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TOPIC: Spurgeon - C.H. - What the Stones Say (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: APPENDIX I
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APPENDIX I
THE “KOH-I-NOOR”
MR. STREETER says that this is pre-emi-nently the “Great Diamond of
History and Romance,” and he devotes; a chapter of nearly twenty pages
to it, “which chapter Her Majesty the Queen graciously read in manuscript,
without requesting any correction or alteration in the leading parts of the
story.” We can only give a few jottings from this and other works.
“The history of this gem has this peculiarity, that it can be authenticated at
every step, from the time of Ala-ad-din, who in 1304 obtained possession
of it when he defeated the Rajah of Malwa. Tradition, among other wild
legends, carries back its existence in the memory of India to the year 57
B.c.” This, however, is certain, namely, that in 1526 it was in the
possession of Sultan Baber, of the Mogul dynasty, “who esteemed it at the
sum of the daily maintenance of the world.” “It remained in the possession
of the Mogul dynasty until Nadir Shah’s invasion of India, during the reign
of Mohammed Shah in 1739.” Nadir obtained possession of it by means of
an artful trick. “When he seized the Delhi treasury, he missed this stone,
and for a long time all his efforts to obtain it were baffled. At last a woman
from Mohammed’s harem informed Nadir that the Emperor wore it
concealed in his turban, which he never on any occasion laid
aside.”.…Nadir, who had concluded a treaty with Mohammed, and had no
pretext for quarreling, bethought
him of the: time-honored oriental custom of exchanging turbans in token of
amity. At a grand ceremony held for the purpose of reinstating Mohammed
on the throne of Delhi, Nadir suddenly asked him to change turbans, and
suiting the action to the word, ere his victim had time to think, Nadir
removed his own national sheep-skin headdress, glittering with costly
gems, and replaced it with the emperor’s turban. He hastily dismissed the
durbar, and in his tent examined the turban, found the coveted treasure,
and exclaimed, “Koh-i-Noor!” signifying in English, “Mountain of Light.”
From Nadir’s descendants “the baleful jewel” passed through several
hands, always the innocent cause of deceit and violence, and sometimes
57
torture, until Runjeet Singh, of Lahore, got possession of it in 1813. Ten
years after his death the Sikh mutiny broke out, which resulted in the:
capture of Lahore and the confiscation of the property of the State to the
East India Company, in whose name Lord Dalhousie presented the “Koh-i-
Noor” to Queen Victoria. “It is preserved in Windsor Castle. A model of
the gem is kept in the jewel room of the Tower of London, to satisfy the
laudable curiosity of Her Majesty’s faithful lieges.”
When the diamond came into the possession of our Empress-Queen, its
weight was 186 carats; but as the result of its re-cutting by Mr. Coster of
Amsterdam, its weight is now 106 1/16 carats.