It has been too long since this treasure was home.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death has elicited various responses from the global public. In countries once ruled by the British crown, such as India, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, thoughts shifted to the Koh-i-Noor, a 109-carat diamond believed to be the world’s most valuable.
According to the British government, the Queen received the Koh-i-Noor as a gift from British colonies. The legendary jewel, which according to legend, brings bad luck to men but good luck to women, is presently on display in the Tower of London’s Jewel House.
However, according to a Vice article, the governments of India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan have all claimed the diamond as theirs at one point or another. The demise of Queen Elizabeth II has brought these claims back into the spotlight. Shashi Tharoor, member of India’s parliament and author of the book “Jewel in the Crown,” summarizes this viewpoint in an online post: “Instead of returning the Kohinoor to its rightful owners, the British are flaunting it on the Queen Mother’s crown in the Tower of London…It is a stark reminder of what colonialism truly entailed: blatant subjugation, coercion, and appropriation.”
Since 1849, when the diamond first fell into British hands, various compromises for its ownership have been proposed, including the Romanesque solution of cutting it into fragments and distributing them to each of the involved governments.
However, the United Kingdom has rejected any such notions and has previously referred to its ownership of the diamond as non-negotiable, a position doubtful to alter with the passing of Queen Elizabeth. According to British tradition, the headdress containing the Koh-i-Noor is expected to be passed on to King Charles’s wife, Camilla.
The Koh-i-Noor believed to bring bad luck to males but good luck to women, has been worn by generations of British queens. Elizabeth the Queen Mother donned it in her crown. It is currently on display at the Tower of London and is deemed imperial property.
Reportedly, the crown with the Koh-i-Noor will be handed down to Camilla, the wife of the soon-to-be King Charles. The British extracted at least $45 trillion from the subcontinent between 1765 and 1938, according to Indian economist Utsa Patnaik, a student of Britain’s economic history.
This is seventeen times the annual gross domestic product of the United Kingdom. At least four countries — India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran — claim the Koh-i-Noor was stolen and should be returned to them. The British royal family maintains that the Koh-i-Noor was a gift.
The diamond was extracted from sediment thousands of years ago in alluvial mines in India. According to Hindu belief, it was revered by gods such as Krishna, although, judging by the bad fate of its owners, it appeared to be cursed.
The diamond, which came to be known as the Koh-i-Noor, navigated its way through Indian court intrigues before landing in the British Crown Jewels in the mid-1800s. At that time, a British amateur geologist interrogated gemologists and historians about the diamond’s origins and penned the history of the Koh-i-Noor, which served as the foundation for the vast majority of subsequent tales about the diamond.
According to historians Anita Anand and William Dalrymple, however, the geologist was utterly mistaken. “We discovered what every historian seeks,” says Dalrymple. “A story that is incredibly important to people and an object that is well-known throughout the world, but which is all based on a mythical structure.”
While most of the Western world mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, some of her former colonies have questioned the monarchy’s grim legacy and her rule.