KOHINOOR : The STORY of the WORLD’S MOST INFAMOUS DIAMOND
by WILLIAM DALRYMPLE and ANITA ANAND
3 min readMay 16, 2021
Genre : Non-Fiction
Subject : Indian History
Age Rating: 12+
The book Kohinoor, tells us stories of deceit and malice surrounding the Diamond. It is a chronological description of the journey of the Kohinoor diamond from the time of it’s discovery in the Kollur mines to becoming a part of the Crown Jewels of England.
The book is written in two parts the first part, ‘The Jewel in the throne’ is written by William Dalrymple and the second part, ‘The jewel in the Crown’ is written by Anita Anand.
The Jewel in the Throne
The first part of the book ‘The Jewel in the Throne’ by William Dalrymple explains the earlier part of the history of the Kohinoor, since it was mined till it was surrendered to the British.
It recounts the passage of the Kohinoor from the clutches of the dwindling Mughal empire to Nadir Shah, the Shah of Afghanistan to Ahmad Shah Durrani to Shah Shuja until it was taken from him by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It unfolds how Kohinoor from being encrusted in the Peacock throne to being used as a paper weight, from being hidden under a rock on the bank of the Satluj river to sitting on the head of the Shah of Afghanistan , it has seen it all. The book also narrates how the diamond could have ended up on the head of the Lord Jagannath Idol in Puri because of a command by Maharaja Ranjit Singh on his death bed and how it ended in the decline of the mighty Sikh Empire. The first part ends with the surrender of the diamond to the English East India Company by making a nine year old boy sign a treaty after the Anglo Sikh War.
The Jewel in the Crown
The second part of the book by Anita Anand is a chronicle of the passage of the diamond from Punjab to England.
It apprises how Lord Dalhousie himself escorted the diamond in a pouch sewn by his wife. It gives some interesting details like Kohinoor could have sunk to the bottoms of the ocean to be forgotten forever and how the son of the lion of Punjab lived his life full of agony in England. It also reveals intriguing facts like why the Englanders rejected the gem outright? why Prince Albert’s reputation depended on it? why it was cut and reduced to one third its size? and why men of the royal family don’t wear it?
