Koh-in-noor: the history of the world's most infamous diamond

Abstract

"The Koh-i-noor is the world's most famous diamond, but it has always had a fog of mystery around it. Now, using previously untranslated Sanskrit, Persian and Urdu sources, and the discoveries of modern gemmologists to reconstruct its original form, William Dalrymple and Anita Ananad blow away the legends to reveal its true history--stranger, and more violent, than any fiction."

Contents

Part 1: The jewel in the throne -- The Indian prehistory of the Koh-i-Noor -- The mughals and the Koh-i-Noor -- Nader Shah: the Koh-i-Noor goes to Iran -- the Durranis: the Koh-i-Noor in Afghanistan -- Ranjit Singh: the Koh-i-Noor in Lahore -- Part 2: The jewel in the crown -- City of ash -- The boy king -- Passage to England -- The Great Exhibition -- The first cut -- Queen Victoria's "Loyal subject" -- The jewel and the crown -- "We must take back the Koh-i-Noor".