William Dalrymple first arrived in India in 1984 and claimed that it was “the trip that really changed the direction of my life.” Since 1989, the Scottish author has intermittently lived in a farmhouse in Delhi. His love for India has inspired some beautiful books. I particularly enjoyed “White Mughals,” which tells the poignant story of General James Achilles Kirkpatrick who embraced the Indo-Persian lifestyle of the ruling classes that were being supplanted by the British. He fell in love with a beautiful Hyderabadi princess, Khair un-Nissa, and became a Muslim to marry her.
In this latest book, co-authored by journalist Anita Anand, Dalrymple tackles a regal subject, the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
‘’The rock star gem is a symbol of the looting of colonial times,” wrote Dalrymple, who became interested in the diamond after he came across references to it in Persian manuscripts.
During a recent edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Anand, Dalrymple and Navtej Sarna, who has also written about the Koh-i-Noor diamond, took part in a panel. “Something extraordinary happened, the audience was enraptured,” Anand wrote. Indeed, “it was electric. Because none of us knew the next bit of the story,” Dalrymple added. “I knew the first bit in Afghanistan, Navtej knew the Ranjit Singh bit, Anita knew the end of the story with Duleep Singh. So, we just sat there and came up with ‘We must do a book’,” Dalrymple wrote. Soon after, Sarna became India’s High Commissioner in London. Despite the lack of a third partner, Dalrymple and Anand decided to go on with the book. “We were both passionately interested in uncovering the truth and that’s what we’ve done in this book,” Anand wrote.
The last time the Koh-i-Noor was seen in public was at the queen mother’s funeral in 2002, when the crown, with the Koh-i-Noor as its centerpiece, was placed on her coffin. However, that stone was quite different from the 190.3 metric carat diamond that arrived in England on June 30, 1850.
Britons would get their first chance to see the Koh-i-Noor at the Great Exhibition of 1851. A third of the entire population of Great Britain at the time, that is around six million people, were expected to visit the exhibition between May 1 and Oct. 11, 1851. However, the visitors who managed to see the Koh-i-Noor were very disappointed. The Illustrated London News was quick to report that the Koh-i-Noor was not cut in the best form for exhibiting its purity and luster. Queen Victoria’s hisband, Prince Albert, was preoccupied by the diamond’s failure to arouse the interest of visitors and asked scientists and jewelers what could be done to improve its appearance. Sir David Brewster, the father of modern experimental optics, concluded that its yellow flecks prevented it from refracting light and added that the diamond would lose a great deal of its size if the flaws were dealt with adequately. Prince Albert then asked Messrs Garrard of London, jewelers to the queen, for a second opinion. Dutch craftsmen, known for their expertise, confirmed Brewster’s opinion concerning the flaws but they were sure they could make the Koh-i-Noor shine without reducing its size. However, despite their assurances, the expert stone cutters reduced the stone by half. It was unrecognizable, but at last it sparkled.
The Koh-i-Noor is an alluvial diamond because it was not actually mined but extracted from ancient riverbeds. Most alluvial diamonds are very small and it is rare to find a diamond as large as a hen’s egg. Until diamond mines were discovered in Brazil in 1725, all the world’s diamonds came from India.
The Koh-i-Noor has passed through the hands of Mughals, Iranians, Afghans and Sikhs. “Frustrating as it is, we simply do not know for sure the origin of the Koh-i-Noor and have no hard information about when, how or where it entered Mughal hands. We only know for sure how it left,” the authors wrote.
It is hard to imagine how such a beautiful object could trigger so much hatred and horrific instances of torture. Nader Shah, the Iranian ruler who invaded the Mughal empire, ordered that his son be blinded and his eyes brought to him on a platter. However, this was nothing compared to the atrocities committed by Agha Mohammed, a former court eunuch who was looking after an important prisoner, Shah Rukh, a grandson of Nader Shah. Although Sha Rukh had told his captor the hiding place of the crown jewels, he continued to torture him, asking him to reveal the Koh-i-Noor’s hiding place.
The first lady of Nader Shah’s harem gave Ahmed Khan Abdali, an Afghan general who had valiantly defeated a group of renegades who were plundering the royal coffers, the Koh-i-Noor and the Timur Ruby. Abdali wore the jewels in an armlet and reached Kandahar, which became the home of the Koh-i-Noor for the next 70 years. The diamond then reached Punjab and the hands of Ranjit Singh in 1813.
“For the next 36 years, the Koh-i-Noor would be in the possession of the Sikhs, indeed it would become… a symbol of their sovereignty,” the authors wrote.
The last owner of the Koh-i-Noor, Duleep Singh, was proclaimed maharaja of Punjab when he was five-years-old on Sept. 18, 1843. Six years later, he was told that he had submit to British power and surrender the Koh-i-Noor to the British queen. The Lloyd’s Weekly newspaper criticized the role played by the earl of Dalhousie, the governor-general of India, in exerting pressure on the young ruler to sign the final Treaty of Lahore.
“Though the marquis of Dalhousie has substantially made her majesty a present of the gem, in point of form, the boy Dhuleep Singh ceded it to the queen. But such a cession is a mockery (as) the lad did exactly what he was bid… He signed the paper placed before him quite regardless of its contents and the responsibility of its terms rest entirely with the governor-general.”
Queen Elizabeth II has refrained from wearing the Koh-i-Noor in public and it is now on display in the Tower of London, despite calls for it to be returned to the Indian sub-continent. In November 2000, the Taliban demanded that the Koh-i-Noor be returned to them. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the Taliban’s foreign affairs spokesman, said: “The history of the diamond shows that it was taken from us to India and from there to Britain. We have a much better claim than the Indians.”
Pakistan also wants the return of the Koh-i-Noor while the Indian government maintains that it will try to bring back the diamond, despite the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, saying “diamonds were for the emperors and India does not need emperors.” Amid the claims and counter-claims, the British government is adamant that the stone will remain in London.
This book is a brilliant read for anyone interested in this infamous gem and its history.
Book Review: A glittering history of the world’s most infamous diamond
Book Review: A glittering history of the world’s most infamous diamond
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Essence of Software’
- “The Essence of Software” introduces a theory of software design that gives new answers to old questions
Author: DANIEL JACKSON
As our dependence on technology increases, the design of software matters more than ever before. Why then is so much software flawed? Why hasn’t there been a systematic and scalable way to create software that is easy to use, robust, and secure? Examining these issues in depth, “The Essence of Software” introduces a theory of software design that gives new answers to old questions.
Daniel Jackson explains that a software system should be viewed as a collection of interacting concepts, breaking the functionality into manageable parts and providing a new framework for thinking about design.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Flows in Networks’
Authors: Lester Randolf Ford Jr. & D. R. Fulkerson
In this classic book, first published in 1962, L. R. Ford, Jr., and D. R. Fulkerson set the foundation for the study of network flow problems. The models and algorithms introduced in “Flows in Networks” are used widely today in the fields of transportation systems, manufacturing, inventory planning, image processing, and internet traffic.
The techniques presented by Ford and Fulkerson spurred the development of powerful computational tools for solving and analyzing network flow models, and also furthered the understanding of linear programming.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Planetary Climates’ by Andrew Ingersoll
This concise, sophisticated introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite— from Mercury to Neptune and even large moons such as Saturn’s Titan.
Although the climates of other worlds are extremely diverse, the chemical and physical processes that shape their dynamics are the same.
As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth’s climate history and future.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Dragonflies of North America’
- “Dragonflies of North America” is the ultimate guide to these extraordinary insects
Author: ED LAM
Dragonflies are large and beautiful insects, diverse in color and pattern. This premier field guide provides all the information you need to identify every male and female dragonfly found in North America, whether in the field, in the hand, or under the microscope.
The extensive illustrations are the heart of the book. Close-up color portraits of each species, often several times life size, show the best possible specimens for close examination.
“Dragonflies of North America” is the ultimate guide to these extraordinary insects.
What We Are Reading Today: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- Murakami’s prose, understated yet richly evocative, guides readers through a narrative that oscillates between the real and the surreal
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” is an intricate, mesmerizing novel that weaves together the ordinary and the surreal, creating a tapestry of existential questions, hidden truths and unexpected journeys.
First published in 1994, the novel is often regarded as one of Murakami’s masterpieces, encapsulating his signature blend of magical realism, psychological depth, and cultural introspection.
At its heart is Toru Okada, an unassuming and somewhat disaffected man whose mundane life takes a sudden and dramatic turn when his wife, Kumiko, disappears. What begins as a straightforward search evolves into a labyrinthine journey, leading Toru to confront not only the mystery of Kumiko’s absence but also the darker forces of history, memory, and his own psyche.
Along the way, he encounters an eclectic cast of characters, each with their own enigmatic role to play in the unfolding story.
Murakami’s prose, understated yet richly evocative, guides readers through a narrative that oscillates between the real and the surreal. The novel’s structure mirrors this duality, as Toru navigates his increasingly strange reality while descending into dreamlike underworlds, mysterious wells, and symbolic landscapes.
These moments are imbued with Murakami’s distinctive sense of unease, where the boundaries of the tangible and intangible blur, leaving the reader questioning the nature of reality itself.
One of the novel’s great strengths is its ability to juxtapose the deeply personal with the historically and culturally significant.
While Toru’s story is intimate and introspective, it is interwoven with threads of Japanese history, particularly the atrocities of the Second World War. These historical narratives, told through the recollections of various characters, deepen the novel’s scope, turning it into a meditation on the lingering wounds of the past and their impact on the present.
“The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” also delves into themes of connection and alienation, power and vulnerability, and the search for meaning in a world that often feels inexplicable. Toru’s journey is not just a physical quest but a spiritual and emotional odyssey, forcing him to confront the unseen forces that shape his life and the lives of those around him.
Murakami’s use of symbolism and recurring motifs — cats, wells, and the titular wind-up bird — adds layers of mystery and interpretive richness to the novel. These elements, coupled with the novel’s nonlinear structure and surreal interludes, create a reading experience that is both immersive and disorienting, drawing readers into a world that is as unsettling as it is beautiful.
For longtime fans of Murakami, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” is quintessential, showcasing the author’s ability to blend the banal with the extraordinary. For new readers, it offers an expansive introduction to his universe, though its complexity may require patience and reflection.
Ultimately, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” is a profound exploration of the human condition — its mysteries, its contradictions, and its quiet beauty. It is a novel that refuses to offer easy answers, instead inviting readers to embrace its ambiguities and immerse themselves in its layered, dreamlike world. Murakami has crafted a story that is as haunting as it is enlightening, leaving an indelible mark on those who dare to journey into its depths.
