THE CURSE OF THE KOH-I-NOOR DIAMOND

For centuries, the Koh-i-noor has been both a symbol of power and a harbinger of misfortune for its owners. As early as 1306, a Hindu text containing the first reliable mention of the Koh-i-noor reported that the stone carries a deadly curse. The text stated: ‘Only God or a woman can wear it with impunity.’

The Koh-i-noor may be much older than we think. Some associate it with the mythical Syamantaka jewel from ancient Indian epics, which is said to have belonged to the Hindu sun god Surya and had the power to destroy unworthy mortals:

King Satrajit received the Syamantaka jewel by the grace of his patron, the sun god Surya. Hanging the jewel on a chain, he put it around his neck and went to Dwarka. Mistaking him for the sun god, the residents of Dwarka reported to Krishna that the sun god himself had come to see Him. However, Krishna replied that it was not the sun god who had come to Dwarka, but King Satrajit, who shone so brightly because he was wearing the Syamantaka jewel.

— Bhagavad Gita

Queen Victoria, who acquired the diamond through the British East India Company in 1849, took the story of the curse seriously. Male members of the royal family have never worn the Koh-i-noor, and Victoria herself wore it as a brooch or set in a bracelet. After her, the Koh-i-noor passed to Queen Alexandra.

In 1911, it was set into the crown of Queen Mary, and from there, it was transferred to the crown of Queen Elizabeth in 1937.

In 2023, the Queen Consort Camilla used Queen Mary’s redesigned crown at her coronation, but this no longer included the Koh-i-noor.

For years now, activists in India have demanded the return of the diamond, arguing that it was not given freely. The British East India Company seized the territories and assets of the young raja Duleep Singh and forced him to ‘gift’ the diamond to them.

India has made several claims to be the rightful owner of the diamond, which was used in the coronation of the Queen Mother.

Instead, Buckingham Palace announced that Camilla would be crowned with Queen Mary's crown, claiming that its reuse aligns with the interests of ‘sustainability and efficiency’.

— BBC News, 14 February 2023

Over its seven-hundred-year history, the Koh-i-noor has frequently changed hands by way of murder, theft, and betrayal. A forced gift is far from the most outrageous episode in its history.

The Koh-i-noor has belonged to at least twenty or thirty different kings and rulers from various dynasties. Let’s take a quick look at its owners down the ages.

The Koh-i-Noor's origins remain shrouded in mystery and myth. Legends suggest it might have first appeared in historical documents in the thirteenth century during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty in Andhra Pradesh. These documents claim the Kakatiyas captured the diamond from the Paramara dynasty, who supposedly possessed it for centuries before. However, it is impossible to verify these stories.

However, where the Koh-i-noor was initially found remains unknown. Initially, it had a yellowish tint, which Indian rulers did not particularly value. It became crystal-clear centuries later after it was cut for the final time. According to another legend, the diamond was embedded in the forehead of a god's statue in a temple during the Kakatiya dynasty. The dynasty later collapsed, and over the centuries, the diamond passed from one ruling family of South Asia to another.

In the seventeenth century, it was acquired by Shah Jahan of the Mughal dynasty. This emperor commissioned the luxurious Peacock Throne to be made of gold and silver and adorned with rubies, sapphires, and diamonds, among which was the Koh-i-noor. In 1658, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his own son, who imprisoned him in the treasury, where the former ruler died eight years later, surrounded by his beloved jewels.

A few years later, the European jeweler and memoirist Jean-Baptiste Tavernier arrived in India. He saw the Peacock Throne and made the first known sketch of the Koh-i-noor. By this time, though, the diamond had been recut, reducing its weight to 186 carats.

Shah Jahan’s grandsons and heirs fought among themselves, died young from various diseases, and eventually lost both their treasures and their kingdom. In 1739, the Persian ruler Nadir Shah took the Koh-i-noor and other Mughal jewels to Persia. He was soon murdered, and the diamond ended up in the hands of one of his generals. A series of violent deaths followed: sons killed fathers and fathers killed sons. The diamond traveled through the high mountains to Afghanistan and back to India. By 1813, it was in the possession of Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire in the Indian Punjab.

Soon, violence streaked across the Singh family as well, and within four years, the Koh-i-noor changed hands four times. The last surviving heir of Ranjit Singh, the ten-year-old Duleep Singh, became the last representative of the South Asian dynasties to own the Koh-i-noor. The Anglo-Sikh Wars of 1845–46 and 1848–49 culminated in the annexation of Punjab by the British East India Company. After their victory, in 1849, the British, under the Treaty of Lahore, forced the young raja to recognize himself as a subject of the British Crown and ‘gift’ the diamond to Queen Victoria in 1849.

But the curse also worked against the East India Company, who briefly owned the diamond. In 1857, the Indian Rebellion of the Sepoys broke out, nearly destroying the company.

Although male members of the British royal family have never worn the Koh-i-noor, rumors have circulated for over a century that the diamond can harm any nominal male owner. During the coronation of Charles III, St. Edward’s Crown, made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, was used. The new king also went out on the balcony of Buckingham Palace without Kohinoor. He was wearing an Imperial crown decorated with another giant diamond — Cullinan II. When it was revealed in 2024 that the king had been diagnosed with cancer, newspapers questioned whether this was related to the diamond he inherited from his mother. This appearance seemed especially significant to some since, along with the king, the beloved Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, his daughter-in-law, is also undergoing cancer treatment.

Many believe that Charles is taking a significant risk as a male monarch who now owns the Koh-i-noor:

Originating from south India, the precious diamond came into the possession of British royalty and currently adorns the royal regalia of the United Kingdom. Contrary to its Persian meaning, ‘mountain of light’, the gem is considered cursed and brings misfortune to any male monarch who claims it. Debates about the alleged curse of the Koh-i-noor reignited after the recent announcement of King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis.

—Firstpost

Today, any tourist who buys a ticket for entry to the Tower of London can see the legendary stone. The Koh-i-noor is set in the crown of the late Queen Elizabeth II, which lies behind a bulletproof display case, glittering innocently and not too brightly. Visitors move along a walkway in front of the display cases, and the crowd flows past under the watchful eyes of the guards.

The atmosphere, however, is relaxed, as the first and last time thieves attempted to steal something from the Royal Treasury was more than 350 years ago—in 1671.