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68-461: The area known today as Garhi Shahu was known as Mohallah Syedan during the 17th century. It was named after Syed Jan Muhammad Hazuri , a resident religious scholar who is also the namesake of the Hazuri Bagh . The area was a prominent neighbourhood home to many religious intellectuals, including well-known Baghdadi scholar Abu Khair who maintained a renowned madrassah there. After the fall of

136-538: A full-scale invasion of North-West India . This invading force soon captured Delhi where, after a massacre of the civilian population, the army began a systematic looting of the wealth of the city and the treasury of the Mughal Empire. With nearly 10,000 wagons of loot, along with millions of rupees and an assortment of other historic jewels, Nader Shah also carried away the imperial Peacock Throne. Nader Shah's biographer, Muhammad Kazim Marvi, first recorded seeing

204-562: A black hole when the stone is viewed head-on; it is nevertheless regarded by gemologists as "full of life". Since arriving in the UK, it has only been worn by female members of the British royal family. It is said to bring bad luck if it is worn by a man. Victoria wore the stone in a brooch and a circlet . After she died in 1901, it was set in the Crown of Queen Alexandra . It was transferred to

272-633: A bracelet containing the Koh-i-Noor on the occasion of Mountstuart Elphinstone 's visit to Peshawar in 1808. A year later, Shah Shuja formed an alliance with the United Kingdom to help defend against a possible invasion of Afghanistan by Russia. He was quickly overthrown, but fled with the diamond to Lahore (in modern Pakistan), where in one account, Ranjit Singh , founder of the Sikh Empire , in return for his hospitality, insisted upon

340-464: A fifth stone up into the air – and if the space between them were to be filled with gold, all would not equal the value of the Koh-i-Noor". After Nadir Shah was killed and his empire collapsed in 1747, the Koh-i-Noor fell to his grandson, who in 1751 gave it to Ahmad Shah Durrani , founder of the Afghan Empire , in return for his support. One of Ahmed's grandsons, Shah Shuja Durrani , wore

408-514: A gift to Queen Victoria by the East India Company, it is clear that Dalhousie believed the stone was a spoil of war, and treated it accordingly, ensuring that it was officially surrendered to her by Duleep Singh , the youngest son of Ranjit Singh. The presentation of the Koh-i-Noor by the East India Company to the queen was the latest in a long history of transfers of the diamond as a coveted spoil of war. Duleep Singh had been placed in

476-637: A larger iron safe. They departed from Bombay on 6 April on board HMS Medea , captained by Captain Lockyer. The ship had a difficult voyage: an outbreak of cholera on board when the ship was in Mauritius had the locals demanding its departure, and they asked their governor to open fire on the vessel and destroy it if there was no response. Shortly afterwards, the vessel was hit by a severe gale that blew for some 12 hours. On arrival in Britain on 29 June,

544-651: A loyalist of Maharaja Gulab Singh who had previously been in possession of the Koh-i-Noor and gained Kashmir from the Sikh empire, via treaty with Britain, following the First Anglo-Sikh War . The Governor-General in charge of the ratification of this treaty was the Marquess of Dalhousie . The manner of his aiding in the transfer of the diamond was criticized even by some of his contemporaries in Britain. Although some thought it should have been presented as

612-706: A prominent junction and railway workers were required. Garhi Shahu neighbourhood was adjacent to the Lahore Railway Station, and so became home to large residential colonies for white British railway workers. Later, the British brought in upper-caste Goan Catholics to work the railway as professionals, including in the Punjab Police and the railway police. Low-wage workers included Punjabi Muslims and Dalit Christians . After Partition , many Goan Catholics left, though Dalit Christians and Muslims would stay. The North Western State Railway became

680-617: A specially dug tunnel under the walls of the castle. At this time Morshead and the Keeper of the Tower Armouries removed some of the larger stones, including the Koh-i-Noor, and wrapping them in cotton wool, inserted them in a glass preserving-jar, which was then placed in a biscuit tin; the thinking being that, unlike the bulkier crowns, this would allow their swift relocation if the German invasion occurred. The Koh-i-Noor has long been

748-489: A subject of diplomatic controversy, with India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan all demanding its return from the UK at various points. The Government of India first demanded the return of the Koh-i-Noor as soon as independence was granted in 1947. A second request followed in 1953, the year of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . Each time, the British Government rejected the claims, saying that ownership

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816-430: Is now located. The Hazuri Bagh garden was planned and built under the supervision of Faqir Azizuddin in the traditional Mughal style layout. After its completion, it is said, Ranjit Singh , at the suggestion of Jamadar Khushhal Singh, ordered that marble vandalized from various mausoleums of Lahore to construct a baradari (pavilion) here. This task was given to Khalifa Nooruddin. Elegant carved marble pillars support

884-476: Is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats (21.12 g). It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom . The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother . There are multiple conflicting legends on the origin of the diamond. However, in the words of the colonial administrator Theo Metcalfe , there is "very meagre and imperfect" evidence of

952-489: The Battle of Panipat . However, it is impossible to verify these details exactly about when or where it was found, and many competing theories exist as to its original owner. For some time it was alleged that while in the possession of Shah Jahan 's son Aurangzeb , the stone was cut by Hortense Borgia, a Venetian lapidarist , who reduced the weight of the large stone to 186 carats (37.2 g). For this carelessness, Borgia

1020-584: The British Crown . Another suggestion is that the jewel be housed in a special museum at the Wagah border between India and Pakistan. However this suggestion does not cater to Afghan claims, nor the reality of current British possession. The British Government rejects these compromises, and has stated since the end of the British Raj that the status of the diamond is 'non-negotiable'. A rumor that

1088-610: The Crown of Queen Mary in 1911, and to the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1937 for her coronation . Today, the diamond is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London . The governments of India, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership of the Koh-i-Noor, demanding its return ever since India gained independence from the British Empire in 1947. The British government insists

1156-661: The Daria-i-Noor , which are now in the Iranian National Jewels . In 1851, it went on display at the Great Exhibition in London, but the lackluster cut failed to impress viewers. Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria, ordered it to be re-cut as an oval brilliant by Coster Diamonds . By modern standards, the culet (point at the bottom of a gemstone) is unusually broad, giving the impression of

1224-590: The Lahore Development Authority took control of Gosha-e-Aman, a large Christian complex in the neighbourhood that included a covenant, a church, and small residences. The property was demolished, which ignited large-scale protests by civil society and the Christian community. Hazuri Bagh Hazuri Bagh ( Urdu : حضوری باغ ) is a garden in Lahore, Punjab , Pakistan, bounded by

1292-855: The Lahore Fort to the east, Badshahi Mosque to the west, the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh to the north, and the Roshnai Gate to the south. The garden was built during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh , in the style of Mughal gardens . In the centre of the garden stands the Hazuri Bagh Baradari , built by the Maharaja in 1818 to celebrate his capture of the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Shuja Shah Durrani in 1813. The Serai Alamgiri caravanserai formerly stood where Hazuri Bagh

1360-545: The Mughal Empire , the area fell into anarchy. Mohallah Syedan was located in a lawless area between the domains of the three Sikh kings in the 19th century. During this time, a gangster named Shahu took power of this area. He had a gang of robber barons. He expropriated Abu Khair's sizable madrassah to maintain a storage house for stolen goods. The Sikhs, and then the British, would later refer to it Garhi Shahu, aka Shahu's Fortress or Fortalice. The railway system in

1428-471: The Pakistan Railways after 1947 . Today, the area still serves as residence to workers, professionals, and low-wage workers connected to the railway. It has some elite institutions like Aitchison College and Lahore Gymkhana. Because of its centrality and historical significance, Garhi Shahu is home to many prominent institutions and places, while it is connected to significant thoroughfares around

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1496-662: The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , said of returning the diamond, "If you say yes to one you suddenly find the British Museum would be empty. I am afraid to say, it is going to have to stay put." On a subsequent visit in February 2013, he said, "They're not having that back." In April 2016, the Indian Culture Ministry stated it would make "all possible efforts" to arrange the return of

1564-690: The Second Anglo-Sikh War and the British East India Company 's annexation of the Punjab in 1849, during the reign of the then 11-year-old Maharaja of the Sikh Empire , Duleep Singh . The young king ruled under the shadow of the Company ally Gulab Singh , the first Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir , who had previously possessed the stone. Originally, the stone was of a similar cut to other Mughal-era diamonds, like

1632-536: The Taliban 's foreign affairs spokesman, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, said the Koh-i-Noor was the legitimate property of Afghanistan, and demanded for it to be handed over to the regime. "The history of the diamond shows it was taken from us (Afghanistan) to India, and from there to Britain. We have a much better claim than the Indians", he said. The Afghan claim derives from Shah Shuja Durrani's memoirs, which states he surrendered

1700-684: The Board of Administration for the affairs of the Punjab: Sir Henry Lawrence (President), C. G. Mansel, John Lawrence and Sir Henry Elliot (Secretary to the Government of India). Legend in the Lawrence family has it that before the voyage, John Lawrence left the jewel in his waistcoat pocket when it was sent to be laundered, and was most grateful when it was returned promptly by the valet who found it. On 1 February 1850,

1768-699: The Indian subcontinent operated as a system of private companies, including the Scinde Railway , and public rail lines, such as the Punjab Railway that connected Lahore and Karachi . In 1886, the British Raj amalgamated all private and public rail systems as The North Western State Railway to both secure the border against Afghanistan and meet the increased demand to transport raw materials. The Lahore Railway Station , finished in 1860, became

1836-423: The Koh-i-Noor has 8 additional "star" facets around the culet , making a total of 66 facets. The great loss of weight was to some extent due to removal of several flaws, one especially big, which Voorzanger discovered. Although Prince Albert was dissatisfied with such a huge reduction, most experts agreed that Voorzanger had made the right decision and did the job with impeccable skill. When Queen Victoria showed

1904-452: The Koh-i-Noor in the 1740s on the head of one of the peacocks on the throne, along with other prominent gems such as the great Timur Ruby and the Daria-i-Noor . It is alleged that Nader Shah exclaimed "Koh-i-Noor!" , Persian and Hindi-Urdu for "Mountain of Light", when he first obtained the famous stone. One of his consorts is even noted to have said, "If a strong man were to throw four stones – one north, one south, one east, one west, and

1972-657: The Koh-i-Noor is cursed may have originated with the Delhi Gazette ; it was soon repeated in The Illustrated London News , and Queen Victoria herself expressed concern about the curse. This led to a counter-rumor that the curse attached only to male rulers. The Koh-i-Noor was one of the inspirations for the eponymous gemstone in The Moonstone (1868), a 19th-century British epistolary novel by Wilkie Collins , generally considered to be

2040-485: The Koh-i-Noor to India. The then Solicitor General of India , Ranjit Kumar said, "It was given voluntarily by Ranjit Singh to the British as compensation for help in the Sikh Wars. The Koh-i-Noor is not a stolen object." In 1976, Pakistan asserted its ownership of the diamond, saying its return would be "a convincing demonstration of the spirit that moved Britain voluntarily to shed its imperial encumbrances and lead

2108-470: The Koh-i-Noor was set in the Crown of Queen Alexandra , the wife of Edward VII , that was used to crown her at their coronation in 1902. The diamond was transferred to the Crown of Queen Mary in 1911, and finally to Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1937. When the Queen Mother died in 2002, the crown was placed on top of her coffin for the lying-in-state and funeral. Queen Camilla

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2176-508: The Koh-i-noor, Gulab Singh as a result of the ceasefire returned safely to Jammu with a wealth of gold and other jewels taken from the treasury. On 15 September 1843, both Sher Singh and prime minister Dhian Singh were assassinated in a coup led by Ajit Singh Sandhawalia . However, the next day in a counter coup led by Dhian's son Hira Singh the assassins were killed. Aged 24, Hira Singh succeeded his father as prime minister, and installed

2244-514: The Maharaja's other assets to the company. Article III of the treaty read: The gem called the Koh-i-Noor, which was taken from Shah Sooja-ool-moolk by Maharajah Ranjeet Singh, shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England [ sic ]. The lead signatory of the treaty for the by then eleven-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh was his commander-in-chief Tej Singh ,

2312-572: The Mughal treasury, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak , the Grand vizier to Akbar , noted that red spinels and Burmese rubies had become the most desirable jewels by the nobility. During this time the Persian new year ceremony, Nowruz , had become a period in which the subjects could bring offerings of gems and money to the imperial family in exchange for political promotions within the greater bureaucracy. By

2380-581: The Sikh empire as its prime minister, and despite defeat in the war, he became the first Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir on 16 March 1846, under the Treaty of Amritsar . On 29 March 1849, following the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Sikh War , the Kingdom of Punjab was formally annexed to Company rule , and the Last Treaty of Lahore was signed, officially ceding the Koh-i-Noor to Queen Victoria and

2448-691: The appearance of the stone was not uncommon; Punch magazine referred to it as the "Mountain of Darkness," a play on the English translation of its name as "Mountain of Light". After consulting mineralogists, including Sir David Brewster , Victoria's husband Prince Albert with the consent of the government decided to have the diamond re-cut. For this task, he employed one of the largest and most famous Dutch diamond merchants, Mozes Coster . He sent to London one of his most experienced artisans, Levie Benjamin Voorzanger, and his assistants. On 17 July 1852,

2516-469: The baradari's delicate cusped arches. The central area, where Ranjit Singh held court, has a mirrored ceiling. Both the garden and the baradari, originally a 45-foot, three-storey square with a basement approached by fifteen steps, suffered extensive damage during the Sikh wars and was only reclaimed and laid out according to the original plan during the British period. On 19 July 1932, the top story collapsed and

2584-447: The care of the chairman and deputy chairman of the East India Company. The Koh-i-Noor was formally presented to Queen Victoria on 3 July 1850 at Buckingham Palace by the deputy chairman of the East India Company. The date had been chosen to coincide with the Company's 250th anniversary. Members of the public were given a chance to see the Koh-i-Noor when The Great Exhibition was staged at Hyde Park, London , in 1851. It represented

2652-531: The city. Abu Khair's madrassah still stands today as a mosque. The area has a sizable minority Christian population as well. Other than the massive Cathedral Church of The Resurrection on Mall Road , the area has prominent churches like the Naulakha Presbyterian Church and St. Anthony Church on Empress Road. There is also an important Christian cemetery adjacent to the area in the historic Hindu neighbourhood Dharampura . In 2012,

2720-743: The cutting began at the factory of Garrard & Co . in Haymarket, using a steam-powered mill built specially for the job by Maudslay, Sons and Field . Supervised by Albert and the Duke of Wellington , and the technical direction of the Queen's mineralogist, James Tennant , the cutting took 38 days, cost Albert £8,000, and reduced the diamond from 186 old carats (191 modern carats or 38.2 g) to its current weight 105.6 carats (21.12 g). The stone now measures 3.6 cm (1.4 in) long, 3.2 cm (1.3 in) wide, and 1.3 cm (0.5 in) deep. Brilliant-cut diamonds usually have 58 facets, but

2788-408: The diamond to Ranjit Singh while Singh was having his son tortured in front of him, so he argued that the Maharajah of Lahore acquired the stone illegitimately. Because of the disputes over the diamond's rightful ownership, there have been various compromises suggested. These include dividing it into four, with a piece given to each of Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan, with the final piece retained by

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2856-449: The diamond to the temple, and hid it in his vaults. Meanwhile, Kharak Singh and wazir Dhian Singh also issued orders stating that the diamond should not be taken out of Lahore. On 8 October 1839, the new emperor Kharak Singh was overthrown in a coup by his prime minister Dhian Singh. The prime minister's brother Gulab Singh , Raja of Jammu , came into possession of the Koh-i-Noor. Kharak Singh later died in prison, soon followed by

2924-408: The diamond's former owners – Shuja and his wife Wafa Begum – to estimate its value. Wafa Begum replied that if a strong man threw a stone in four cardinal directions and vertically, Koh-i-Noor would be worth more than the gold and precious stones filled in the space. Ranjit Singh grew paranoid about the Koh-i-Noor being stolen, because in the past, another valuable jewel had been stolen from him while he

2992-415: The diamond. In June 1839, Ranjit Singh suffered his third stroke , and it became apparent that he would die soon. On his deathbed, he started giving away his valuable possessions to religious charities, and appointed his eldest son Kharak Singh as his successor. A day before his death, on 26 June 1839, a major argument broke out between his courtiers regarding the fate of Koh-i-Noor. Ranjit Singh himself

3060-639: The early history of the Koh-i-Noor before the 1740s. There is no record of its original weight, but the earliest attested weight is 186 old carats (191 metric carats or 38.2 g). The first verifiable record of the diamond comes from a history by Muhammad Kazim Marvi of the 1740s invasion of Northern India by Nader Shah . Marvi notes the Koh-i-Noor as one of many stones on the Mughal Peacock Throne that Nader looted from Delhi . The diamond then changed hands between various empires in south and west Asia, until being given to Queen Victoria after

3128-684: The first full length detective novel in the English language. In his preface to the first edition of the book, Collins says that he based his eponymous "Moonstone" on the histories of two stones: the Orlov , a 189.62-carat (37.9 g) diamond in the Russian Imperial Sceptre, and the Koh-i-Noor. In the 1966 Penguin Books edition of The Moonstone , J. I. M. Stewart states that Collins used G. C. King 's The Natural History, Ancient and Modern, of Precious Stones ... (1865) to research

3196-465: The five-year old Duleep Singh as emperor. The Koh-i-noor was now fastened to the arm of the child emperor in court at Lahore. Duleep Singh and his mother empress Jind Kaur , had till then resided in Jammu, the kingdom governed by Gulab Singh. Following his nephew Prime Minister Hira Singh's assassination on 27 March 1844, and the subsequent outbreak of the First Anglo-Sikh War , Gulab Singh himself led

3264-509: The flawed and asymmetrical diamond still failed to please viewers. Originally, the diamond had 169 facets and was 4.1 centimetres (1.6 in) long, 3.26 centimetres (1.28 in) wide, and 1.62 centimetres (0.64 in) deep. It was high-domed, with a flat base and both triangular and rectangular facets, similar in overall appearance to other Mughal-era diamonds which are now in the Iranian Crown Jewels . Disappointment in

3332-428: The gem being given to him, and he took possession of it in 1813. Shah Shuja's memoirs dispute this, which claim Ranjit Singh extorted the diamond from him by having his son tortured in front of him. Ranjit Singh had the diamond examined by jewelers of Lahore for two days to ensure that Shuja had not tricked him. After the jewelers confirmed its genuineness, he donated 125,000 rupees to Shuja. Ranjit Singh then asked

3400-659: The gem was obtained legally under the terms of the Last Treaty of Lahore in 1849 and has rejected the claims. In 2018, at the Supreme Court of India the Archeological Survey of India clarified that the diamond was surrendered to the British and "it (the diamond) was neither stolen nor forcibly taken away". Babur , the Turco-Mongol founder of the Mughal Empire , wrote about a "famous" diamond that weighed just over 187 old carats – approximately

3468-670: The guardianship of Dr John Spencer Login , a surgeon in the East India Company Army serving in the Presidency of Bengal . Duleep Singh moved to England in 1854 and spent the rest of his life in exile. In due course, the Governor-General received the Koh-i-Noor from Dr Login, who had been appointed Governor of the Citadel, on 6 April 1848 under a receipt dated 7 December 1849, in the presence of members of

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3536-400: The jewel was sealed in a small iron safe inside a red dispatch box, both sealed with red tape and a wax seal and kept in a chest at Bombay Treasury awaiting a steamer ship from China. It was then sent to England for presentation to Queen Victoria in the care of Captain J. Ramsay and Brevet Lt. Col F. Mackeson under tight security arrangements, one of which was the placement of the dispatch box in

3604-469: The might of the British Empire and took pride of place in the eastern part of the central gallery. Its mysterious past and advertised value of £1–2 million drew large crowds. At first, the stone was put inside a gilded birdcage, but after complaints about its dull appearance, the Koh-i-Noor was moved to a case with black velvet and gas lamps in the hope that it would sparkle better. Despite this,

3672-549: The mysterious death of his son and successor Nau Nihal Singh on 5 November 1840. Gulab Singh held onto the stone until January 1841, when he presented it to emperor Sher Singh in order to win his favour, after his brother Dhian Singh negotiated a ceasefire between Sher Singh and the overthrown empress Chand Kaur . Gulab Singh had attempted to defend the widowed empress at her fort in Lahore, during two days of conflict and shelling by Sher Singh and his troops. Despite handing over

3740-705: The passengers and mail were unloaded in Plymouth , but the Koh-i-Noor stayed on board until the ship reached Spithead , near Portsmouth , on 1 July. The next morning, Ramsay and Mackeson, in the company of Mr Onslow, the private secretary to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the British East India Company, proceeded by train to East India House in the City of London and passed the diamond into

3808-511: The principal jewelers of Amritsar to estimate the diamond's value; the jewelers declared that the value of the diamond was "far beyond all computation". Ranjit Singh then affixed the diamond to the front of his turban, and paraded on an elephant to enable his subjects to see it. He used to wear it as an armlet during major festivals such as Diwali and Dusserah , and took it with him during travel. He would exhibit it to prominent visitors, especially British officers. One day, Ranjit Singh asked

3876-496: The process of decolonisation". In a letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan , Zulfikar Ali Bhutto , the prime minister of the United Kingdom, James Callaghan , wrote, "I need not remind you of the various hands through which the stone has passed over the past two centuries, nor that explicit provision for its transfer to the British crown was made in the peace treaty with the Maharajah of the Sikh Empire in 1849. I could not advise Her Majesty that it should be surrendered." In 2000,

3944-422: The re-cut diamond to the young Maharaja Duleep Singh , the Koh-i-Noor's last non-British owner, he was apparently unable to speak for several minutes afterwards. The much lighter but more dazzling stone was mounted in a honeysuckle brooch and a circlet worn by the queen. At this time, it belonged to her personally, and was not yet part of the Crown Jewels. Although Victoria wore it often, she became uneasy about

4012-444: The size of the once 186-carat Koh-i-Noor. According to the diary of Alauddin Khalji of the Khalji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate , he acquired a large diamond when he invaded the kingdoms of southern India at the beginning of the 14th century and looted it from the Kakatiyas . It later passed on to succeeding dynasties of the sultanate, and Babur received the diamond in 1526 as a tribute for his conquest of Delhi and Agra at

4080-414: The time Shah Jahan ascended the throne as the fifth Mughal emperor, there were so many jewels in the treasury that he decided to use many of them in the making of the ornate Peacock Throne in 1635. Over a century later in 1738 Nader Shah founded the Afsharid dynasty . Following the overthrow of the Safavid dynasty of Persia two years earlier, he began raiding Mughal territory before soon launching

4148-400: The way in which the diamond had been acquired. In a letter to her eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal , she wrote in the 1870s: "No one feels more strongly than I do about India or how much I opposed our taking those countries and I think no more will be taken, for it is very wrong and no advantage to us. You know also how I dislike wearing the Koh-i-Noor". After Queen Victoria's death,

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4216-444: Was brought to the United Kingdom. Replicas of the diamond in this and its re-cut forms can also be seen in the 'Vault' exhibit at the Natural History Museum, London . During the Second World War, the Crown Jewels were moved from their home at the Tower of London to Windsor Castle . They were kept in leather hat boxes under lock and key in the office of the Royal Librarian Sir Owen Morshead until 1941 when they were transferred to

4284-417: Was crowned with Queen Mary's Crown at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla on 6 May 2023, but without the Koh-i-Noor diamond. All these crowns are on display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London with crystal replicas of the diamond set in the older crowns. The original bracelet given to Queen Victoria can also be seen there. A glass model of the Koh-i-Noor shows visitors how it looked when it

4352-492: Was intoxicated. He kept the diamond within a high-security facility at the Gobindgarh Fort when it was not in use. When the diamond was to be transported, it was placed in a pannier on a guarded camel; 39 other camels with identical panniers were included in the convoy; the diamond was always placed on the first camel immediately behind the guards, but great secrecy was maintained regarding which camel carried it. Only Ranjit Singh's treasurer Misr Beli Ram knew which camel carried

4420-605: Was never rebuilt or restored. The tomb of Muhammad Iqbal , completed in 1951, as well as of Sikandar Hayat Khan , the last Premier of the Punjab , lies across from the garden outside of the Badshahi Mosque . Every Sunday afternoon, people gather in the garden to hear story tellers recite traditional Punjabi Qisse , such as Heer Ranjha and Sassi Punnun , and other Punjabi Sufi poetry . Koh-i-Noor The Koh-i-Noor ( Persian for 'Mountain of Light'; / ˌ k oʊ ɪ ˈ n ʊər / KOH -in- OOR ), also spelt Koh-e-Noor , Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur ,

4488-420: Was non-negotiable. In 2000, several members of the Indian Parliament signed a letter calling for the diamond to be given back to India, claiming it was taken illegally. British officials said that a variety of claims meant it was impossible to establish the diamond's original owner, and that it had been part of Britain's heritage for more than 150 years. In July 2010, while visiting India, David Cameron ,

4556-428: Was reprimanded and fined 10,000 rupees . However according to recent research, the story of Borgia cutting the diamond is not correct, and most probably mixed up with that of the Orlov , part of Catherine the Great 's imperial Russian scepter in the Kremlin . In early Indian history, diamonds were the most valued of gemstones. However, during the period of Mughal rule, diamonds lost this distinction. When looking at

4624-541: Was too weak to speak, and communicated using gestures. Bhai Gobind Ram, the head Brahmin of Ranjit Singh, insisted that the king had willed Koh-i-Noor and other jewels to the Jagannath Temple, Puri : the king apparently supported this claim through gestures, as recorded in his court chronicle Umdat ul-Tawarikh . However, treasurer Beli Ram insisted that it was a state property rather than Ranjit Singh's personal property, and therefore, should be handed over to Kharak Singh. After Ranjit Singh's death, Beli Ram refused to send

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