S08E04

Welcome to Echoes of History, the place to explore the rich stories from the past that bring the world of Assassin's Creed to life. I'm Matt Lewis. For the past few weeks we've explored the dark underbelly of Victorian London, the setting of Assassin's Creed Syndicate. We've seen how the Industrial Revolution forever changed the face of London's buildings and its people. We've investigated how Scotland Yard played a crucial role in policing crime in the ever-expanding metropolis. And we've uncovered the true personality of the woman who gave her name to the era, Queen Victoria. Today, I want to examine the literal jewel of Victoria's crown, the Coenor Diamond. In Assassin's Creed Syndicate, players get the opportunity to be part of the history of this famous treasure as they protect it from the evil Templars by liberating it from the Tower of London. In the mythology of Assassin's Creed, the Coenor is a fascinating addition to a story that spans centuries, but the diamond has a riveting and tragic history all of its own. Due to a malfunction with our animus, I've handed over to my friend Dan Snow, who sat down with historian Shrabani Basu to shed light on the mystery of the Coenor. How did a symbol of Mughal power become a feature of the British coronation ceremony? The answer is complex and Victorian. The Coenor Diamond, a mountain of light in Persian. It's one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, over 100 carats. And it was, for the last, well, over 100 years, part of the crown jewels of the United Kingdom. It's one of the most famous stones in the world. It always was, right from its beginning. It was owned by various rulers on the Indian subcontinent, then in Iran and Afghanistan. And it passed to the British as they expanded their domination of India. Queen Victoria was made Empress of India, but she was a slightly reluctant one. She wrote to her eldest daughter, Victoria, the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm, and she said in the 1870s, no one feels more strongly than I do about India or how much I opposed our taking those countries. And I think no more will be taken, for it's very wrong and no advantage to us. You know how much I dislike wearing the Coenor? Well, she was suddenly wrong about no more territory being taken in the subcontinent. The British Empire in Asia expanded into places like Burma after she did that. But she was ahead of her time in realizing that the Coenor itself would attract great controversy. Today, various groups in India and further afield ask for the diamond back regularly. It was at the time and it still is, I suppose, a symbol of Britain's violent seizure of a vast empire in India. In this episode of the podcast, I've got Shravani Basu. She's a journalist, she's a best selling author. She's been on the podcast before. She talked about her book for King and Another Country, Indian Soldiers on the Western Front, 1914 to 18. She's a great commentator on Indian history and the British Empire in India. It's great to have Shravani back on the podcast. Here are her thoughts about the Coenor. It's lovely to be here, Dan. Thanks for inviting me. Tell me about diamonds. I mean, India was a great source of diamonds, traditionally, wasn't it? It was. It was the one big source before the South African mines were discovered. So all the diamonds actually came from India at this stage. And of course, everybody loved diamonds. So it was the big thing. You had these mines in South India, the Golconda mines. The diamond we're going to talk about today, that's where it came from. Tell me about the diamond, the Coenor. Right. Well, it didn't have that name when I go back to the history. Apparently, the history of this diamond is like 5000 years old. It was mined in South India near the Golconda mines. It actually floated up on the beds of the Godavari River. So it is on the riverbed. They say it was mentioned in ancient Hindu texts of 5000 years old. But we'll park that for a moment and sort of take the facts as it were. We know where it was mined. And then the story goes that it was probably used. This big chunk of rock was in a temple as the eye of the idol, like the third eye. So it was on the forehead of this idol. And then you have the invasion from the north of the Muslim rulers. They desecrated a lot of temples. So they probably got the Coenor from one of these temples and took it up north. And it would have been the Delhi Sultan. So the Lodis, the Tughlaks. It stayed in the north till, of course, Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, he gets this diamond. And then we have a mention of this large diamond, the size of Hen's egg. It is probably the Coenor, though he had other diamonds as well. And of course, this goes down the Mughal dynasty till we see it in with Shah Jahan, one of his descendants, the famous Shah Jahan, who made the Taj Mahal, loved architecture, loved jewelry, and liked to put precious stones in his monuments. And he put the Coenor in the peacock throne, which was in Delhi. Tell us what the peacock throne was. Well, this was this elaborate gold throne with gems and jewels with the wings of a peacock. And the head is where the Coenor was apparently kept, the head of the peacock. This is seen by travelers and everybody knows it. But even at this time, it's not actually called the Coenor. It's called the Mughal diamond or just Barber's diamond. So it has different names, and that's how it's referred to. So it stays with the Mughals until, of course, we have this date, which is 1738, when a warlord from Persia and his Nader Shah, he invades Delhi. Now, the Mughals at this time, their power is declining. But of course, the peacock throne is still there, the Coenor is still there. And Nader Shah loots Delhi, plunders Delhi, kills a villain. It's very violent. And then, of course, he takes the Mughal treasures and takes them away. And he is the one, when he looks at this big diamond, he says, this is the mountain of light. It's the Coenor. So he is the one who actually names it the Coenor. And that name has stuck. And it's interesting because we Brits talk a lot about our own role in the destruction of Mughal India. But the Nader Shah invasion and sack of Delhi, I mean, that was devastating for the Mughal regime, wasn't it? It was brutal because civilians were killed, massacred, and all the treasures were taken. So the Coenor, the peacock throne, the other diamonds, there's this other large diamond called the Dariya Enor. All these were taken to Persia. The Coenor now moves to Iran and it stays there. But of course, he's a warlord. So the wars are continuing. And he is assassinated in 1747. He's dying. And of course, he's got the Coenor strapped on his arm. He wears it as an armband. And his general, his name is Ahmed Shah Abdullih. He takes the Coenor from him and he takes it away. And of course, this general then goes all the way to Afghanistan. And he goes to Kandahar. And there in Kandahar, he changes his name to Ahmed Shah Durrani. And he becomes the ruler of Afghanistan for the next few years. So now the Coenor moves from Persia to its new home in Afghanistan. Was the diamond famous outside the subcontinent and outside Iran at this point? And indeed, was it famous there? Did it already have an extraordinary reputation? It did, because travelers would write about this diamond. There were so many accounts, starting from Babur Nama in Babur's own memoirs, to other travelers who would visit the court. It is described. It was in the peacock throne. It's gone to now Iran. So it is a much-coveted diamond. And so when it's come to Afghanistan, again, it's got this history where it goes missing, it's lost, it's found. It ends up in a cave where apparently there's a mullah who's using it as a paper weight. So all sorts of stories. But these rulers of Afghanistan, the Durranis, now they are eyeing the Punjab, because they want to expand their kingdom. So of course, we now have the next players in the game. And these are the Sikhs. They are going to clash with the Sikhs and the Sikh kingdom. And of course, the big person in the Sikh kingdom is a man who has one eye, and his face has small box marked, but he is known as the lion of Punjab. And so the Afghans have to take on this Sikh general. He was actually a general in their army. His name is Ranjit Singh. And of course, he imprisons Shah Shubja. Ranjit Singh expands the Sikh kingdom. It goes to Kashmir. So it covers Punjab and Kashmir. And now he arrests Shah Shubja and imprisons him in Kashmir. And he wants the Kohinoor. He desperately wants his hands on this diamond. He does a bargain with Shah Shubja. He says, I'll release you if you give me the Kohinoor. And so the Kohinoor now goes one more journey. It now goes to Maharajar Ranjit Singh. And it's now moved from Kandahar to Lahore. And that is its new base. So Ranjit Singh, so he is an extremely able commander. He's carved out this empire in what is now northern India and Pakistan and beyond. But he now faces his enemy as well. Doesn't he, Shramani? Of course, it's a real bloody history. I mean, the one thing you can say, Dan, about this diamond is that it does not have a tag saying one careful low now because it has passed through so many hands. And there's just so many people who want it, who will do anything for it. Blinding, torture, assassination, name it. It's all happening because of this diamond. Every jewel in every myth, whether it's Norse mythology or Greek mythology, every jewel has to be cursed. Is there a little curse going on here? It doesn't seem like whoever is in possession of this hangs on to it very long. Oh, yeah, it was famous as a cursed diamond. I mean, there were two ways. They said one who possesses this will rule the earth and the other was it's a cursed diamond. We have literature about cursed diamonds. We have Wilkie Kohlin's writing, Moonstone, etc. So what's the romance of this cursed diamond? You know, it continues. It's just legends and folklore that goes on. Yeah, it's a shame it's so ambiguous. If you get this diamond, you are either cursed or you rule the world. I mean, OK, great. Thanks very much. There's no two ways about it. OK, so Ranjit Singh has this diamond. Tell us about Hema. Is he ruling the world? He is. Well, he's, as they said, the line of Punjab. His territories extend from Lahore to Kashmir. But of course, he dies in 1839. And once more, there is carnage after his death because there's bloodshed, all his successes. Everyone is killing everybody in this plotting. And eventually it's 1843 when this five-year-old little boy with large eyes, he is the one who inherits this throne. His name is Maharaja Billip Singh, and he's going to wear the Kohinoor for the next five years. He wears it as an armband. It's trapped on his plump little arm. And that's how it is. And Shubhadi, has it been shaped and polished and made to look all nice? At some stage from that temple in southern India to the present, it must have been all fancied up. It is. So it's a rose-cut diamond. It hasn't been cut. The descriptions are that it is the size of a hen's egg. So it weighed about 190.3 metric carats. So it's a large chunk of rock. It's trapped, as I said, as an armband on Billip Singh, onto this little Maharaja. But of course, there is so much violence. There is now the next players in this game. And of course, it is these men in red coats with muskets and arms and enter the British. I've heard of them. I've heard of these guys. Yeah, so they are there. And of course, Punjab is so important to them because this is the 19th century, early 19th century. We have the great game with Russia. Afghanistan is important. And Punjab is crucial because that's going to be the focus for Afghanistan. So they are looking at the Sikh kingdom. And of course, they go to war. And of course, because the Sikh kingdom after Ranjit Singh is going to pieces, the five-year-old Maharaja there, it's just perfect for picking. So there we go. We have two wars. And the second Anglo-Sikh war is 1849. The Sikhs are defeated. And this 10-year-old Maharaja signs the deed. It's the Treaty of Lahore. So one of the terms is, of course, the kingdom is annexed. The treasury is annexed. And one of the items is that the Kohinoor will be handed over. And the exact wordings, I read them. It says, the gem called the Kohinoor, which was taken from Shah Shuja Ulmuk by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, shall be surrendered by the Maharaja of Lahore to the Queen of England. So it's written there. It's one of the clauses of the treaty. And this 10-year-old has to take it off and give it. So it was a famous thing. Like it was something that the Brits, they didn't just want Punjab. They wanted this diamond as well. They want this diamond because everybody wants this diamond. And the new governor general, he's in his 30s. He's a fairly young man, Lord Dalhousie. He has his eyes on this diamond and Punjab. And he writes to his bosses in the East India Company. And he writes about the Kohinoor. He says, the Kohinoor has become in the lapse of ages, a sort of historical emblem of conquest in India. It has now found its proper resting place. You can see from his words that this diamond is so coveted. It's traveled, as we said, from this temple in South India to Persia, to Afghanistan, to Lahore. And now the Brits have it. So it's put into a little bag and he's going to send it in a little actually purpose-built little kit bag. So together by Lady Dalhousie. And he himself, he goes to Lahore to take the diamond personally. So he travels up from Calcutta, takes the train to Lahore, puts this diamond in the pit bag, and actually has it sewn onto his waist. He's going to travel like that. He is so scared that there's going to be an attack. Somebody else will want it. It's got such a bloody history. So he takes it. He's taking no chances. It's trapped onto him and he carries it to Bombay himself on his person before it's then loaded onto the ship in several caskets and finally arrives at the offices of the East India Company in Leidenhalgh Street in London in 1850. Can you imagine how stressful that was for the captain of that ship to get the navigation right and oh my goodness. Everything. I mean, imagine Dalhousie. It was a long train journey from Lahore to Calcutta with the diamond strapped to him. I mean, everything about this diamond was like so stress inducing. It's the one that they really wanted. But it was a lot of stress as well for anyone who got it. And then to hold onto it was the next thing. In case you haven't heard, in the US, it's a presidential election year. Democracy works. We will. We said all of a sudden, we said what happened to the election? People we are. We're going to hear a lot of, this is America. No, no, you're all wrong. This is America. But on American History Hit, we're leaving that to the rest of them. Join me, Don Wildman, twice a week, where we look to the past to understand the United States of today with the help of some amazing guests. Let us introduce you to the founding fathers, guide you through the West Wing of the White House, and shelter you on the battlefields of years gone by to find out just how we got here. American History Hit, a podcast from History Hit. OK, so the diamond comes to the UK. Does Queen Victoria, does it get handed over to her personally? Of course, yes, it was meant for the Queen. So it's handed to the Queen. But it's handed on a day that she is really upset because she just got the news that Lord Peale has died, a former prime minister who she was very close to. This is Robert Peale. She is distracted and distressed and this diamond is given. So she receives it, but actually she doesn't write too much about it. It's just a mention in her journals, which is very unusual, because normally she would have written a lot about it. And we'd have had 100 opinions about the diamond, but she just mentions that she received this. But of course, it's 1850 and the next year we are going to have this big exhibition, 1851, the Great Exhibition. It's decided that the Kohinoor is going to be the centerpiece of this exhibition. It's going to go on display to the public for the first time. The posters are there and the crowds, they come milling to see this diamond. It's putting a sort of cage, but horror of horrors. It only gets a two star review. Because the Crystal Palace where this Great Exhibition takes place is open glass. So this diamond, which is rose cut, which is a different sort of cutting. It's not the sort of European cutting. It doesn't actually glitter. It doesn't catch the light in such a way. So everyone's a bit unwelled. The Queen is also a bit disappointed. They tried their best. They put it on a dark velvet cloth. They put lamps on it to make it shine, but none of it really works. So after the exhibition, it's taken and the Queen gives it to Albert. And Albert is like, what do we do with this? How do we get this right? He consults jewelers and diamond experts and he decides to have it cut European style. So now a hammer and chisel are going to be brought to this diamond. What? And it's going to be cut and horror. Again, it loses half its weight with the cutting. So from 190 carat, this big hen's egg is now reduced to a quail's egg. It's become 90 something carat. That's it. It's lost half its weight, but it does shine. So it's given to Queen Victoria. She's happy to have it, but she has mixed feelings because she does realize that the leap seeing has been through a lot. Well, what's happened to the leap seeing in the meantime is actually really tragic because when he was nine, when all this was happening, his mother was torn from his side and imprisoned. So this young Prince is nine years old. His mother's taken from him and the next year his kingdom is taken from him. And then he himself is taken from Lahore and he sent away 200 miles away to a fort for Tegar where he is now to be looked after by a Scottish doctor, a very kindly man called Dr. Logan and his wife, Lena. So he's brought up in this very, you know, lonely. He's just a child placed with toys by himself. Very English upbringing. And when he's 14, he decides, he says, I want to become a Christian. He wants to give up his faith. He is a confused young boy. His mother is not there to guide him. Kingdom is gone on his 11th birthday. He actually really tragically Dr. Logan wants to give him a present and says, can I have some of the treasures back and give him a few jewels, a few bits and bobs to please him. And so they bring these out and they give it to him. And he says that on my 10th birthday, I wore the Kohinoor. So it's really sad. And it does make Dr. Logan and his wife, who were very kindly people, feel terrible about it. They never want to bring up the Kohinoor to the Leip Singh. But meanwhile, the Leip Singh now decides he wants to travel to England. So at the age of 15, he travels to England and it's going to change his life because now he's going to meet Queen Victoria and see the Kohinoor again. And that's quite a story. Wow. He comes face to face with the Kohinoor again. Yeah. So it's actually this story is told by Leina Logan, Lady Logan, and she says it was absolutely embarrassing because the Queen was actually very anxious about the Kohinoor. And after it's been cut, she wants to show it. She wants to know what the Leip Singh, this young boy feels about it. She's very fond of the Leip Singh and she keeps asking Lady Logan, well, does he talk about the Kohinoor? What does he say? She's really curious. Can I show it to him? And Lady Logan says, well, okay. So there's this one day, 1854, the Leip Singh is dressed to the nines like Maharaja. He's wearing all his Indian clothes and jewels. His portrait has been painted in Buckingham Palace by Franz Winterhalter. This portrait actually hangs in Osborne House. It's a beautiful portrait. So while this portrait has been painted, the Leip Singh is modeling in all his fabulous clothes, looking really handsome. He was a very handsome young prince. Suddenly, Queen Victoria enters the room followed by some guards and they're holding a box. And she opens it and it's the Kohinoor. And she gives it to the Leip Singh and says, what do you think? Do you recognize it? The Leip Singh, he looks at this, he can barely recognize it. It's this little stone now. It's shining. It's cut differently. His face sort of changes when he looks at the new diamond. He walks to the window and holds it up in the light. Lady Logan thinks for one moment that he's so upset. He's going to throw it out of the window. And she is really anxious and very embarrassed. And then he just turns around, he takes the diamond and he bows and he gives it to Queen Victoria. And he says, as your humble servant, I hereby present my sovereign with the Kohinoor. So it was a really embarrassing scene. And well, Queen Victoria takes the diamond and she now wears it as a brooch. No qualms about that. How does it end up in the crown jewels? She wears it as a brooch. Even when she goes into mourning, it's there on this black outfit of hers. And she loves wearing it on special occasions. She always mentions it in her diary that, you know, the Maharaja and so and so came, I wore this and I wore my Kohinoor. It is very prominently worn. And then, well, it's after her death in 1901 that this Kohinoor is now placed for the coronation of her son, Edward VII. It is now worn in the crown of Queen Alexandra. So that is the movement where he goes to the crown. So it is placed in her crown and that tradition continues. So it is always worn by the queen consort. After Edward VII's death in 1911, it is worn by Queen Mary in her crown at the coronation of George V. So again, queen consorts are wearing it. And so for those who said this diamond disgust, there was this theory that, well, as long as it's not worn by a male monarch, you're OK. So Victoria was a queen, so she was safe. And if the queen consorts wearing, that's fine. So I think it continued to be worn and it ends up in the coronation crowns. And then it passes to Queen Elizabeth. So when George VI at his coronation, she has a new crown and the Kohinoor is placed in the center of that. And that is where it stays. The queen mother wears this at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. So 1953, she wears it. Well, of course, it's housed in the Tower of London where everybody can see it. On her death in 2002, it is placed on the coffin. Once again, the Kohinoor is there front and center sparkling. And of course, it leads to lots of controversy. People don't like it back in India. How interesting. And so let's come to the controversy in a minute. But presumably, if tradition continued, it's not the sovereign wears it, it's the consort. And we now have a female consort again. So Camilla should be wearing it at the coronation. Well, this is exactly what came up. So once the queen died and suddenly all the crowns were on display again, there was this murmur which became more than a murmur. Everybody realized that the next coronation, the queen consort, will be wearing the Kohinoor in her crown in all possibility. So it really became a controversy. And in India, one of the politicians from the ruling party said that if this Kohinoor was worn again, it would bring back the painful past of colonial history, etc. So there were a lot of murmurings and also, of course, the demand once again, bring back the Kohinoor started all over again. Now, why is the Kohinoor more sensitive than much of the other loot captured by the Brits over the centuries, some of which have found their way into ceremonial jewellery and events? What is it about the Kohinoor, do you think? It's really interesting because, you know, as far as jewels go, there's a lot that was taken as loot and these include Tipu Sultan's treasury, Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore. He was defeated by the East India Company, the Wellesley's army, 1799. His treasures, his golden throne, all of these were taken, his swords, his throne, even his tent, they were all taken here. And the beautiful bird of paradise which was on top of his throne, that is with the royal estates. But these things, these treasures are all locked away. They're in the vaults, you don't see them. I think the history of the Kohinoor, the way it was taken, the way it was coveted by so many rulers from all across, that gives it this romance. And then the way it was seized from Punjab, from this young 10-year-old Maharaja whose mother was taken away. So this whole tragic history to it brings it to the fore. And then, of course, the Kohinoor is worn when it's placed in the crown. It is there for people to see. It is very much on display. Front and center, glittering in the crown, it is the jewel in the crown, the jewel, the most famous diamond in the world. So it attracts that attention. It becomes the symbol of colonial rule, much more than the other treasures do, because you don't see them. You don't see them glittering on this crown. So when it went out on the Queen Mother's coffin, that's when a lot of the mamma rind started. When Prime Minister David Cameron went to India, he was asked repeatedly, you know, give back the Kohinoor. And he said, now there's no negotiation is staying there. If we start returning things, the British Museum will be emptied. So all this comes up. But I think the main thing about the Kohinoor is it is the symbol. It is the one symbol of colonial rule where it was taken. And of course, it's one rock. It's a diamond. The fact that the royal family, the British government, have retired the Kohinoor for this coronation. What do you think that tells you about the state of relations between Britain and India and the nerves, the awareness of Britain's imperial legacy? Oh, absolutely. I think Prince Charles is quite sensible. The last thing he would want is more controversy. I mean, there's enough. He would not want any focus going on the Kohinoor once again and all the controversy if Camilla was to wear this. So I think they took the decision that she would wear Queen Mary's crown, which has a replica Kohinoor. And the actual Kohinoor will not be placed on it. Instead, there will be these kulanen diamonds from South Africa, which were worn as broaches by Queen Elizabeth II. So those will be placed on the newly structured Queen Mary's crown. And so that takes the Kohinoor away from being front and center and on display. But of course, I mean, the murmuring will continue, but I think it was a sensible decision not to wear this. And of course, there's so many other things. You know, there's a trade deal at stake, so you don't want bad relations with India at the moment. Post-Brexit trade with India is important. This trade deal is hanging on the edge and they need to complete it. So I think the government advice would also have been, keep that low. Let's keep the bling down. Let's not ruffle any feathers. Wow. Do you think one day the Kohinoor will end up heading back to the sub-constant? And by the way, if so, who gets it? Is it Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran? Who gets the Kohinoor? I don't think it'll ever go back. I think it's here now for good. At the end of the day, A, there are too many contenders for it. So, you know, Iran would want it. Afghanistan, the Taliban actually claimed it in 2000, which is quite, you know, hilarious. And then Pakistan says that after partition, Lahore is part of Pakistan. So that's where the diamond had its last place. So way back in the 1970s, actually, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutta was prime minister, they put in a claim for the Kohinoor, which was dismissed. And India, the cases keep coming and going, you know, every now and then there'll be a case saying, bring back the Kohinoor. It's like background music that keeps going on. But I don't think it'll ever go back. What I do think is that people get really annoyed that they have to pay to go. I mean, this jewel was taken at gunpoint. It was not a gift. Everybody knows that. And it is the most famous diamond. So I think people really get annoyed with the fact that they have to pay to go see the Kohinoor if they want to see it. So I feel that maybe if it went to one of the museums, one of the national museums where the public could see it, that would probably be a better home for it. So, you know, the VNA or, I mean, Queen Victoria's crown is already there in the VNA. This could join that. And then people can go and see it. And well, that's just my theory. So interesting that the story of the Kohinoor is absolutely not yet over. It could keep moving. Oh, yes, it would. It's just like it kept moving. Well, it's been sitting in the tower for many years now. Let's see how things shape up there. But I think it could, under pressure, it won't go back to India. It definitely won't go to Pakistan. I mean, if anything, India has the claim on it because the diamond did come from the Golconda mines. There it was part of the Mughal empire. The Sikh empire is also seen as largely part of India. But the point is, it's too controversial. And it's just better off here. But it might move to a different place. Well, thank you so much for talking us through that. The controversy doesn't look like it's going anywhere, Shrobani. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. No, we are not getting rid of the bling yet. Thank you very much for coming on the podcast. That's fantastic. Thank you. It's lovely to be here, Dan. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Echoes of History, a Ubisoft podcast brought to you by History Hit. I'll be back next time as we move on to our next sequence of episodes about how Assassin's Creed Odyssey brought ancient Greece to life. In the next episode, I'll consult with the medical legend that was Hippocrates and promptly pick that legend apart. Don't forget to subscribe and follow Echoes of History wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're enjoying it, you can leave us a review too. I'll see you next time among the Echoes of History.