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FIRE IN THE EARTH
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The
Mohammed had no choice but to accept the Nadir Shah's turban and to
turn over his own to the invader. The Nadir beamed triumphantly. He
ripped open the turban and the diamond rolled out in front of him.
"Koh-I-Noor!"
he exclaimed. That was the christening, for Koh-I-Noor means Mountain
of Light. It marked only a new beginning of a sordid drama surrounding
a thing of beauty.
It
brought no luck to the Nadir Shah. He took it home to Persia. But a
courtier, angered for some reason or other, killed him. He was
succeeded by his son, Shah Rukh, and this son iound the stone a
bothersome matter. A lesser king in the city of Mesha, whose name was
the Aga Mohammed, wanted it. In those days you stole a thing with the
honorable weapons of war, as a prize. So Aga started a revolution,
captured the city of Mesha, and demanded that Shah Rukh hand over the
Koh-I-Noor. The Shah insisted that his jewels had been disposed of.
Aga
knew more about torture, in getting coniessions, than the Gestapo. He
ordered his slaves to shave Shah Rukh's head, had the head encircled
with a plaster crown, like the sides of a kettle, and then poured
boiling oil on the head. The Shah coniessed that he had a great ruby,
turned it over, but insisted he didn't possess the Koh-I-Noor. It was
decided that after such torture he must be honest. He was released.
Some
time later, ill from his torture but still possessing the precious
stone, he called upon the Ahmed Shah, founder of the Afghan Empire, and
gave him the diamond in exchange tor aid and comiort. Ahmed Shah
passed the gem on to his descendants. His eldest grandson, Shah Zeman,
now had it. But Zeman had a brother with ambitions. This brother, Shah
Shu/a, seized the throne and caused Zeman's
(18)
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