1739, when Nadir Shah
sacked Delhi, he took- the Mug-
hal away as a part of his
booty. After this, fact ahfl fic
tion became mixed up again,
the Darya-e-Noor, which studs
the Persian crown, is supposed
to be the Mughal, though lap-
idaries dispute the fact. The
stone is probably lost.
* Brought Luck
The Pitt was found At
Purtial in 1701, almost ly
ing on the roadside, about'
45 miles away from Gol-
conda.
Originally weighing 419 car-
ats, it is a perfectly cut bril-
liant, The cutting took about
two years' patient work and
cost £5.000, reducing its weight
to 136⅞ carats. A stone of
the highest water shape and
purity, the Pitt is considered
to be the world's best diamond.
Historically speaking, we
first hear of this stone when
William Pitt, Governor of
Fort St. George, Madras,
bought it for £12,500 from a
Parsee mcrchant, named Jam
Chand. Hence the name Pitt.
In 1712, Pitt took it home
to England and was so fearful
of losing it that he changed
his room and plans without
notice, spent sleepless nights
and soon lost his health. In
1717, the French Regent
Orleans bought the Pitt for
£135,000 and renamed it the
Regent. In France, the Regent
became involved in the histor-
ical Garde Mobile robbery but
was later rediscovered under
mysterious circumstances.
Unlike the Koh-i-Noor, the
Pitt brought luck to its owner.
Napoleon believed that he won
his Empire because he wore
the Regent in the pommel Of
his sword.
Once when the French
National Treasury was empty,
the stone was pledged to a
Berlin merchant and later re-
deemed. It was exhibited In
1855 in France and is today
the proud possession of the
French.
Such is the fascinating story
of these ''Stones of Destiny"
that one wonders whether
their journeys are over or will
they go on their travels again.
(By Leela Kohli.)
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96503185
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page10161109
APA citation
Fascinating History of World's Best Diamonds (1953, May 30).Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved March 30, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96503185
MLA citation
"Fascinating History of World's Best Diamonds"Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954) 30 May 1953: 6. Web. 30 Mar 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96503185>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1953 'Fascinating History of World's Best Diamonds',Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), 30 May, p. 6. , viewed 30 Mar 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96503185
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96503185 |title=Fascinating History of World's Best Diamonds |newspaper=[[Northern Star]] |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 May 1953 |accessdate=30 March 2025 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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