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The Greater Gems in the Jewel House: Emperor of Delhi

The diamond was found in the mines of Golconda, in Southern India, and is first heard of when in the possession of the King of Golconda. By various intrigues and stratagems dear to the oriental heart, Shah Jehan, the Emperor of Delhi, obtained possession of the stone in about A.D. 1650. It was first seen by a European, the French traveller Tavernier, when in the possession of the Emperor Aurungzebe, a successor of Shah Jehan in A.D. 1665. The diamond remained at Delhi as the crowning jewel of the Great Moguls till A.D. 1739. In that year by right of conquest it fell to Nadir Shah, King of Persia. A curious story is told of the manner in which Nadir Shah obtained possession of the jewel. Having conquered Delhi and collected the booty which was due to a conqueror, the Koh-i-Nur, the existence of which was well known, failed to appear amongst it. Diligent search was made, but with no result. At last one of the ladies of the harem of Mahomed Shah, the King of Delhi, gave away the secret. She said that her liege lord always wore it concealed in the folds of his turban, and as an Indian rarely parts with his turban, even at night in cold weather, the stone, but for treachery, was fairly safe. On hearing this news Nadir Shah invited Mahomed Shah to dinner, and instead of there and then killing him according to the ethics of the age, he took advantage of an interchange of courtesies, which no Eastern potentate without gross breach of manners could refuse. He proposed changing turbans with his guest. With such good grace as he could command the King of Delhi thus passed the great diamond to the King of Persia. Nadir Shah in due course returned to his own country bearing the Koh-i-Nur with him. When Nadir Shah was murdered one of his bodyguard, an Afghan named Ahmed Shah, stole the great diamond and fled with it to Afghanistan. There he eventually became king and founded the Duranni dynasty. He was succeeded in 1772 by his son Taimur Shah, to whom also went the Koh-i-Nur. The next owner was Shah Shuja, another king of Kabul, who being deposed fled as a refugee to Lahore taking the diamond with him, and placed himself under the protection of the Maharajah Runjeet Singh. Runjeet Singh gladly gave the refugee asylum, but took possession of the priceless stone. With him it remained till 1849 when the British conquered the Punjab, and the stone fell to them by the fortune of war. It had here another curious adventure. The conquered province was being administered by five British officers, amongst whom was Sir John (afterwards Lord) Lawrence, on behalf of the East India Company which then owned India. The council of five debated what was to be done with the Kohi-Nur and failing to come to a decision asked Sir John Lawrence to take charge of it till a decision was arrived at. Sir John wrapped it up in a piece of paper, put it into his waistcoat pocket and forgot all about it. Six weeks after, in the course of business, one of the members of the council remembered that no decision had been come to as to the disposal of the great diamond. After some discussion in which Sir John joined, it was decided to present the stone to Queen Victoria from the Army of the Punjab. Immediately the council was over, Sir John Lawrence mounted his horse, galloped home and summoned his body-servant. "About six weeks ago," he said, "I brought home a piece of glass wrapped in a bit of paper and left it in my waistcoat pocket. What have you done with that piece of glass?" "I placed it, Sahib, just inside your dispatch case, and here it is."

For six weeks the priceless gem had lain at the top of an open dispatch case, in a house open day and night to the four winds!