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The Koh-I-Nur: Zaman

Possession of the unlucky gem proved no less disastrous to the Durani dynasty than it had to the Mogul emperors, and to Nadir's family. At his death Ahmed Shah bequeathed it to his son and heir Taimur Shah, who removed the seat of government from Kandahar to Kabul, and who died in 1793. From Taimur it descended, with the crown, to his eldest son, Shah Zaman, who was deposed and deprived of his sight by his next brother, Shah Shuja ul-Mulk. The usurper thus became possessed of the "Koh-i-Nur," which he retained almost to his death; but which, nevertheless, involved him in an uninterrupted series of calamities and sufferings. After having remained for many years concealed in the wall of a stronghold, where Shah Zaman had been confined, the diamond was brought to light by the merest accident. Shah Zaman had, as he supposed, securely embedded it in the plaster of his prison wall. But in course of time a portion of the plaster crumbled away, leaving one of the sharp angles of the crystal exposed, or slightly protruding on the surface, Against this one of the officials happening to scratch his hand, his attention was attracted to the spot, his eye fell on the sparkling facet, and the "Koh-i-Nur" was once more rescued from its hiding place. At all State ceremonials Shah Shuja now wore it on his breast, where it glittered when Elphinstone was sent by the Indian Government as Envoy to Peshawur during that Prince's troubled reign. In his turn dethroned, deprived of his sight, and driven into exile by Shah Mahmud, third son of Taimur, Shah Shuja had contrived, amidst all his disasters, to retain possession of the great diamond, with which he now withdrew to the court of the famous Runjit-Singh, the "Lion of the Punjaub," accompanied by his brother, Shah Zaman, whom, as stated, he had himself already rendered sightless, according to the brutal fashion of the Durani court.