|
FROM THE DEPTHS
|
||
|
|
||
|
eyes
to be put out, and threw him into prison. But Zeman clung to the
diamond, smuggled it into prison with him, hiding it by imbedding it in
the plaster wall of his cell. But a prison guard, who happened to
scratch his hand on something sharp in the wall, discovered the
diamond and returned it to the usurping brother of Zeman.
Shah
Shuja wore the diamond with great pride. Mount-stuart Elphinstone,
British envoy to Peshawar, says he saw it in all its splendor in 1809
on the breast of the Shah Shuja. But the Shah was not destined to enjoy
it for long. His throne was taken from him and he Bed, taking with him
his wife and his blind brother. He sought the protection of the court
of Runjit Singh, known as "The Lion of the Punjab."
The
"Lion" was friendly enough at first to the exiled Shuja but after a
while he began to dream about things heard, things said. It centered
about this Mountain of Light. His "friend" must have it. At Erst he
simply demanded the Koh-I-Noor. But when Shuja tried to substitute a
large topaz, Run/it had the stone tested, found it was not the diamond,
ordered the arrest of Shuja, and seized the real stone.
Proudly
after that Run/it wore the stone in many ways: in a bracelet, set in
his turban, placed in a camel trunk on the lead camel. He died in 1839
and then it was placed in the Lahore jewel chamber. In 1849 the Punjab
was annexed to the British Empire and the British took the Koh-I-Noor
as part of the spoils of war. When brought to England the stone weighed
186 1/16 carats. The Hindu cutters had handled it in a rather clumsy
way and, as a matter of fact, it was not too attractive looking a
stone. It had to be recut, so that it is now 108.93 carats.
There was much consultation before it was decided to cut. The final shape and style of cutting was chosen by
(19)
|
||
|
|
||