The curse of the Koh-i-noor | Red Fort, Delhi - Storytrails
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The curse of the Koh-i-noor | Red Fort, Delhi

The Koh-i-noor diamond once adorned the magnificent Peacock throne at the Red Fort in Delhi. Today, it sits pretty on the British Queen’s crown in London. In its 700 years of documented history, the Koh-i-noor was coveted by the most powerful kings, has changed hands many times and has travelled half-way across the globe. And wherever it went, it toppled kingdoms, ended dynasties and left a trail of destruction in its wake. Is it any surprise that it acquired a reputation of being a cursed stone?

Watch this short video to follow the tumultuous journey of the sparkling diamond that literally means ‘mountain of light’.

This video is brought to you by Tata Consultancy Services, an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization. Over the last 50 years, it has been a partner to some of the largest businesses in the world. It has also been closely associated with projects to restore and showcase India’s heritage to the world. And Storytrails is proud to partner with Tata Consultancy Services to bring these lesser known stories of India’s culture and heritage to you.

1. East India Company – By TRAJAN 117 This W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Inkscape . – Own work, based upon [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15648243

2. Amravati Marbles – By Ricardo Tulio Gandelman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – P1050858Uploaded by Marcus Cyron, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30196579

3. Amravati Marbles – By Gryffindor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15250642

4. Amravati Marbles – By Soham Banerjee – https://www.flickr.com/photos/soham_pablo/395199242/sizes/l/in/photostream/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24744707

5. Peacock Throne – By Unknown author – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30504903

6. Koh-i-noor – By aiva. – This file has been extracted from another file: Replica of the Koh-i-Noor.jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92653696

7. Red Fort – By Hemant banswal – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54675147

8. Shah Jahan – By Bichitr – Chester Beatty Library, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7421731

9. Diwan-i-khaas – By Ghulam ‘Ali Khan (fl.1817-1852) – http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/addorimss/t/019addor0004694u00000000.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20034083

10. Timur Ruby – https://thejewelerblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/timur1.jpg

11. Daria-i-noor – By Unknown author – Collection of the national jewels of Iran at Central Bank of Islamic Republic of Iran, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40817749

12. Kakatiya Dynasty – By B.Sridhar Raju – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21283023

13. Alauddin Khilji – By Unknown author – Copied from old school textbook of Afghanistan, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7896648

14. Babur – By Unknown author – Cropped from File:Babur.2.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29562357

15. Humayun – By LACMA – https://collections.lacma.org/node/172754, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7908166

16. Nader Shah – By Unknown author – وبگاه تبیان, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6374416

17. Ahmad Shah Durrani – By Original drawing by ’Abd al-Ghafur Breshna, this painting by Tapand – Flickr, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5557293

18. Shah Shuja Duranni – By Print made by: Lowes Cato DickinsonAfter: Sir Vincent Eyre – https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1970-0527-2-4, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90325643

19. Maharaja Ranjit Singh – By Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841) – Tazkirat al-umarāhttps://www.bl.uk/collection-items/illustration-of-maharaja-ranjit-singhhttp://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/033add000027254u00176v00.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20578824

20. Duleep Singh – By James Duffield Harding (1797-1863) after Charles Stewart Hardinge (1822-1894) – British LibraryThis is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: dewatermarked bottom right corner, color curve adjusted. Modifications made by Saibo. The original can be found here: see file history., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4310173

21. James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie – By George Richmond – Taken from The Life of the Marquess of Dalhousie, K.T., by Sir William Lee-Warner, K.C.S.I., London, 1904, vol.1, frontespiece. Out of copyright., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25522015

22.Tomb of Alauddin Khilji – By stevekc – originally posted to Flickr as Qutub Minar, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7594241

23. Humayun’s Tomb – By User:Eatcha and thanks to W.carter, for the editing – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77189570

24. Shah Jahan on the peacock throne – By Govardhan(?), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19251183

25. Shah Jahan with his sons – By Mughal – http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1600_1699/shahjahan/drawings/drawings.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19175067

26. Nader Shah on the peacock throne – By Anonymous – http://www.sdmart.org/collections/Asia/item/1990.407, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24924691

27. Nader Shah’s jewelery – By Siroos777 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nader_Shah_Jewels_3_-_edited.png, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1565083

28. Battle of Panipat – By Painters of Babur – Baburnama, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22569222

29. Afsharid Empire – By Cannon223 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=102397087

30. Coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani – By Ustad Abdul Ghafur Breshna – 1943 book Ahmad Shah Baba-ye Afghan by Mir Gholam Mohammad Ghobar, facing page 90.http://zeroanthropology.net/all-posts/m-jamil-hanifi-editing-the-past-colonial-production-of-hegemony-through-the-loya-jerga-in-afghanistan/http://www.freewebs.com/tawabwahab/apps/photos/photo?photoid=55306147, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20065764

31. Sikh Empire – By Jangvijay – This file was derived from: Sikh Empire.JPG, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54460107

32. Jagannath Temple, Puri – By Subham9423 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97240150

33. Buckingham Palace – Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=560825

34. Queen Victoria wearing the Koh-i-Noor – By Franz Xaver Winterhalter – This file has been extracted from another file: Franz Xaver Winterhalter Queen Victoria.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=100483067

35. Re-cutting the Koh-i-Noor 1852 – By From The Illustrated London News. 24 July 1852. p. 53., Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49093331

36. Queen Mary’s Crown – By Cyril Davenport (1848 – 1941) – G. Younghusband; C. Davenport (1919). The Crown Jewels of England. London: Cassell & Co. p. 18. (published in the US by Funk & Wagnalls, NY). For copyright notice, see The Jewel House (1921) opp. page 41., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69074288

END OF STORY

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