KARACHI: The story of the Kohinoor, arguably the world’s most famous, and in some respects controversial, diamond has more than a couple of versions. The book titled Kohinoor — The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand that was launched at a local hotel on Wednesday evening, seeks to provide an authentic account of the diamond’s history and how it landed in England.

The authors gave a detailed two-part presentation of the book. Mr Dalrymple spoke first. He said the Kohinoor had been for a long time an object of envy, lust, greed and divisiveness. It generated a huge amount of heat but very little light. Last year, there was a bizarre statement given by the Indian solicitor general in which he claimed that the diamond was not looted by the British but was given to them as a gift by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. When the diamond was acquired by the British in 1849, the maharaja would’ve been 10 years in his grave. So the book intended to be a myth-busting one, he said.

Mr Dalrymple said the diamond was claimed by five sovereign states starting with Z. A. Bhutto. India followed suit, as did Iran and Afghanistan, and more recently Mullah Omar of the Taliban. The authors’ attempt was to clear away the fog.

Mr Dalrymple said Indian diamonds came from the alluvial diamond beds of southern India. Very occasionally they were larger than small crystals; one such was the Kohinoor. It had a charisma, a history and the power to create division. Diamonds from southern Indian were always a great export. In India, diamonds were regarded as objects of value as well as sparks of the divine.

Mr Dalrymple said when the Mughals came to India they had quite a different attitude to gemstones. They attached more importance to spinels and rubies. For them, the top tier was reserved for spinels and the second tier for diamonds and pearls. But Shah Jahan decided to have a gem collection, and collected a massive number of stones. His Peacock Throne was studded with gems, including the Kohinoor.

Mr Dalrymple said the Kohinoor stayed in the Peacock Throne until the arrival of Nadir Shah on the scene, who rose to power through sheer brilliance of military strategy. He was born in an age where chivalry was valued, and at the same time it was an age where the musket was discovered. Heavy muskets became an important part of warfare. By this time the Mughal Empire had begun getting fractured. Nadir Shah accumulated the wealth of India. The diamond changed hands and went to Ahmed Shah Abdali, who established himself as the ruler of Afghanistan.

Abdali beat the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat, but his face was eaten by tumour because of which he built a golden mask with diamonds to cover his face. Then the Kohinoor was passed on to his grandson Zaman Shah, who was captured by the Shinwari tribe. When Shah Shuja came to power he sent out a search party to get the diamond; and he got it. At this point, the British came in. Shah Shuja, after a battle, ran to Lahore where he was sheltered by Ranjit Singh after which the diamond became Singh’s property.

At that juncture Ms Anand took over from Mr Dalrymple and focused on Ranjit Singh’s family and how the diamond subsequently reached England. Highlighting the ‘curse’ of the Kohinoor, she talked about the ‘horror’ that followed Ranjit Singh’s death. Ranjit Singh’s son Kharak Singh was not well-thought of, therefore his generals conspired against him and poisoned him. When Kharak Singh died his son Naunehal Singh held the reins of power, but when he was coming back from his father’s funeral, a block of masonry fell on him. His mother was desperate to keep the diamond and the whole of Punjab. However, Sher Singh, another son of Ranjit Singh, had already laid siege to Lahore.

Sher Singh now had the Kohinoor strapped to his arm. Interestingly, Sher Singh’s generals then came to show him a modern gun, and the gun went off ‘accidentally’. So the youngest son of Ranjit Singh — never meant to be king — Duleep Singh was now declared maharaja. But Duleep was too young and the British were watching this. So a manufactured Anglo-Sikh war was provoked by the British, as a result of which James Andrew Broun Dalhousie got hold of the diamond and arranged for it to be shipped to England. It was in 1851 that Queen Victoria saw the Kohinoor for the first time.

Ms Anand also spoke about how even after reaching England the curse of the Kohinoor continued.

Answering a question, Ms Anand said the diamond could be seen in the Tower of London. Replying to another query, Mr Dalrymple said the British were not going to let go of the Kohinoor, though morally the question was complex.

Earlier, managing director of Oxford University Press Ameena Saiyid welcomed the guests.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2017