Koh-i-Noor
William Dalrymple, Anita Anand, 2017
352 pages
Read in 2026.09
Check the synopsis and details on amazon.com
🔽 Summary 🔽
★★★★★ A huge diamond that has a mysterious origin and dazzling history. The world's most famous diamond, the cursed jewel, its history written by 2 wonderful historians so it's the book's destiny to be exciting and entertaining. And the curse continues.
🔽 Book review 🔽
The world's most famous diamond, the cursed jewel.
And it's a book that brought 2 wonderful historians (and podcasters) together.
As expected, it's both entertaining and exciting.
Obviously the topic itself is a gem, it's a huge diamond with a mysterious origin and dazzling history.
It officially appears in the record in the subcontinent under Mughal Empire, then it was brought to Afghanistan, then brought back to Punjab, then "gifted" to Queen Victoria in England - while bringing misfortunes to its owners, or specifically, male monarch.
And if you know anything about Mughal Empire (I'm not an expert but I am so intrigued and reading quite a bit about it recently) you know it was hyper luxurious and at the same time incredibly cruel.
Many noble lives were brutally lost around the diamond, but the diamond itself has gone through harsh treatment; it was removed from the glorious Peacock Throne when taken away from Delhi, and when arrived in England, it was cut significantly "to make it more brilliant" and it's now nearly half the original size.
Years ago I saw it in its resting place, for now at least, in Tower of London.
The floor in front of it has moving carpet so you are not really allowed to stop and admire.
It's sad to think that after the magnificent presence in the world history, it's now locked in the dark room in London.
Recently at the coronation of the current king, King Charles, he nor Camila chose to wear it, a wise move considering the heated request/demand to return the diamond to the subcontinent, and not only by India, but also by Pakistan, Iran and Taliban from Afghanistan.
Recently even NY mayor Mamdani mentioned Koh-i-Noor and its return to India, which was, without a doubt, an unexpected "misfortune" to the current monarch King Charles.
The curse continues.
🔽 Related pages 🔽
🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽
●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●
Koh-i-Noor
