KOH I NOOR DIAMOND

The Kōh-i Nūr (Telugu: కోహినూరు, Hindi: कोहिनूर, Persian/Urdu: کوه نور ) which means "Mountain of Light" in Persian, also spelled Koh-i-noor, Koh-e Noor or Koh-i-Nur, is a 105 carat (21.6 g) diamond (in its most recent cut) that was once the largest known diamond in the world. The Kōh-i Nūr originated in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India along with its double, the Darya-ye Noor (the "Sea of Light"). It has belonged to various Hindu, Persian, Rajput, Mughal, Turkic, Afghan, Sikh and British rulers who fought bitterly over it at various points in history and seized it as a spoil of war time and time again. It was most recently seized by the East India Company and became part of the British Crown Jewels when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877. It was traditionally known as Shyamantha-mani and later Madnayak or the King of Jewels, before being renamed Kohinoor in 18th century by Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali.

Contents  [hide]  1 History 1.1 Stone of the emperors 1.2 Passage from India 1.3 The curse of the Koh-i-Noor 1.4 The Great Exhibition 1.5 The Crown Jewels 2 Present claims to ownership of the Koh-i-noor 3 Legends 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 External links

[edit] History

The diamond originated in the Kollur region of Guntur district in present day Andhra Pradesh, one of the world's earliest diamond producing regions, some time in the 1200s during the Kakatiya rule. This region was the only known source of diamonds until 1730 when diamonds were discovered in Brazil.^[1] The term "Golconda" diamond has come to define diamonds of the finest white colour, clarity and transparency. They are very rare and highly sought after.
The diamond was mined in the Kollur mines near the village Kollur in the present day Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.^[2][3] The diamond became the property of Kakatiya kings who installed it as one of the eyes of the presiding Goddess in a temple in their capital city of Warangal.
The Khilji dynasty at Delhi ended in 1320 AD. and Ghiyas ud din Tughluq Shah I, a Turkic ruler ascended the throne. Tughlaq sent his commander Ulugh Khan in 1323 to defeat the Kakatiya king Prataparudra. Ulugh Khan’s raid was repulsed but he returned in a month with a larger and determined army. The unprepared army of Kakatiya was defeated.
The loot, plunder and destruction of Orugallu (present day Warangal), the capital of Kakatiya Kingdom, continued for months. Loads of gold, diamonds, pearls and ivory were carried away to Delhi on elephants, horses and camels. The Koh-i-noor diamond was part of the bounty.^[4][5]
From then onwards, the stone passed through the hands of successive rulers of the Delhi sultanate, finally passing to Babur, the first Mughal emperor, in 1526. The first confirmed historical mention of the Koh-i-noor by an identifiable name dates from 1526. Babur mentions in his memoirs, the Baburnama, that the stone had belonged to an unnamed Rajah of Malwa in 1294. Babur held the stone's value to be such as to feed the whole world for two and a half days.
The Baburnama recounts how Rajah of Malwa was compelled to yield his prized possession to Ala ud din Khilji; it was then owned by a succession of dynasties that ruled the Delhi sultanate, finally coming into the possession of Babur himself in 1526, following his victory over the last ruler of that kingdom. However, the Baburnama was written c.1526-30; Babur's source for this information is unknown, and he may have been recounting the hearsay of his day and mixed up the Emperor of Warangal with the Rajah of Malwa. He did not at that time call the stone by its present name, but despite some debate^[6] about the identity of 'Babur's Diamond' it seems likely that it was the stone which later became known as Koh-i-noor.
Both Babur and Humayun mention very clearly in their memoirs the origins of 'Babur's Diamond'. This diamond was with the Kachhwaha rulers of Gwalior and then inherited by the Tomara line. The last of Tomaras, Man Singh Tomar, negotiated peace with Sikandar Lodi, Sultan of Delhi and became vassal of the Delhi sultanate.
On the defeat of Lodis and replacement by Mughals, his house was looted by the Mughals. However, Prince Humayun interceded and restored his property, even allowing him to leave Delhi and take refuge in Mewar at Chittaur. In return for Humayun's kindness, one of the diamonds in possession of Prince Vikaramaditya, most likely the Koh-i-Noor, was given to Humayun in gratitude.
Humayun had much bad luck throughout his life. Sher Shah Suri, who defeated Humayun, died in the flames of a burst cannon. Humayun's son, Akbar, never kept the diamond with himself and later only Shah Jahan took it out of his treasury. Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his own son, Aurangazeb,

Tavernier's illustration of the Koh-I-Noor under different angles

[edit] Stone of the emperors

The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, famous for building the Taj Mahal, had the stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne. His son, Aurangazeb, imprisoned his ailing father at nearby Agra Fort. Legend has it that he had the Koh-i-Noor positioned near a window so that Shah Jahan could see the Taj only by looking at its reflection in the stone. Aurangazeb later brought it to his capital Lahore and placed it in his own personal Badshahi Mosque. There it stayed until the invasion of Nader Shah in 1739 and the sacking of Agra and Delhi. Along with the Peacock Throne, he also carried off the Koh-i-Noor to Persia in 1739. It was allegedly Nader Shah who exclaimed Koh-i-Noor! when he finally managed to obtain the famous stone, and this is how the stone gained its present name. There is no reference to this name before 1739.
The valuation of the Koh-i-Noor is given in the legend that one of Nader Shah's consorts supposedly said, "If a strong man should take five stones, and throw one north, one south, one east, and one west, and the last straight up into the air, and the space between filled with gold and gems, that would equal the value of the Koh-i-noor."
After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747, the stone came into the hands of Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan. In 1830, Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, managed to flee with the Kohinoor diamond. He then came to Lahore where it was given to the Sikh Maharaja (King) of Punjab, Ranjit Singh; in return for this Maharaja Ranjit Singh won back the Afghan throne for Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk.

[edit] Passage from India

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was crowned ruler of Punjab and willed the Koh-i-noor to the Jagannath Temple in Orissa from his deathbed in 1839. But after his death the British administrators did not execute his will.^[7] On 29 March 1849, the British raised their flag on the citadel of Lahore and the Punjab was formally proclaimed to be part of the British Empire in India. One of the terms of the Treaty of Lahore, the legal agreement formalising this occupation, was as follows:

Lithograph by Emily Eden showing one of the favourite horses of Maharaja Ranjit Singh with the head officer of his stables and his collection of jewels, including the Koh-i-noor.

The gem called the Koh-i-Noor which was taken from Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk by Maharajah Ranjit Singh shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England.

The Governor-General in charge of the ratification for this treaty was Lord Dalhousie. More than anyone, Lord Dalhousie was responsible for the British acquiring the Koh-i-Noor, in which he continued to show great interest for the rest of his life. Dalhousie's work in India was primarily aimed at appropriation of Indian assets for the use of the British East India Company. His acquisition of the diamond, amongst many other things, was criticized even by some of his contemporaries in Britain. Although some suggested that the diamond should have been presented as a gift to the Queen, it is clear that Dalhousie felt strongly that the stone was a spoil of war, and treated it accordingly. Writing to his friend Sir George Cooper^{[disambiguation needed ]} in August of 1849, he stated:

The Court [of the East India Company] you say, are ruffled by my having caused the Maharajah to cede to the Queen the Koh-i-noor; while the 'Daily News' and my Lord Ellenborough [Governor-General of India, 1841-44] are indignant because I did not confiscate everything to her Majesty... [My] motive was simply this: that it was more for the honour of the Queen that the Koh-i-noor should be surrendered directly from the hand of the conquered prince into the hands of the sovereign who was his conqueror, than it should be presented to her as a gift—which is always a favour—by any joint-stock company among her subjects. So the Court ought to feel.^[8]

Dalhousie arranged that the diamond should be presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh's young successor, Duleep Singh, to Queen Victoria in 1850. Duleep Singh was the youngest son of Ranjit Singh and his fifth wife Maharani Jind Kaur. Duleep, aged 13, travelled to the United Kingdom to present the jewel. The presentation of the Koh-i-Noor to Queen Victoria was the latest in the long history of transfers of the stone as a spoil of war. Duleep Singh had been placed in the guardianship of Dr Login. Login was a surgeon in the British Army who served in West Bengal, East India for some years and was a native of Southend, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland. His family had run Login's Inn in Stromness since the early 19th century. Dr Login, his wife Lena and the young Duleep Singh travelled to England for the purpose of presenting the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria.
In due course the Governor-General received the Koh-i-Noor from Login, who had been appointed Governor of the Citadel, the Royal Fort at Lahore, with the Royal Treasury, which Login valued at almost £1,000,000 (£81.6 million as of 2012),^[9] excluding the Koh-i-Noor, on 6 April 1848, under a receipt dated 7 December 1849, in the presence of the members of the Board of Administration—the local resident H.M. Lawrence, C.C. Mansel, John Lawrence, younger brother of H.M. Lawrence, and of Sir Henry Elliot, Secretary to the Government of India. The jewel was then sent to England in the care of John Lawrence, and C.C. Mansel for presentation to Queen Victoria, sailing from Bombay in HMS Medea under strict security arrangements.
The ship had a difficult voyage—an outbreak of cholera on board when the ship was in Mauritius had the locals demanding its departure and they asked their governor to open fire and destroy the vessel if it did not respond. Shortly thereafter the vessel was hit by a severe gale that blew for some twelve hours. Legend in the Lawrence family has it that during the voyage, John Lawrence left the jewel in his waistcoat pocket when it was sent to be laundered, and it was returned promptly by the steward who found it.
On arrival in Britain the passengers and mail were unloaded in Plymouth, but the Koh-i-noor stayed on board until the ship reached Portsmouth, from where Lawrence and Mansel took the diamond to the East India House in the City of London and passed it into the care of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the EIC. The handing over of the Koh-i-Noor diamond to The Queen on 3 July 1850 as part of the terms of the conclusion of the Sikh War also coincided with the 250th anniversary of the EIC. Dr Login received a knighthood in 1854 from Queen Victoria and was known as Sir John Spencer Login (he had added the 'r' to his middle name to change it from Spence to Spencer). The diamond is now set into the crown worn by the female consort to Monarch of the United Kingdom, and is currently in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother).

[edit] The curse of the Koh-i-Noor

It is believed that the Koh-i-Noor carries with it a curse and only when in the possession of a woman will the curse not work. All the men who owned it have either lost their throne or had other misfortunes befall them. Queen Victoria is the only reigning monarch to have worn the gem. According to the legend, if the monarch is a male, the stone is passed to his spouse.
The possibility of a curse pertaining to ownership of the diamond dates back to a Hindu text relating to the first authenticated appearance of the diamond in 1306: "He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity."

[edit] The Great Exhibition

The British public were given a chance to see the Koh-i-Noor when the Great Exhibition was staged in Hyde Park, London in 1851. The correspondent of The Times reported:

The Koh-i-Noor is at present decidedly the lion of the Exhibition. A mysterious interest appears to be attached to it, and now that so many precautions have been resorted to, and so much difficulty attends its inspection, the crowd is enormously enhanced, and the policemen at either end of the covered entrance have much trouble in restraining the struggling and impatient multitude. For some hours yesterday there were never less than a couple of hundred persons waiting their turn of admission, and yet, after all, the diamond does not satisfy. Either from the imperfect cutting or the difficulty of placing the lights advantageously, or the immovability of the stone itself, which should be made to revolve on its axis, few catch any of the brilliant rays it reflects when viewed at a particular angle.

[edit] The Crown Jewels

Main article: Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom

Copy of the new cut of the Koh-i-Noor

Disappointment in the appearance of the stone was not uncommon. In 1852, in Amsterdam^[10] under the personal supervision of Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, and the technical direction of James Tennant, the diamond was cut from 186 1/16 carats (37.21 g) to its current 105.602 carats (21.61 g) to increase its brilliance. Albert consulted widely, took enormous pains, and spent some £8,000 on the operation, which reduced the weight of the stone by a huge 42 percent—but nevertheless Albert was dissatisfied with the result. The stone then was mounted in a brooch which Queen Victoria often wore. It was kept at Windsor Castle rather than with the rest of the crown jewels at the Tower of London.^[11]
After Queen Victoria's death it was set in Queen Alexandra's brand-new diamond crown, with which she was crowned at the coronation of her husband, King Edward VII. Queen Alexandra was the first Queen Consort to use the diamond in her crown, followed by Queen Mary and then Queen Elizabeth.

[edit] Present claims to ownership of the Koh-i-noor

India has claimed the diamond and have said that the Kohinoor was taken away illegally and it should be given back to India.^[7] When Elizabeth II made a state visit to India marking the 50th anniversary of Independence in 1997, many Indians in India and Britain including several Indian MPs demanded the return of the diamond.

[edit] Legends

The origin of the diamond is unclear. According to some sources, the Koh-i-Noor was originally found more than 5000 years ago, and is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit writings under the name Syamantaka.^{[citation needed]} According to some Hindu mythological accounts,^[6] the god Krishna obtained the Syamanthaka from Jambavantha, whose daughter Jambavati later married Krishna. Krishna was blamed for the theft of the diamond from Satrajith's dead brother, killed by a lion (itself having been killed by Jambavantha). Satrajith accused Krishna of having killed his brother. Krishna fought a fierce battle with Jāmbavān to restore his reputation and gave the jewel back to Satrajith. In shame, Satrajith offered Krishna his daughter, as well as the Koh-i-Noor. Krishna accepted his daughter Satyabhāmā, but refused to take the Syamantaka.^[12]

Koh-i-Noor

Glass replica of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond in its original form. From the Reich der Kristalle museum in Munich.
Weight	100 carats (21.6 g)
Color	finest white
Country of origin	India
Mine of origin	Kollur Mine, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh
Current owner	The British Crown (part of the British Crown Jewels)

DARYA-YE NOOR DIAMOND

The Darya-ye Noor (Persian: دریای نور which means "Sea of Light", or "Ocean of Light" in Persian; also spelled Darya-i-Noor, Darya-e Noor and Darya-i-Nur) is one of the largest diamonds in the world, weighing an estimated 182 carats (36 g). Its colour, pale pink, is one of the rarest to be found in diamonds. The Darya-ye Noor presently forms part of the Iranian Crown Jewels and is on display at the Central Bank of Iran in Tehran.^[1]

[edit] History

This diamond, like the Koh-i-Noor, was mined at the Golconda mines, more specifically Paritala-Kollur Mine in Andhra Pradesh, India.^[2] It was owned by the Mughal emperors.
In 1739, Nader Shah of Iran invaded Northern India, occupied Delhi and then massacred many of its inhabitants. As payment for returning the crown of India to the Mughal emperor, Muhammad, he took possession of the entire fabled treasury of the Mughals, including the Darya-i-noor, in addition to the Koh-i-noor and the Peacock throne. All of these treasures were carried to Iran by Nader Shah and the Darya-i-noor has remained there ever since.

Rezā Shāh with the Darya-ye Noor on his uniform

After Nader Shah's death, the Darya-ye Noor was inherited by his grandson, Shahrokh Mirza. It then passed into the possession of Alam Khan Khozeimeh, and later, of Lotf Ali Khan Zand, a member of Iran's Zand dynasty. Agha Mohammad Khan, founder of Qajar dynasty, defeated the Zands, and thus the Darya-e-noor came into the possession of the Qajars. Fath Ali Shah Qajar had his name inscribed on one facet of the diamond. Later, Nasser-al-Din Shah Qajar often wore it on an armband. He apparently believed that this diamond had been one adorning the crown of Cyrus. When armbands fell from royal fashion, he wore the diamond as a brooch. On occasion, the gem would be left in the care of high personages of the land, as a sign of honor. It was eventually kept hidden in the Golestan Palace treasury museum until Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar's time -- this monarch wore it as a hat decoration while visiting Europe in 1902. Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, wore the diamond as a decoration on his military hat during his coronation in 1926, and it was used in Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's coronation ceremony in 1967.

[edit] Possible association

In 1965, a Canadian team conducting research on the Iranian Crown Jewels concluded that the Darya-e-Noor may well have been part of a large pink diamond that had been studded in the throne of the mughal emperor Shah Jahan, and had been described in the journal of the French jeweller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1642, who called it the "Diamanta Grande Table". This diamond may have been cut into two pieces; the larger part is the Darya-e-noor ("Sea of Light"); the smaller part is believed to be the 60 carats (12 g) Noor-ol-Ein diamond, presently studded in a tiara also in the Iranian Imperial collection.

Darya-ye Noor

Weight	182 carats (36 g)
Color	Pale pink
Cut	Tabular, free-form. Inscribed.
Country of origin	India
Mine of origin	Golconda

THE GREAT STAR OF AFRICA

The Cullinan diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found, at 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g).^[1]
The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at 530.4 carats (106.1 g)^[2] was the largest polished diamond in the world until the 1985 discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond, 545.67 carats (109.13 g), also from the Premier Mine. Cullinan I is now mounted in the head of the Sceptre with the Cross. The second largest gem from the Cullinan stone, Cullinan II or the Lesser Star of Africa, at 317.4 carats (63.5 g), is the fourth largest polished diamond in the world. Both gems are in the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

[edit] History

The Cullinan diamond was found by Thomas Evan Powell, a miner who brought it to the surface and gave it to Frederick Wells, surface manager of the Premier Diamond Mining Company in Cullinan, South Africa on January 26, 1905. The stone was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan, the owner of the diamond mine.
Sir William Crookes performed an analysis of the Cullinan diamond before it was cut and mentioned its remarkable clarity, but also a black spot in the middle. The colours around the black spot were very vivid and changed as the analyzer was turned. According to Crookes, this pointed to internal strain.^[3] Such strain is not uncommon in diamonds.
The stone was bought by the Transvaal government and presented to King Edward VII on his birthday.^[4][5] It was cut into three large parts by Asscher Brothers of Amsterdam, and eventually into 9 large gem-quality stones and a number of smaller fragments. At the time, technology had not yet evolved to guarantee quality of the modern standard, and cutting the diamond was considered difficult and risky. In order to enable Asscher to cut the diamond in one blow, an incision was made, half an inch deep. Then, a specifically designed knife was placed in the incision and the diamond was split in one heavy blow. The diamond split through a defective spot, which was shared in both halves of the diamond.^[6]

[edit] Anecdotes

Glass copies of the nine diamonds cut from the Cullinan

In 1905, transport from South Africa to England posed a security problem. Detectives from London were placed on a steamboat that was rumoured to carry the stone, but this was a diversionary tactic. The stone on that ship was a fake, meant to attract those who would be interested in stealing it. The actual diamond was sent to England in a plain box via parcel post, albeit registered.^[7]
The story goes that when the diamond was split, the knife broke during the first attempt. "The tale is told of Joseph Asscher, the greatest cleaver of the day," wrote Matthew Hart in his book Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession, "that when he prepared to cleave the largest diamond ever known, the 3,106 carats (621 g) Cullinan, he had a doctor and nurse standing by and when he finally struck the diamond and it broke perfectly in two, he fainted dead away." It turns out the fainting story is a popular myth. Diamond historian Lord Ian Balfour wrote that Asscher was a very accomplished and competent cleaver, and that it was much more likely he opened a bottle of champagne, instead.^{[citation needed]}
Rumours abound of a "second half" of the Cullinan diamond. According to Sir William Crookes the original, uncut diamond was itself "a fragment, probably less than half, of a distorted octahedral crystal; the other portions still await discovery by some fortunate miner."^[5] Crookes thus indirectly indicates that the original, larger crystal broke in a natural way and not by a man-made cut. Others^[who?] have speculated that before Frederick Wells sold the diamond to Sir Thomas Cullinan he broke off a piece which sized in at about 1,500 carats (300 g) to 2,000 carats (400 g).^{[citation needed]}

Cullinan I (Great Star of Africa), II (Lesser Star of Africa), III through IX.

The nine largest pieces after the split
Weight	Assorted (nine different stones) carats (Assorted g)
Color	white (exact colour grade unknown; Gems & Gemology's examination results stated probably D or at least E)
Cut	Assorted (cushions, pears, marquises)
Country of origin	South Africa
Mine of origin	Premier Mine
Cut by	Asscher Brothers
Original owner	Premier Diamond Mining Co.
Current owner	British Crown
Estimated value	over £200 million, $400 million

THE SANCY DIAMOND

The Sancy, a pale yellow diamond of 55.23 carats (11.05 g), was once reputed to have belonged to the Mughals of antiquity, but is more likely of Indian origin owing to its cut which is unusual by Western standards.
The shield-shaped stone comprises two back-to-back crowns (the typical upper half of a stone) but lacks any semblance to a pavilion (the lower portion of a stone, below the girdle or midsection).
The Sancy's known history began circa 1570 in Constantinople when purchased by Nicholas Harlai, Seigneur de Sancy. He was popular in the French Court and was later French Ambassador to Turkey. Something of a gem connoisseur, de Sancy used his knowledge to prosperous advantage.
Henry III of France suffered from premature baldness and tried to conceal this fact by wearing a cap. As diamonds were becoming increasingly fashionable at the time, Henry arranged to borrow de Sancy's diamond to decorate his cap. Henry IV also borrowed the stone, for the more practical purpose of using it as security for financing an army. Legend has it that a messenger carrying the jewel never reached his destination, but de Sancy (by then Superintendent of Finance) was convinced that the man was loyal and had a search conducted until the site of the messenger's robbery and murder was found. When the body was disinterred and autopsied, the jewel was found in the faithful man's stomach.
De Sancy later sold the diamond to James I (successor of Queen Elizabeth) about 1605 when it is thought the Sancy acquired its name. It was described in the Tower of London's 1605 Inventory of Jewels as "...one fayre dyamonde, cut in fawcetts, bought of Sauncy."
The Sancy remained in England until 1669 when it was briefly possessed by the unfortunate Charles I (King of England, Scotland and Ireland) and then by his third son James II. Beleaguered after a devastating defeat, James took shelter under Louis XIV of France, a fickle host who tired of his exiled guest. Facing destitution, James had no choice but to sell the Sancy to Cardinal Mazarin for the reported sum of £25,000. The cardinal bequeathed the diamond to the king.
The Sancy was thus domiciled in France but disappeared during the French Revolution when brigands raided the Garde Meuble (Royal Treasury). As well as the Sancy, other treasures stolen were the Regent diamond, and the French Blue diamond which is known today as the Hope diamond.
The Sancy's history is unknown from then until 1828 when purchased by Prince Demidoff for £80,000. It remained in the Demidov family collection until 1865 when sold to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, an Indian prince, for £100,000. He sold it only a year later, creating another gap in its history. It reappeared in 1867, displayed at the Paris Exposition, carrying a price tag of one million francs; the gem then vanished again for forty years.
The Sancy next surfaced in 1906 when bought by William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor. The prominent Astor family possessed it for 72 years until the 4th Viscount Astor sold it to the Louvre for $1 million in 1978. The Sancy now rests in the Apollo Gallery, sharing attention with the likes of the Regent and the Hortensia.

Sancy

Weight	55.23 carats (11.046 g)
Color	Pale yellow, exact color grade not recorded.
Cut	Shield-shaped modified brilliant cut
Country of origin	India
Mine of origin	Unknown
Date discovered	Before 1570
Cut by	Unknown
Original owner	Unknown
Current owner	The Louvre, Paris, France
Estimated value	Unknown

SPOONMAKER' S DIAMOND

The Spoonmaker's Diamond (Turkish: Kaşıkçı Elması) is a 86 carats (17 g) pear-shaped diamond which is considered the pride of the Imperial Treasury exhibitions at the Topkapi Palace Museum and its most valuable single exhibit. Considered the fourth largest diamond of its kind in the world, it is kept under conditions of high security.
Set in silver, surrounded by a double row of 49 Old-mine cut diamonds (brilliants) and well spotlighted, it hangs in a glass case on the wall of the third room in Imperial Treasury section of Topkapı's "Conqueror’s Pavilion", where it is clearly the most eye-catching jewel.
These surrounding separate brilliants give it "the appearance of a full moon lighting a bright and shining sky amidst the stars". Providing an additional beauty to the Spoonmaker's Diamond and increasing its value by as much again, the brilliants are considered to have been ordered or arranged either by Ali Pasha or by Sultan Mahmud II - though this, as all other details of the diamond's origins, is doubtful and disputed (see below).
Notwithstanding the many other treasures of gold, silver, rubies and emeralds of the Topkapı Palace Treasury, the Spoonmaker's Diamond is said to have drawn the adoring, amazed looks of countless Imperial favourites, Queens and mothers of Sultans.

[edit] Alternate Accounts of the Diamond's Antecedents

Up to the present, it is not known with any certainty how this diamond came to the Topkapı Palace, from whom it was obtained or how. The museum's records do list a ring stone called the Spoonmaker's Diamond, which is noted as having already belonged to the 17th Century Sultan Mehmet IV. However, this stone, along with its gold, is only −-220 g (−10 carats), which is much smaller than the present Spoonmaker's Diamond.
Several mutually exclusive accounts exist regarding the origin of the Spoonmaker's Diamond. Though mostly having no firm historical confirmation, they continue to circulate, having become part of the Turkish popular culture and being repeated by tourist guides and also published in printed guide books.

[edit] The Naive Fisherman

According to one tale, a poor fisherman in Istanbul near Yenikapi was wandering idly, empty-handed, along the shore when he found a shiny stone among the litter, which he turned over and over, not knowing what it was.
After carrying it about in his pocket for a few days, he stopped by the jewelers' market, showing it to the first jeweler he encountered. The jeweler took a casual glance at the stone and appeared disinterested, saying "It's a piece of glass, take it away if you like, or if you like I'll give you three spoons. You brought it all the way here, at least let it be worth your trouble."
What was the poor fisherman to do with this piece of glass? What's more, the jeweler had felt sorry for him and was giving three spoons. He said okay and took the spoons, leaving in their place an enormous treasure. It is said that for this reason the diamond came to be named "The Spoonmaker's Diamond". Later, the diamond was bought by a vizier on behalf of the Sultan (or, by a less likely version, it was the vizier who dealt directly with the fisherman).
Variant versions, published in some Istanbul Travel guides, describe the original finder as "a farmer who found it on the ground, and who sold it to a dealer" from whom it eventually "came to a Sultan in the 17th century".
According to still other tales, the name is derived from the finder having actually been a spoonmaker, or that the diamond was given this name because it resembled the bowl of a spoon.

[edit] Ali Pasha of Tepelena

Ali Pasha and his favourite wife Kira Vassiliki, by Paul Emil Jacobs.

A persistent element in several accounts of the diamond's origin links it with the well-known Ali Pasha of Tepelena, who in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries was the Ottoman governor of much of present-day Albania and Greece, and who set himself up as a virtually independent ruler.
The Spoonmaker's Diamond is asserted to have been in Ali Pasha's possession for a short or long time before arriving at the Ottoman capital. By some versions, it had been at one time worn by Kira Vassiliki, Ali Pasha's favorite wife (or mistress). Its eventual passing into the Sultan's hands might have taken place either during Ali Pasha's lifetime, as part of his complicated dealings with the central Ottoman government, or after his execution, when his possessions were confiscated by the Sultan.^[1]
The following versions, through mutually contradictory, are all compatible with Ali Pasha having had a part in the diamond's history.

[edit] Captain Camus and Napoleon's Mother

A widespread strand of stories link the origins of the Spoonmaker's Diamond with historic events at the town of Preveza, Epirus. In 1797 the town was ceded to France and garrisoned by 700 of Napoleon I's French grenadiers under General La Salchette, together with some 200 armed Prevezian Greek citizens and some 60 Greek Souliotes. However, in the Battle of Nicopolis of 12–13 October 1798, this force was overwhelmed by 7.000 Turkish-Albanian warriors under Ali Pasha and his son Muhtar.
In the aftermath, French and Greeks were massacred in Preveza and at Port Salaora on the Ambracian Gulf. Many prisoners who survived the massacre died from the hardships on the road to Ali Pasha's capital at Ioannina, where they were paraded in the streets. Nine French officers were sent on to Sultan Selim III in Istanbul, among them Captain Louis-Auguste Camus de Richemont and another officer named Tissot. Camus remained in captivity until 1801, when he was ransomed and returned to a long and distinguished military career, eventually attaining the rank of general.
Onto the above historically attested facts was added an unattested story, according to which Captain Camus was the lover of Napoleon Bonaparte's mother Letizia Ramolino. Therefore, after receiving the bad news, Letizia has been in contact with Sultan Selim III, and immediately sent a "Big Diamond" by ship to Preveza as a present for the Sultan, with the expectation of her lover's liberation. The diamond went from Preveza to Ioannina (presumably, in Ali Pasha's custody) and then to Istanbul.^[2] An additional detail appearing in some versions is that the diamond had previously belonged to the executed Queen Marie Antoinette.
Finally, Captain Camus and the other French soldiers had been liberated, while the diamond remained in the Topkapi Palace, in possession of Sultan Selim III and his successors.
As noted, there is no clear historical evidence to either a relationship between Captain Camus and Letizia Ramolino or to her having sent the diamond to the Sultan. It is noteworthy that in some versions Captain Camus is mentioned as having been 47 years old at the time, which would make his age compatible with that of Letizia Ramolino (who was 48 then). However, in fact Camus is known to have been only 27 in 1798. It is also to be noted that at the time Letizia was not yet the Emperor's mother, but simply the mother of a rising young general of Revolutionary France - not so likely to have the power and authority attributed to her in the story.
Much later Camus, by then a General, published his memoirs in three volumes. In one passage he does mention that during their year in possession of Preveza, the French soldiers carrying out fortification work in a place called Mazoma (see [1]) revealed in their excavations the eastern cemetery of Ancient Nicopolis. There, many treasures came to light (jewelry, lamps, pottery, etc.) all of which were pillaged by the soldiers. However, Camus makes no reference to a big diamond having been among these ancient treasures. In any case, almost all French soldiers were killed in the Battle of Nicopolis and its aftermath, their belongings being looted by the victorious Turkish and Albanian troops.^[3][4][5][6],.^[7]
Despite being historically doubtful, the romantic story is often repeated of Captain Camus having been the lover of Napoleon's mother and of her having sent the Spoonmaker's Diamond to the Sultan in order to ransom him. The account was, for example, included in a recent documentary of Japanese State Television, "Preveza" (2004),.^[8][9] For his part, Dr. Ilber Ortayli, Director of the TopKapi Museum, participated at the 2nd International Symposium of History of Preveza held at that city in 2009, though speaking mainly of a later period in Ottoman history rather than of the origins of the Spoonmaker's Diamond,.^{[10][11][12][13]}

[edit] The Pigot Diamond

It has sometimes been suggested that the gem is one and the same as the Pigot Diamond, which was obtained by Lord Pigot during his term as British governor of Madras (India) and brought to London, probably in 1764. On his death in 1777, he bequeathed it to his brothers, Robert and Hugh, and his sister Margaret, the wife of Thomas Fisher.
Dr. George Frederick Kunz wrote about the mysterious Pigot Diamond in 1897 for the Century Magazine. ^[14]
Under a private act of parliament passed in July 1800,^[15] the stone, a model of which is in the British Museum, was disposed of by way of lottery in two-guinea shares for £23,998, 16s. It was sold as weighing 188 grains at Christie's on 10 May 1802 for 9,500 guineas.
One version of the story has it that it was at that time offered to Napoleon - then involved in negotiating the ephemeral Peace of Amiens with Britain - and that afterwards it did reach Turkey via Egypt and eventually came to lodge in TopKapi.
By another version, the diamond remained much longer in Britain; in 1818 it passed into the hands of the jewellers Rundell & Bridge, who shortly afterwards sold it for £30,000 to Ali Pasha. This still leaves some possibility of its having eventually gotten into the hands of the Sultan (Mahmud II in this case), either in Ali Pasha's lifetime or after his death.
However, this is contradicted by the version that Ali Pasha held on to the diamond until his last day; when mortally wounded by Reshid Pasha on February 5, 1822, the dying Ali Pasha reportedly ordered that it be crushed to powder in his presence - which was done.^[16]
In any case, the recorded weight of the Pigot Diamond was just 47.38 carats (9.48 g),^[17] which would exclude the possibility of its being the Spoonmaker's Diamond.

[edit] Which Sultan first got the diamond?

In 1798, when Preveza was captured by Ali Pasha, the Ottoman Sultan was Selim III. In 1822, when Ali Pasha was killed, the Sultan was Mahmud II. Assuming that the above stories contain at least a nucleus of historical truth, and that Ali Pasha was involved in the diamond arriving at TopKapi, one of these was most likely the first Sultan to possess the diamond - though the actual circumstances of its arrival there might have been far more mundane. In case of one of the "Naive Fisherman" versions being the right one, the diamond might have arrived much earlier.

[edit] In Film

The Spoonmaker's Diamond is the big diamond is referenced in the film "Topkapi", shot in Kavala and Istanbul in 1965 and starring Melina Mercouri and Peter Ustinov. However, the robbers depicted in the film are mainly oriented at stealing another Topkapi treasure, the emerald-encrusted dagger of the earlier Sultan Mahmud I.