Did The Koh-i-Noor Bring Misfortune? The Documented Fates Of Its Royal Owners

There are days when history feels distant — locked behind museum glass and footnotes — and then there are stories like the Koh-i-Noor, which feel unsettlingly alive. I first fell into this rabbit hole

while revisiting old court records and colonial memoirs for a Financial Express-style deep dive. What began as a glittering gemstone quickly turned into a ledger of assassinations, imprisonments, blinded princes, and collapsed empires. The Koh-i-Noor does not merely pass through history; it slices through it. For over seven centuries, this diamond has travelled from throne to throne, rarely staying long, and almost never quietly. Its legend is not built on superstition alone, but on a chilling pattern of very real, very documented human tragedy.

The Diamond That Refused To Behave Like Jewellery

The Koh-i-Noor — Persian for Mountain of Light — is among the most famous diamonds on earth, not because of its size alone, but because of what followed it. Long before it was set into British crowns, it was a political weapon, a spoil of war, and a trophy of conquest. Unlike gemstones gifted as symbols of love or alliance, the Koh-i-Noor was seized, extorted, or surrendered under duress almost every time it changed hands. What makes its story extraordinary is not folklore, but repetition. Male rulers who possessed it met abrupt, violent, or humiliating ends. Women, interestingly, did not.

Origins In The Deccan: Where The Trail Begins

Most historians trace the diamond’s origin to the Kollur mines in the Golconda region, in present-day Telangana. According to records cited by the Odisha State Archives, the stone likely surfaced during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty in the 13th century. Golconda diamonds were renowned for their clarity and crystalline structure — and the Koh-i-Noor stood apart even then. Its early journey set the tone. It did not move through inheritance or ceremony. It moved through bloodshed.

Alauddin Khilji And The First Act Of Betrayal

The Koh-i-Noor’s association with treachery begins with Alauddin Khilji. In the 1290s, Khilji murdered his uncle, Sultan Jalal-ud-din, to seize the throne of the Delhi Sultanate. During his brutal southern campaigns, he acquired immense wealth — including the famed diamond. His reign, while militarily successful, was steeped in paranoia, executions and relentless bloodshed. The stone had entered royal possession. It did not bring peace with it.

The Mughal Empire And A Throne Of Illusion

Under the Mughals, the Koh-i-Noor found its most famous setting — embedded in the legendary Peacock Throne. Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, possessed unimaginable wealth at the height of his reign. Yet his end was hauntingly stark. Betrayed by his son Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra Fort, spending his final years gazing at the Taj Mahal — and the diamond he once owned — from a cell. Imperial splendour did not shield him from downfall.

Nadir Shah And The Bloodiest Chapter

In 1739, the Persian ruler Nadir Shah marched into Delhi. Through deception — famously exchanging turbans with Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah — he secured the diamond and reportedly exclaimed “Koh-i-Noor”, giving it its modern name. What followed was carnage. After rumours of Persian soldiers being attacked, Nadir Shah ordered a massacre in Delhi. Contemporary accounts estimate that nearly 30,000 civilians were killed in under nine hours. Eight years later, Nadir Shah himself was assassinated in his sleep. The diamond moved on.

Torture, Blinding And Broken Successions

Nadir Shah’s grandson, Shahrokh Shah, inherited the Koh-i-Noor — and paid dearly for it. He was tortured and blinded by rivals attempting to force him to reveal the diamond’s location. Later, Afghan ruler Shah Shuja Durrani wore the gem set in a bracelet. His reign collapsed, and he surrendered the Koh-i-Noor to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in exchange for protection. Protection proved temporary.

The Sikh Empire’s Sudden Unravelling

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was one of the subcontinent’s most formidable rulers. Yet after his death in 1839, the Sikh Empire fell apart with alarming speed. His son Kharak Singh died under suspicious circumstances. His grandson Nau Nihal Singh died mysteriously. Political chaos followed. The diamond eventually reached Maharaja Duleep Singh, a child ruler who was just ten years old when the British annexed Punjab. Exiled, stripped of his kingdom and converted to Christianity, Duleep Singh died impoverished and isolated in Europe — a king without a crown, or a country.

The British And A Calculated Distance From The Curse

By the time the Koh-i-Noor reached Britain in 1849 under the Treaty of Lahore, its reputation was well known. Queen Victoria wore it not as a crown jewel, but as a brooch. From that point onwards, a quiet rule took shape: the diamond would only be worn by queens, never kings. It passed through the crowns of Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. In a telling modern footnote, King Charles III chose not to include the Koh-i-Noor in Queen Camilla’s coronation regalia in 2023, mindful of both its symbolism and its controversy.

Curse Or Coincidence? The Historical Reality

Sceptics argue — correctly — that medieval and early modern rulers lived in violently unstable times. Thrones were rarely inherited peacefully. Diamonds did not cause assassinations; ambition did. Yet what keeps the Koh-i-Noor’s legend alive is not myth, but pattern. The diamond consistently changed hands at moments of extreme political rupture. It marked the end of dynasties more often than their rise. Even today, as debates over its repatriation continue and protests surface outside the Tower of London, the Koh-i-Noor remains what it has always been — less a jewel, more a witness.

Where The Koh-i-Noor Stands Today

The diamond is currently displayed at the Jewel House in the Tower of London, drawing millions of visitors each year. It no longer changes hands through violence, but its history ensures it is never viewed innocently. For India, it symbolises loss. For Britain, empire. For historians, it is a rare object whose trail mirrors the darkest mechanics of power. Some jewels sparkle. The Koh-i-Noor remembers.