01x02 - Mountain of Light Part Two

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We shall embark in
the middle of this journey,

to arrive at a conclusion.

The Kohinoor was embedded in

the left eye
of the Bhadrakali statue.

The moment Alauddin Khilji
saw this diamond,

he linked it to his future.

Babur separated himself
from the Kohinoor.

When Humayun leaves India...

He gave this diamond
to Shah Tahmasp.

Presentation of Kohinoor
to Shah Jahan,

coincides with the beginning of,

the w*r of succession
amongst the sons of Shah Jahan.

The army of Nadir Shah arrives
and destroys the whole of Delhi.

The loot of Delhi was notorious.

Welcome to the naming ceremony!

Kohinoor, the mountain of light!

Shah Shujah did
not want to let this

diamond get away
from his hands at any cost.

The King of Kashmir, Ata Mohammed,
captured the diamond with deceit.

Since he couldn't do it, Shah Shujah
was handed over to Ata Mohammed Khan

just as police officers come one

after another
to extract information.

You please try, sir.
He isn't speaking up.

Even then Shujah did
not open his mouth.

Only one person could free Shujah
from imprisonment.

Sher-E-Punjab!

Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Wafa Begum made a promise
in return for Shujah's freedom.

The Kohinoor.

With this promise, the return of
the Kohinoor to India was confirmed.

The Maharaja was going to be
the new authority of the Kohinoor.

Shah Shujah's family
including Wafa Begum,

who was his queen,
were in Lahore.

Wafa Begum, she reaches the court
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Punjab.

She had this floating you know,
that if Shah Shujah returned

alive and came to Punjab,
then this diamond would

be given to Maharaja Ranjit Singh
as a trade-off.

Ultimately, he did effect this

release of Shah Shujah,
brought him to Lahore.

Shah Shujah
got protection in Punjab.

Now, Shujah had to pay
the price of his freedom.

The Maharaja's love for Kohinoor
was boundless and known to all.

He just wanted to have it!

Not by means of snatching,
but with love.

A thankful Shah Shujah
was indebted to Ranjit Singh,

but he perhaps, had no clue
about that promise,

or maybe he was playing innocent.

Both, Wafa Begum and Shah Shujah,

now didn't want to give
that diamond to Ranjit Singh.

It wasn't only about the promise.

The yearning that
Maharaja Ranjit Singh

had for the Kohinoor was intense.

Coming to this period,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh

understood that the Kohinoor
had become a symbol of royalty.

There are various stories
on what actually happened.

At first, she tried to deceive
the Maharaja

by giving him
a Yellow Sapphire stone.

But none of that worked.

Ranjit Singh brought in
his merchants from Amritsar

and said take a look at this.

And they said
no this is not the Kohinoor.

He also sent somebody to pose
as a merchant saying

that if you have that
diamond then sell it to us.

With the passing temptation,
Ranjit Singh

understood that he had the diamond.

Shah Shujah himself gives a
much more unkind account.

And he says his son was
tortured in the heat

and Ranjit Singh
treated him very badly.

Whether he did it or not,
but one thing is beyond doubt

that he had helped
save Shah Shujah's life

and offered asylum
to him and his wife.

Later what he did or did not give,
if we keep that debate aside

even then the diamond actually

came handy in saving
Shah Shujah's life.

There are also stories
that say that he himself went

and they had a peaceful meeting.

There was an exchange of turbans,
and he was given the Kohinoor.

Clearly, Ranjit Singh was
at the top in this relationship.

Now, the Kohinoor which
was with Maharaja Ranjit Singh

was beginning to write
a new chapter in history.

The symbol of victory
was in front of the Maharaja

and he was ready to accept it.

For the first time ever,
the Kohinoor was going to

become the pride of a turban.

Authoritatively, the Kohinoor
now belonged to Sher-E-Punjab,

and the announcement of the same
was no less than announcing a w*r.

All hail the King!

Age old history,

the fact that it came in possession
of the strongest person

and that things started changing

for the better after its arrival
were some of the things

that started getting associated
with the Kohinoor.

It was becoming priceless
with time and the methods

which were being applied
for its valuation were interesting.

Shah Shujah had said that
the owner of this diamond,

becomes very fortunate.

Begum Wafa the wife
of Shah Shujah had a wonderful

story about how, if a strong man
were to throw a stone north,

another stone east, a third
stone south, a fourth stone west

and a fifth stone up in the air,

and if the entire space
amongst these stones

would be filled with gold,

the value would still not be equal

to the value
of this precious Kohinoor.

It is so valuable that the entire
world's fortune could come into it.

Ranjit Singh is truly
one of the greatest rulers

that Hindustan has seen.

Ranjit Singh certainly had capacity.

He employed French generals
to train his army.

And therefore,
he built up a strong Khalsa army

which gave
a very good account of itself

in the battles with the English.

He rarely wore any jewels except
for the Kohinoor.

He wore it as an armlet.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was
very possessive about the Kohinoor.

One of my favourite stories
about Ranjit Singh,

and the diamond is that
he was blind in his left eye,

so he had the diamond
at some point mounted into

the right side of the bridle
in one of his favourite horses

so that he could see it
at all times.

He is happy with that possession

and he is proud
to have the Kohinoor.

He wears it very proudly.
It's brought out to the court.

When he could not be present
himself to welcome his guests,

he would send
the Kohinoor in his place.

Kohinoor was now representing him.

Not only the Maharaja,
but the Kohinoor was

becoming a symbol
of Punjab as well.

The East India Company
was eyeing Punjab.

But that was impossible
with Ranjit Singh around.

His whole idea was
how to make a unified large state.

It is also a question of handling
the British with great tact,

so that they wouldn't break
away parts of his empire.

So, The East India Company
are happy with Ranjit Singh.

What they particularly want
is Ranjit Singh to be their ally,

their buffer state
against Afghanistan.

By 1823, Ranjit Singh
had asserted Khyber Pass

as well under his authority.

Punjab was strong
and the Kohinoor was safe.

There also used to be
a British representative

in Ranjit Singh's court.

The Britishers learnt
all about the Kohinoor

thanks to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

This diamond used
to be kept under strict vigilance

at the treasure house in Govindgarh

because as much as Ranjit Singh
loved the Kohinoor,

he equally feared losing it.

While travelling, 40 camels
had similar boxes kept on them.

And no one knew
which box contained the Kohinoor.

This arrangement
was only for the Kohinoor.

The army and servants were separate.

Just as
we have ''Z+'' security nowadays.

This is the power of prestige.

Ranjit Singh lived a hard life.
He had three strokes.

It is said that when Maharaja
Ranjit Singh was in his last stage,

some Brahmins came and explained
to him that now that he is going,

he cannot take anything along
with him.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was given
a suggestion

to give away the diamond
at Jagannath Temple, Puri.

And the Maharaja
was very keen to do it.

Nobody wanted
to give the Kohinoor away.

The Prime Minister said it should
be Prince Kharak Singh.

The Prince said it should be
the in-charge of the treasure house.

Beli Ram believed
that it was state property,

and it should go to the successor
and it should not be given away.

This was the last dramatic moment
in which there was a possibility

that the Kohinoor could have been

given away at that moment,
but it wasn't.

Ranjit Singh breathed his last

on 27th June, 1839.

If you observe
the history of the Kohinoor,

Ranjit Singh was the only ruler
who in his lifetime

could neither be defeated
at w*r nor could anyone

steal or snatch
the Kohinoor from him.

Compared to other rulers,

his relation with the Kohinoor
was very different.

The East India Company started
looking at local weaknesses

and asserting themselves.

They had a mafia
style blackmail strategy.

Where they would go to a small chap
and say,

you are very vulnerable,
you could be attacked by anybody,

we will protect you.
You pay us excesses

and we will put so many
of our soldiers in your kingdom.

If he didn't agree, then the British
themselves would attack him.

Like the dominoes that you play,
you knock one down after the other.

You started out
with these small presences

in the major ports,
then the ports themselves.

Then spreading
from the port into the hinterland,

from Kolkata into Bengal.

From Bengal through
Bihar, Jharkhand that area.

And then from Bombay,
they moved up.

They took today
what's Maharashtra, Gujarat

and they were ready
then to attack Punjab.

Everybody realised,
Ranjit Singh's kingdom may not last.

The Kohinoor
is a very costly diamond.

And it's so costly
that one can do anything for it.

It's the biggest symbol
of exercising your power.

I feel that had the Kohinoor
reached Jagannath Temple, Puri

then its journey
would have completed a circle there.

A major group of society
started considering

it to be the "Syamantak Mani",
of the Sun God.

And that's the reason they wanted it

to be sent to the temple
in Jagannath, Puri.

So that its journey gets completed
under Lord Krishna's authority.

In 1839, an article was written
in the London paper, The Era.

In which Britishers were urged to

take cognizance on
the decision to donate

the Kohinoor in
the temple at Jagannath.

In this letter, the Company was
asked to take the diamond

in their possession immediately
because if it goes to the temple,

it could easily be stolen
or sold off.

There is a big possibility
that this letter was printed

under the directive of
the East India Company themselves.

The Kohinoor was in Punjab,

but people in London
were worrying about it!

Everything was fully planned.

A kingdom which had seemed
so powerful, so united,

so wise, it sort of collapsed.

So one of Ranjit Singh's weaknesses

was that he didn't
really groom a proper heir.

After a lot of controversies,
the Kohinoor did grace

the armlet
of the new King Kharak Singh,

but Punjab was struck
with the evil eye,

and perhaps even the Kohinoor.

Punjab saw the demise
of three kings in four years.

In 1843, a five-year-old child,
Duleep Singh,

was now the king.

And also the new owner
of the Kohinoor.

The Company was eyeing Punjab,

and they were making plans
to capture it,

but there was a problem
for the English over here.

Duleep Singh's mother,
Queen Jindan Kaur.

Queen Jindan was
a junior queen of Ranjit Singh.

I don't think it could
have crossed her mind

that her son could become king.

So as she showed political sense,
courage, controlled the army,

then she became powerful.

She started realising
how Punjab had opened

its doors to the British and then
she wanted to move them out.

They saw her
as a thorn in their sight.

So they said,
"In the interest of the boy,

in our interest,
we must separate the two."

Duleep Singh's mother
Queen Jindan was sent to jail,

and that cleared the path
of the Company's revolt

to a great extent.

In 1845-46,

after the first Anglo Sikh w*r,
in 1847 The Company declared

Broun-Ramsay, "Lord Dalhousie"
as their Governor General.

Dalhousie's intentions
were doubtless.

He had only one aim.

Annexation.

Dalhousie is a very interesting
choice as Governor General,

and he is also a very loyal servant
of Queen Victoria.

In this entire process,
the one thing that was clear to

Dalhousie was that the Kohinoor
was very important.

Right from 1848,
he was ready to annexe Punjab.

The second Anglo-Sikh w*r
which took place in 1848-49,

gave birth to a treaty
which reached its conclusion

under the leadership of the
Company's Governor, General James.

It was called,
the "Treaty of Lahore."

The division was done.

The English were waiting to rule.

29th March, 1849.

Sheesh Mahal, Lahore.

This day changed the meaning
of ethics

in the chapter
of the British empire.

The words written on these pages
were separating Punjab from itself.

(THUNDERING)

Duleep Singh was asked
to sign on conditions,

which the innocent child
understood nothing about.

Punjab was being taken away along
with the Kohinoor

in Duleep Singh's armlet.

We can understand
the importance of the Kohinoor

since a separate condition
was written in the treaty

under which the Kohinoor was to be
given to Queen Victoria of Britain.

So the treaty does two things.

It gives sovereignty over
the Sikh empire to the British,

and it also provides reparations,
payment and that includes

the Kohinoor and effectively,
includes Duleep Singh.

He is part of
the financial settlement,

that accompanies
the Treaty of Lahore.

Terms of annexation.
It's very interesting.

There is a clear division.

Article says, "The Kohinoor
is being surrendered by

Duleep Singh to Queen Victoria."

Now a surrender is in battle,

but Duleep Singh was
by treaty a ward of the British.

So, where's the battle?
This was the great deception.

This was not something
which ultimately one can describe

truly as a gift.

It is not an adult giving a gift,

it's a 10-year-old child
who has been already

in British control for sometime.

As lawyers we have
a tendency to celebrate

British commitment to law
and justice, fairness and equity.

What fairness and justice is this?

This is how you treated
a 10 year old boy?

You got a 10 year old boy
to part with something

that his father held dear
and sacred without,

giving him the opportunity
to take that decision

after he turns an adult.

A treaty made
with Maharaja Duleep Singh

who was a minor
and trying to acquire

the Kohinoor with inappropriate

means invited heavy criticism
of the East India Company

and Dalhousie at that time.

Because neither was the Kohinoor
won in battle nor given as a gift.

This time the Kohinoor
was taken with deceit.

Dalhousie was steadily
getting successful in his designs.

Punjab was won over.

Even the plan to send
the Kohinoor to Queen Victoria

was now becoming a success.

Without reporting
to the East India Company,

he wanted to send
the Kohinoor directly

to Queen Victoria in England.

This strained his relations
with the East India Company.

But now all he wanted was
Queen Victoria's attention on him.

The court of the East India Company
directors was not happy

with Lord Dalhousie's decision
to reserve the diamond

for the crown.

In their eyes, they wanted
the diamond for themselves.

They probably would have
put it up to auction.

The Kohinoor was kept
in the treasure house in Lahore,

whose new treasurer
was Dr. John Spencer Login

and his wife Lena, Lady Login,

were chosen
as Duleep Singh's guardians.

The East India Company sent
Duleep Singh far from Punjab

to Fatehgarh to avoid any revolt.

Dalhousie tells Login,

now let's treat this
with utmost discretion.

So the treasure house
which was full of riches

was under John Login.

Dalhousie needed to get
his hands on the real prize,

on the Kohinoor,
he makes his visit to Lahore.

The plan to take the Kohinoor
to England was set in motion.

Dalhousie had given
the job of collecting each

and every information
about the Kohinoor,

and creating a report of it
to Theophilus John Metcalfe.

In Theo Metcalfe's report,
the factual information given

was right other than
that nothing was true.

Lord Dalhousie wasn't particularly
interested in making sure that

Theo got the right story, but rather
just a wide variety of stories

with which to entertain the crown

and sort of dazzle
the East India Company directors

and build into
the story of the Kohinoor.

Plans were made to send
the Kohinoor to Mumbai port

and thus started a secret mission.

The fear
of the Kohinoor getting lost

or a possible attack for it
to be stolen was so high

that Dalhousie himself
had to make this journey.

Dalhousie was hyperactivated.

Before this diamond was sent,

tell me one such Indian article
which had to be sent

for which three officers
were appointed

and a lot of preparations
put in place?

No! Except in this instance.

Dalhousie took James Ramsay
along with him on this journey.

Two of Dalhousie's dogs were
also selected to accompany them.

Baron and Banda.

Dalhousie kept the pouch made
by his wife in his chest pocket

and made the entire journey.

And during one halt,
Ramsay was made to guard the box

sitting with a g*n in his hands
for hours.

Neither sleeping nor any movement.
Just attentively guard the Kohinoor.

Upon reaching Mumbai,

they learnt that there was no ship
to London anytime soon.

For a while it was kept in
the treasure house in Mumbai.

While the ship was
on its way to Mumbai,

Lord Dalhousie was writing
a number of letters back to England,

publicising the stories
that Theo Metcalfe had come up with,

so that everybody
would be excited for it.

On 6th April 1850,
HMS Medea was ready

to leave Mumbai port for London.

Even this time
the journey wasn't an easy one.

Firstly, when the Kohinoor
was being taken,

there was an outbreak
of cholera on the ship.

They have a difficult passage.

They have to stop in
the island of Mauritius.

The Mauritians wave them away
and say please carry on,

we don't want you here.

And then it runs
into a fierce storm.

Before it reaches England,

there was an attempt
to k*ll Queen Victoria.

As more and more curiosity began
to foment about the diamond

and people wanted
to believe in the curse.

One of the first was
the cholera outbreak on the Medea,

then there was the storm,

and then there was threats
to Queen Victoria's life

that happened in 1850 as well.

People started lining up the dots

to imagine that the stone was cursed
and this was happening.

Curse.

This belief is age old.

It is believed that this
diamond destroyed many families

and dynasties.

What is the reason behind it?

Many of these myths are creations
of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Especially, created by the British.

Coming till this period
the situation had become such,

the media had circulated

in such a manner
that a myth got attached to it.

Mystery, horror.

The Kohinoor was presented like

the present situation
of Bhangarh is,

saying it's a haunted fort.

When this thing
about the curse came,

then Dalhousie said, look
who was cursed by it?

Nader Shah was not cursed.
Durrani had a great time.

Ranjit Singh became so powerful.
So, where is the curse?

And if everybody feels
it's so cursed, then give it to me.

30th June, 1850.

The ship reached Port Plymouth
in England along the Atlantic ocean,

and the port was packed with people,
for one look of the Kohinoor.

The next day
it was taken straight to

the East India Company headquarters.

Everyone only discussed
about the Kohinoor.

And the headline
of every newspaper was the same.

Somewhere it was
the mountain of light,

and somewhere it was called
the curse of the Kohinoor.

In between all of this,

the Kohinoor was shown
to Queen Victoria,

which she even mentioned
in her diary.

On one side the public was desperate
to see the Kohinoor,

and so this responsibility
was taken on by Prince Albert.

The date and venue of the display
of the Kohinoor was decided.

The great exhibition,
the "Mountain of Light's" next halt.

The great exhibition itself
then became an occasion

on which the chief exhibit
would be the Kohinoor.

Any ordinary person could see
the Kohinoor for a shilling.

The great exhibition happens
in a huge glass palace

called the Crystal Palace,

because it's effectively
made of glass.

It maximises natural light.

Decorated with precious artefacts,

this temporary pavilion
became the centre of attraction

because of the presence
of the Kohinoor.

The Kohinoor was caged

and displayed in
the British section.

Obediently, the Kohinoor was now
turning British.

As soon as it became British,
it's shine died out.

The exhibition is formally
opened by the Queen.

It's a late spring, early summer.

It's both rainy
and sunny at the same time.

Anyone who lives
in England would be familiar

with this kind of weather.

The crowd rushed
to the gilded bird cage.

Everybody wanted to put
their own eyes on the diamond itself

to get as close as they could.

But the Kohinoor
is a disappointment.

People complained
that it's a piece of black glass.

Or even it just looks
like a lump of coal.

I think it was partially
the fault of the British,

because they had also built up
a lot of hype about this.

It was displayed to a public
that was expecting

something much larger and brighter,

because in the western eyes,
a diamond had to sparkle.

As the Punch magazine says,
"it is not the mountain of light,

it is the mountain of darkness."
And that label sticks.

Mountain of light
to mountain of darkness, in a jiffy.

The newspapers again
started writing the history

of the Kohinoor in a new fashion.

They wrote about its
splendid past and history.

Marketing is necessary.
Another attempt was made.

A last attempt.

Prince Albert scurried around trying
to do something.

He created
a little wooden cabin around it,

he changed the cloth to violet.

They put some gas
lights shining on it.

They put some mirrors.

But the overall impression
of the Kohinoor

at the end of the great exhibition
was a bit of a dampener.

The Kohinoor which for
a long time gave its light and value

to many large dynasties

was without sparkle
in a small cabin today.

Physicist David Brewster mentioned
a new point in his report.

He said, "The Kohinoor is to blame.

There is a yellow patch
in its centre

because of which
it is unable to reflect light."

And there is only
one solution for it.

It needs to be polished.

Meaning, it will have to be cut.

With great hoopla, great attention,

with great announcements
they announced

that they were going
to recut the Kohinoor.

It is a violent act,

if you think of the Kohinoor
as this special icon.

Royal Coster Diamonds.

This very same company had cut this
diamond approximately 170 years ago.

Two Dutch jewellers were selected.

So Feder was a cutter and Voorzanger
he was the polisher.

So the company, Coster Diamonds,
received a letter from the Queen.

So they packed
their stuff of course

and went to London.

They were very nervous.

They had to do this job under
the eye of a lot of special people

like maybe the Queen herself
was there also

and Prince Albert of course.

And they used special tools
because the size was quite big

and they made it especially
for the Kohinoor.

This was an expensive
and quite a laborious process.

38 days in terms of cutting
and polishing the jewel

at the cost of around 8000 pounds.

This is the recut Kohinoor.

Recut by Coster Diamonds
and has a weight of 106 carat.

Brilliant cut.

The Kohinoor
was now in its new form.

With a new sparkle
after shedding its layers.

The 793 carat Kohinoor

must have taken millions
of years to be made.

And for it to become 105.6 carat,

just a thousand years.

In the process of cutting it,

what have you done to our sentiments

and our sentiments
associated with it?

You cannot put a price to it.
You have broken it.

It is sacrilege according to us

for you to have broken it
and cut it.

For them, what was the meaning
of Indian heritage in this?

Nothing.

It was their prized possession,
wasn't it?

Once they cut a 186 carat diamond
into a diamond

of 106 carat, then I think
the Kohinoor was already lost.

It was a matter of choice between,

beauty and size,
and ultimately beauty won.

Once again what happened
was beyond expectation.

Prince Albert was relieved.

The Kohinoor was liked,
and it now became a brand.

This sparkle of the Kohinoor
was rated more than its history.

From being the best at the top,

it was demoted to the 90th position.

But when it came
to being the most famous,

it still held the first position.

There are tests at every stage

and the Kohinoor
was now even being liked.

Despite its diminishing shape,
it was increasing in fame.

But now what?
How can it be used?

And how can the inappropriate manner
in which it was taken

be made appropriate?

What has to happen will definitely
take shape either naturally

or then it is made
to take shape forcibly.

Duleep Singh reached London
in a new avatar.

Duleep Singh was raised by
the Login couple for five years.

As the diamond is being recut,
we also have in the same time,

John Login is becoming
the guardian of Duleep Singh

and Lady Login
also becomes very involved

in Duleep's upbringing.

My own view is that the British
effectively kidnapped Duleep Singh.

So his guardians are there,
yes, to look after him.

But it was all part
of the strategic game

that the British are playing.

An English speaking Indian prince,

who has surrendered
the Kohinoor to you.

Everything is packaged,

it's time for him now
to be taken to England.

So he arrives in 1854,
he goes down to the Isle of Wight.

They welcome him,

and I don't think
this is over emphasising it.

Almost as a new member
of the family.

Queen Victoria is a complex

woman I think in relation
to Duleep Singh,

and in relation to the Kohinoor.

On the one hand
we have this martial monarch

who wants the trappings of conquest.

She wants the Kohinoor.
She wants to show it off.

On the other hand,
we have this motherly figure.

There was a sense
of exoticism about him.

And he was English speaking.

He was learning French,
he learnt Italian.

She gave him the rank
of a European Prince,

and he sat very close
to the royal family.

In 1854, Buckingham Palace,
16-years-old Duleep Singh

was going to make things easier
for Queen Victoria.

The situation commences

where Duleep Singh
is having his portrait painted.

I think there was something niggling
in Queen Victoria's mind.

Maybe a sense of guilt,
but I may be over estimating that.

So she sent word through Lady Login
whether Duleep Singh

would like to see the Kohinoor
and he said, "Yes."

She also knew how difficult

that was emotionally for him.

She has it brought from the tower
so that he can look at it.

She shows him the diamond
and he takes it

and he holds it up to the light

and he contemplates it
for a few minutes.

I don't know what emotions
would be running

through his mind at that time.

He walked to the window.

Lady Login writes that he could
have done anything in that moment.

He could have flung it
out of the window.

We must be aware that he
was very much alive to the fact

that he owned the Kohinoor
and he lost it.

Because he used
to wear it on his arm.

His eyes lit up
and his whole face lit up

with excitement about seeing this.

And then of course, knowing that
he then had to hand it to the Queen,

it subsided.

But then he comes,
gives it back and says,

"It's my great pleasure
to gift it to you, my sovereign."

That has then become the basis

of all subsequent British claims
to ownership.

They are essentially saying that

this was now a gift
from the legitimate owner

that is the family
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

to Queen Victoria and as a gift
they don't have to give it back.

This was the great deception.

Article says, "The Kohinoor,
is being surrendered

by Duleep Singh to Queen Victoria."

I don't think it was a gift,
I think it was a staged act

to make it appear as if
the royal family was not just

appropriating a gemstone
from Indian plunder,

not just appropriating a gemstone
from imperialism,

but rather it was sort
of passively being given the gem.

If people want to call this a gift,
I don't know then what is a ransom.

So according to me, this particular
negotiation that happened between

the then minor representative
of the Sikh empire,

Maharaja Duleep Singh
and the British on the other hand,

represented by the Company,

for all practical purposes
was not an act of a gift being made,

it was a part
of a w*r booty being claimed.

According to Lady Login,

he gave it to
the Queen as a gift himself.

He just could not understand

how important the Kohinoor
was for the dignity of his empire.

It is said that the Queen also
considered Duleep Singh as her son,

but by separating his
own mother from him

and now the Kohinoor as well.

Two new chapters
were going to be introduced

in the journey of the Kohinoor.

It was for the first time going
to be owned by a woman,

and second, it was going
to be used as a piece of jewellery.

The first big public occasion
when she wears it, is in Paris.

She is visiting
another imperial leader.

She needs some kind
of emblem for the empire.

And there we have in front
of 9,000 guests,

the Kohinoor is on public view
for the first time.

It was a stunning event
and people reacted to it very well.

Wearing the Kohinoor,
Queen Victoria

in this state consultation in
the Indian subcontinent

gave the message of sovereignty
to the world.

In spite of being cut and embedded,
Kohinoor was the symbol of strength.

The belief that it was
a cursed diamond

was vanishing away.

The British rule went ahead
and spread their empire.

During the freedom struggle of 1857,

because of the spread
of anarchy and violence,

the rights of the Company
were abolished.

After the Company's rule,
dawned the time of the British rule.

The year 1861 was going to bring
a great change in the lives

of Duleep Singh and Queen Victoria.

And the Kohinoor
was once again

going to become a subject
of discussion.

Duleep Singh was very much aware

that he had been separated
from his mother.

When he came to England,
he had not lost hope.

So he kept trying
to get messages across.

But his letters would
get intercepted,

they would get stopped.

Everything that he did was
under control of other people.

But he finally did manage to get
a letter across to her in Nepal.

And then she wrote back to him.
He got that letter also.

And she referred to him as Dulaji
and he said she is the only

person in the world who
refers to me as Dulaji,

so he was very emotional
and he said, "I have to meet her."

So he applied
for permission to go back to India.

They said you can go anywhere,
East of the Jamuna.

You can't go to Punjab.
So then he met her in Kolkata.

When she came, she was a shadow
of her former powerful self.

His mother Jindan Kaur
has experienced

a whole different side
of British imperialism.

She was constantly
been taken off scene

and seen as an impediment
to British power.

She had had a very rough life.

14 years she had virtually lost
her sight,

she'd lost her beauty,
but her spirit was very much alive.

And he met her
at the Spence's hotel.

They stayed there.

And it was very interesting times
because the battalion of Sikhs

they found out that their Maharaja
is staying in Spence's hotel.

So they would come
below his balcony and shout,

You know "Sat Sri Aakal!"

And he would go out in the balcony
and he would find his followers

and he got very moved.

"Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akaal"

Queen Jindan came
with her son to England,

but Duleep Singh could not
free himself

from the thoughts of
his self-respect and the Kohinoor.

After meeting his mother,
he realised what he had lost.

He had started finding
his father in himself.

Prince Albert was no more
at the same time,

and Queen Victoria found
the letter by Duleep Singh

which spoke about his lost kingdom
and the Kohinoor.

For the first time in
the history of the Kohinoor,

Duleep Singh claimed
his right on the Kohinoor.

It was fair.

If you point a g*n to my head,
I might give you my wallet,

but that doesn't
really make it a gift.

And it doesn't mean I don't want it
back when you put your g*n away.

They put a metaphorical g*n
on Duleep Singh's head,

he handed over the diamond.

Once the g*n was gone away
and he'd grown up

and realised what he'd done,
he wanted it back.

By the 1870s Duleep Singh

focuses in particular
on the Treaty of Lahore.

There was a certain amount
of change in his personality.

He began to question the British.
He began to ask for justice.

Duleep Singh got no explanation
when he demanded the Kohinoor.

Without her wish getting fulfilled
of seeing

the Kohinoor in the armlet worn
by her son,

approximately
two years later in 1863,

Queen Jindan left the world.

Here onwards Duleep Singh's journey
was a difficult one till his end.

After his mother's death,
he repudiates the annexation terms.

He stops taking his pension.

You know, because he had
been reduced to begging for money.

He begins to see himself

as an instrument of exploitation.

He does correspond with the Queen

and there is anger
and there is a call for restitution.

But at the same time he is also

trying to make sure
that the British state,

the British government
still support him,

that he still gets
his family allowance.

In English there is a phrase,

"Biting the hand that feeds you",

and this is the predicament that
Duleep Singh is in by the 1870s.

He decides to buy passages to India
with his entire family

and he is stopped at Eden.

They say you can go anywhere
but you can't go back to India.

Throughout all of this,

Queen Victoria remains loyal
to Duleep Singh and she says,

she writes in her journal,
she says he is clearly off his head

but I still support him.

Victor was the elder son
of Duleep Singh.

Victor's wife was told by the Queen
that don't have any children.

It's quite possible
that so were the others.

Where Ranjit Singh, Duleep Singh's
line is concerned, it ended there.

After a few years, in 1893,

without getting
his rights he passed away.

Many a times as per our convenience
we change what is right and wrong.

Now, a belief was
being circulated that

the Kohinoor was
not unlucky for women,

but only for men,
and this belief was even accepted.

Such beliefs left some stains

in the pages of Kohinoor's history.

Whether these beliefs
were fabricated or genuine

is left to everyone's
own discretion.

In 1901,
after Queen Victoria's death,

a new heir for the Kohinoor
was selected.

In 1903, King Edward III's wife,

Queen Alexandra wore
the Kohinoor

in her new crown
for her husband's coronation.

For the first time, the Kohinoor
became the magnificence of a crown.

Kohinoor was now the magnificence
of a Crowned Jewel.

Along with 3,000 diamonds

the Kohinoor
was embedded in the centre

and it looked
like it was the king of diamonds.

This sequence of the Crowned Jewel
went on further for a long time.

Today the Kohinoor has been kept in
The Tower Of London's, jewel house.

And it has its own special place.

This miracle kept amongst many
other bigger gemstones,

is known as the diamond of India.

Even after 170 years,

one can see the incandescence
of India in it.

After independence in 1947,

the British rule ended in India

and India started demanding
the Kohinoor back.

The Kohinoor was not just
the demand of a state or an empire

but of all of India.

First of all, we in India
think our claim is self-evident.

It was mined in Andhra Pradesh
and it was with Delhi until 1739.

But then there after the problem
is that actors get into the drama.

The Iranians say it belongs to them

because they stole it fair
and square.

Nader Shah came
and plundered it and took it away,

now it's his so they want it back.

Taliban has asked for it back saying
it was stolen under false pretences

from an Afghan Emir
therefore the Afghan's want it back.

Because Ranjit Singh
had his capital in Lahore

and Lahore is now in Pakistan

therefore
the Kohinoor belongs to Pakistan.

One article and many claimants.

In spite of getting their share some
are never satisfied.

Wonder what can be said
about the fools!

There is so much history
and politics

and controversy invested
in the Kohinoor,

that the debate about who are
its rightful owners

will go on for
a long time, I'm sure.

It was and it even
today belongs to India.

If India is seen as
the successor state

to undivided Bharat legally
then Bharat is the only country

which can have legitimate
rights over this particular diamond.

The British are still unwilling
to give it up.

It's not like it only has
this special aura in India.

In terms of what it adds
to the political culture

of the United Kingdom,
its significance is huge.

Imagine saying in
a different context to a young boy.

I stole all this
from your grandfather

now you pay me 10 pounds
to come and look at it.

That's essentially
what the British are doing today.

And I think they ought
to be ashamed of themselves.

Famous scientist
Chandrashekhar Venkatraman

at that time had said that,

"The independence of India
is incomplete without the Kohinoor."

It's confirmed that
the Kohinoor is known

because of its attachment to India.

Nothing could be better than
it being returned to us ethically.

This is all that the British
ruling family have to understand.

The irony and the sad part is
while Indian people want it back,

somehow the Indian state doesn't
seem to want it back as much.

Because you have to understand
that in every such instance,

it is a two-way street,

if the thief enters it's
because you left the door open.

Okay, and even today you
aren't closing the door,

and you don't seem to have
the moral authority

to ask for what belongs to you.

That seeing that Kohinoor on
the British Queen mother's tiara

in the Tower of London is actually
a very good reminder to the world

of what colonialism was about.

Because there they are boasting of,

they are showing off, the fruit
of plunder, conquest, loot.

Ultimately that would be
a reminder to the world

that here you have
a precious diamond,

emphatically
where it never belonged.

That's the proof
of where it came from,

and what's happened to it.

If you understand History,

then this diamond has amazed us many
a times because of its nature.

Every time it has gone
away from India,

it has always
knocked back on its doors.

Sooner
or later is the law of nature.

What's important is for you

to understand the importance
of the Kohinoor.

An age-old heritage,
glorious history,

identity of India,
a priceless gemstone,

a cursed diamond
or just a shining stone?

And what matters
is what we think and decide

about our heritage
and our history.

We have tried
to share this historical story

of the Kohinoor
with you in a fair manner.

But some questions
are still unanswered in history.

We hope some history lover
will fill the gaps.

I will take your leave.

I hope we will meet soon

with some more stories
of Indian History.

Remember,

so far the story of the Kohinoor
has been completed.

Not its journey.

Greetings.