Fig. 61.—Koh-i-nor (top view).
Fig. 62.—Koh-i-nor (side view).
The history of the famous stone called the Koh-i-nor, meaning Mound of Light, is known as far back as the year 1304, when it fell into the hands of the Mogul emperors, and legend even traces it back some four thousand years previously. It remained at Delhi until the invasion of North-West India by Nadir Shah in 1739, when it passed together with an immense amount of spoil into the hands of the conqueror. At his death the empire which he had so strenuously founded fell to pieces, and the great diamond after many vicissitudes came into the possession of Runjit Singh at Lahore. His successors kept it until upon the fall of the Sikh power in 1850 it passed to the East India Company, in whose name it was presented by Lord Dalhousie to Queen Victoria. At this date the stone still retained its original Indian form, but in 1862 it was re-cut into the form of a shallow brilliant (Fig. 62), the weight thereby being reduced from 1861/16 to 1061/16 carats. The wisdom of this course has been severely criticized; the stone has not the correct shape of a brilliant and is deficient in ‘fire,’ and it has with the change in shape lost much of its old historical interest. The Koh-i-nor is the private property of the English Royal Family, the stone shown in the Tower being a model. It is valued at £100,000.
(2) Pitt or Regent
Fig. 63.—Pitt or Regent (top view).
Fig. 64.—Pitt or Regent (side view).