Other stories have the Koh-i-Noor discovered in a riverbed in 3000 B.C. alongside its pink sister, the Darya-i-Noor, residing today in Iran.
The first time the Koh-i-Noor enters into written history is in 1305 as a stone weighing an extraordinary 793 carats. It passed from hand to hand as regimes rose and fell, always coveted, but never bought or sold, only gained through conquest.
THE FIRST CUT
In the seventeenth century, Emperor Aurangzeb, the last of the great Moghul leaders, wanted to impress a French gemstone expert who was searching the East for rare and special stones. Aurangzeb gave the Italian lapidary Borgio the task of polishing the diamond for the visit. Borgio bungled the job, taking the 793-carat diamond down to a measly 186 carats.
It mattered not, the value of the stone was still overwhelming. It changed hands many more times, through blood and trickery, even going to Pakistan and Persia before returning to India. Thus, all three countries lay claim to it, and regularly petition the British government for its repatriation.
HOW THE KOH-I-NOOR DIAMOND CAME TO QUEEN VICTORIA
In 1850, Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of Lahore and the youngest son of the famous Lion of Punjab, was dethroned by the British, his country (Punjab) annexed. He was forced to hand over the Koh-i-Noor to the British as part of the Treaty of Lahore. However, Duleep Singh wasn’t imprisoned or mistreated. He was feted by British society and became a favorite of Queen Victoria.
THE FINAL CUT
In 1851, Queen Victoria displayed the Koh-i-Noor to the British public. However, the 186-carat diamond hadn’t been changed since the Borgio bungling two hundred years before, and it looked ugly and dull, not the brilliant cut the people expected.
After great debate, Prince Albert hired a lapidary named Coster from Amsterdam to cut the stone again. When Coster was finished, the Koh-i-Noor was radiant with dazzling light. However, the diamond was now a mere 105 carats.
The British have been very careful not to test the curse, and only the women of the Royal Family wear the diamond. The Koh-i-Noor was originally made into a brooch for Queen Victoria, then found its way into crowns for Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary before it came to rest in its current home, the centerpiece of the queen mother’s crown. It can be seen in the Tower of London.
In my story, Parliament has enacted a temporary law allowing the queen mother’s crown to travel to the United States to be the centerpiece of the Jewel of the Lion exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Given what happened, it is highly doubtful the British will ever again allow the prized Koh-i-Noor to leave their shores.