The provenance of the very precious Koh-i-Noor, a 106-carat diamond that adorns the royal crown, is reigniting tensions with India, which has accused the British monarchy of owning the gem unlawfully.
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II. the Crown Jewels are displayed in front of cameras around the world, like the Kohinoor mounted on the royal family’s crown. A Stone of unnamed rarity of 106 carats estimated at almost 400 million dollars.
Then why that diamond dubbed the “mountain of light” the debate is crystallizing today, particularly on Twitter where the hashtag #Koh-i-Noor has been circulated thousands of times since the ruler’s death?
A large part of the Indian population and some high dignitaries, Europe 1 reports, have expressed their wish for this stone to return to the countries of its discovery, ie India. It is at least the most advanced theory of the origin of the Kohinnor, based in part on the earliest invocations of the diamond in the Babur Chronicles. This Indian prince, founder of the Mongol Empire, wrote that the diamond belonged to the king of India.
It is later passed down the centuries from dynasty to dynasty between India and Iran, passing through the hands of Mughal emperors and princes, the Shahs of Iran and the “Mirs of Afghanistan”.
A stone obtained as part of the Treaty of Lahore
“The stone was donated to Queen Victoria by Maharaja Duleep Singh after the annexation of Punjab in 1849 under the Treaty of Lahore, explains Geetha Ganapathy-Doré, lecturer in post-colonial studies in Villetaneuse (Seine-Saint-Denis) to Ouest-France. “When Victoria then wore the diamond in the form of a brooch, it was then successively transferred to the crowns of Queens Alexandra, Mary and the Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,” explains the specialist again.
So it is both the questions about the origin of the stone and the recognition of the excesses of colonialism that are asked by the population here. IndiaToday, one of the country’s top information sources, commemorates the numerous items of value removed from countries ruled by the British Empire.
But it is a long way from there to a possible restitution. However, requests for the return of artistic heritage have been numerous in the past as far as the Kohinoor diamond is concerned, “England has always refused because the stone was legally acquired under the Treaty of Lahore, which is an additional – channel to a company and is non-negotiable end of inadmissibility,” explains the professor.