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The Koh-I-Nur: Sultan

THIS is pre-eminently the "Great Diamond of history and romance." Its stirring adventures, when divorced from all connection with Tavernier's "Great Mogul," become intelligible enough. The first distinct and authentic reference to the "Koh-i-Nur" occurs in the subjoined passage from the Memoirs of Sultan Baber, the author of which was a direct descendant of Tamerlane, and founder of the so-called Mogul Empire in Hindostan. Under the date of May 4, 1526, the Sultan writes:-- "Bikermajit, a Hindoo, who was Rajah of Gwalior, had governed that country for upwards of a hundred years. In the battle in which Ibrahim was defeated, Bikermajit was sent to hell. Bikermajit's family, and the heads of his clan were at this moment in Agra. When Humaiun arrived, Bikermajit's people attempted to escape, but were taken by the parties which Humaiun had placed upon the watch, and put in custody. Humaiun did not permit them to be plundered. Of their own free will they presented to Humaiun a 'peshkesh' (tribute or present), consisting of a quantity of jewels and precious stones. Among these was one famous diamond, which had been acquired by Sultan Ala-ed-din. It is so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at half of the daily expense of the whole world. It is about eight mishkels. On my arrival, Humaiun presented it to me as a peshkesh, and I gave it back to him as a present."

That the diamond here referred to is the "Koh-i-Nur," there can be no reasonable doubt; nor indeed has the fact ever been seriously called into question. It will be noticed that, although he speaks of it as already "famous," Baber gives it no particular name, and it did not take its present designation till it passed into the hands of Nadir Shah. The illustrious historian mentions, however, that it "had been acquired by Sultan Ala-ed-din," which enables us to trace its existence some two hundred years further back. The Ala-ed-din here spoken of belonged to the Khilji dynasty, which succeeded that of the Ghuri, and which ruled over a large portion of Hindostan for 33 years, from A.D. 1288 to 1321, when they were replaced by the Toghlaks. Ala-ed-din Khilji had obtained possession of the "famous diamond" in the year 1304, when he defeated the Rajah of Malwa, in whose family it had been as an heirloom from time out of mind. One tradition carries it back to the somewhat legendary Vikramaditya, an ancestor of the Rajah of Malwa here spoken of, and of Baber's Bikermajit, Rajah of Gwaloir. This Vikramaditya flourished in 57 B.C., and is said to have driven the Saca (by which are no doubt meant the Scythians) out of India. But no value can attach to the tradition, which is evidently a sort of afterthought, suggested by the similarity, or rather identity, of the two names Bikermajit and Vikramaditya. At the same time the association is significant, as it serves to show that the gem was at all times regarded as the property of the Rajahs of Malwa, who are sometimes spoken of as Rajahs of Ujein and Gwalior; for all these places were formerly included in the territory of Malwa, which has since been subdivided among the States of Bhopal, Indore, and Gwalior--the dominions of Scindia. We now understand how it happened that the diamond, after being acquired by the Sultan Ala-ed-din in 1304, is found in the possession of Bikermajit, Rajah of Gwalior in 1526. It had evidently been restored to Bikermajit's family by the Khilji ruler after peace had been established between the two states.

A still more obscure and extravagant tradition identifies this stone with one discovered first some 5,000 years ago, in the bed of the Lower Godavery River, near Masulipatam, and afterwards worn as a sacred talisman by Carna, Rajah of Anga, who figures in the legendary wars of the Mahabharata. That such a stone should have been found in such a place is likely enough, as it may well have been washed down to the delta of the Godavery, which flows through one of the oldest and richest diamantiferous regions in the world. But its identification with the stone under consideration rests on no solid foundation, nor will it readily be believed that a gem, which remained unnamed till the eighteenth century, could be unerringly traced back to pre-historic times. Its subsequent history from the time when it fell into the hands of Baber to the present day is inseparably associated with many of the most stirring and romantic events of modern days. But, to quote Maskelyne, though "one long romance from then till now, it is well authenticated at every step, as history seems never to have lost sight of this stone of fate from the days when Ala-ed-din took it from the Rajah of Malwa, five centuries and a half ago, to the day when it became a crown jewel of England."