The Syamantak mani resurfaced in the 14th century. As per modern historians, the precious gemstone was mined from the Kollar mines of Andhra Pradesh on the south bank of the Krishna River.
Anyways, in 1320, after the fall of the Khilji dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate, Ghazi Malik, or Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq ascended the throne.
He tasked his son Ulugh Khan, popularly known as Muhammad bin Tughlaq, to defeat King Prataparudra of the Kakatiya dynasty in 1323. Initially, the resilient army of Warangal repulsed the attack and defeated Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
However, he came back with a larger army and overwhelmed the Kakatiya dynasty and defeated them. The barbarian horde committed unspeakable horrors and plundered the city. They looted an abundance of gold, silver, ivory and other precious belongings from the city.
The priceless Syamantak mani was also a part of this gigantic loot. It was claimed that it was embedded in the left eye of the murti of the Goddess Bhadrakali in the Bhadrakali Temple of Warangal. The Kakatiya dynasty regarded the goddess Bhadrakali as their kuldevi.
The gem then traded hands and Mughal emperor Babur got hold of it in 1526. The written commentary on this gem starts from here. Babur in his autobiography Baburnama wrote that this diamond belonged to a (Anonymous) King of Malwa in 1294.
The gemstone’s worth can be gauged from the fact that Babur claimed that it can feed the entire humanity for two days. Baburnama mentions that the King of Malwa was forced to surrender his inheritance to Alauddin Khilji.
Later, it was carried forward by the successors of the Delhi Sultanate and finally in 1526, Babur inherited it by defeating the Sultanate. In Baburnama, he did not call the diamond by its present name. The Syamantak mani later got the name, Koh-i-noor.
Aside from Baburnama, the origin of this valuable diamond is also mentioned in Humayun’s history. It is said that the diamond was once owned by the Kachwaha dynasty of Gwalior. It then reached the Tomar kings. Its final ruler, Vikramaditya, was defeated and imprisoned in Delhi by Sikandar Lodi.
Mughals afterwards defeated the Lodi and plundered all of his assets. Humayun agreed to free him and enabled the Lodi ruler to take safety in Mewar, Chittor.
Vikramaditya rewarded this so-called generosity of Humayun and gave him the precious Syamantak Mani. However, Humayun was living in troubled waters and was quickly defeated by Sher Shah Suri. The cycle of misfortune continued and Sher Shah Suri died in Rohtas fort after being hit by a cannonball.
Similarly, his son and successor Jalal Khan was assassinated by his brother-in-law. The brother-in-law, later, was betrayed by his courtiers and was removed by a coup-d’etat by his ministers. The newly ascended king suffered an eye injury in one winning battle and he later went on to lose his sultanate forever.
Ironically, Akbar, son of Humayun, never possessed the Syamantak mani and went on to reign for 49 long-years. The gem resurfaced in the Mughal treasury under the rule of Shah Jahan. He got the Kohinoor installed in his famous Peacock-Throne (Takhte-Taus). He, then, suffered a tragic end at the hands of his own son, Aurangzeb.
Aurangzeb killed his three older brothers in cold-blood. Furthermore, legend has it that Aurangzeb positioned the Syamantak mani on the prison window so that his father, Shah Jahan, could see the Taj Mahal.
The Syamantak mani remained with the Mughals until the invasion of the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah in 1739. He caused widespread destruction and loot in Agra and Delhi and took the immense wealth to Persia including the Peacock Throne.
Apparently, it was Nadir Shah who gave the diamond its present name. Astonished by the beauty of the diamond, Nadir was awestruck and called it Koh-I-Noor, Persian for Mountain of Light. Evidently, there is no reference to this name, Koh-I-Noor until that time.
In 1747, Nadir Shah was assassinated and the diamond went into the hands of Afghani ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali. After a long period, in 1830, one deposed Afghan ruler Shuja Shah fled the territory along with the precious gem, Koh-I-Noor. To seek refuge in Punjab and ask for his assistance to get back the control of Afghanistan, he gifted the mani to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
In return for the priceless diamond, he got support from Ranjit Singh. Raja Ranjit Singh was prepared to send his troops to capture Afghanistan and crown Shah Shuja as the ruler of Afghanistan.
Later, Koh-i-noor returned to India when Ranjit Singh declared himself the Maharaja of Punjab. In 1839, on his deathbed, he wrote in his will to donate the priceless Koh-I-Noor diamond to the famous Hindu temple in Puri, Orissa, that is, Sri Jagannath Temple.
However, certain vested interests started controversy over the death wish and it could not be fulfilled.
Unfortunately, the Union Jack was planted at the Lahore Fort on March 29, 1849, and Punjab fell under colonial control. In 1853, the harsh tyrannical British enslaved Duleep Singh and later converted him to Christianity. The Maharaja of Lahore was forced to surrender the Koh-I-Noor to the British Empire under the terms of the Lahore Treaty.
It stated, “The gem Koh-i-Noor, which was taken from Shah-Shuza-ul-Mulk by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, would be handed over by the Maharaja of Lahore to the Queen of England.”
The treaty of Lahore was overseen by then-Governor General Dalhousie. The fundamental motive for the Lahore pact was his desperate desire to obtain Kohinoor. His works are not only contentious and horrifying from an Indian perspective; some British pundits have also criticised the heinous actions done in the pursuit of Koh-i-noor.
Some Brits proposed that the diamond be given directly to the Queen rather than being taken away with force. But Dalhousie saw it as a war profit and treasured it as such.
Later, in 1851, Dalhousie arranged a travel for Duleep Singh, the successor of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, to England. The thirteen-year-old Duleep Singh was forced to gift the diamond to Queen Victoria so that it later can be dubbed as a legal transfer or gift rather than a part of loot from India.
Also Read: The history of Onam and the complete story of Raja Bali that pop-mythologists don’t tell you
As per some claims, this offering was the last instance of a precious gem being transferred as a war commodity.
Just like all other cruel and barbaric rulers, Britain too suffered the harsh consequences of deceitfully gobbling the Syamantak mani aka Koh-i-noor. The Koh-i-noor brought ill-fates for all the sins of the British Empire.
Imperial Britain, which boasted that the sun never sets down on its empire, was forced to take exit from its colonies, before being forced to serve Justice for the crimes they committed endlessly for centuries.
The story is so gripping and interesting that it can be adapted into an engaging thriller movie, It is unfortunate that the Communist distorians adulterated and cropped every portion of history which described the glorious past of our Indian civilisation and greatness of Sanatan Dharma.
However, we have to make sure that in the cacophony of propaganda and skewed Macaulyian education system, we don’t forget to pass on our cherished history and culture to the new generations.
The misinformation campaign on Koh-I-Noor and disputed false claims of Afghanistan and Pakistan on the precious mani has to be countered with its historic significance and revered connection with Hinduism.
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