THE KOH-I-NOOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 40, 16 February 1929, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE KOH-I-NOOR.

STORY OF A FAMOUS DIAMOND TRAGEDY IS ITS TRAIN.

NO GREATER ROMANCE IN HISTORY

When Queen Mary decided that the story of the most lustrous diamond in her crown, the Koh-i-Noor, should be filmed, and that she herself would supervise the screen version of the story, Her Majesty braved the centuries-old superstition that told that all men who had dealings with it would be overtaken by disaster. In the solidly magnificent and eminently safe surroundings of Buckingham Palace it must have seemed indeed a far cry to the old Indian legends that told that one of the largest diamonds in the world left, wherever it went, a trail of blood and death.

Clive Maskelyne, the conjurer, accepted eagerly a chance of playing in the production, which the Queen looked forward to seeing as her own especial film, which would tell to all the story in which she personally was so interested. And now Clive Maskelyne is dead. He was in the highest spirits r d glowing with health when he sailed for India a short while ago, to begin work on the film. Now . . . now a feeling of dread oppresses all connected with the production.

Sir Edward Denison Ross, who has written the story of the Queen's diamond, and who has been in constant touch with King George and the Queen regarding it, scornfully denies that Clive Maskelyne's death was connected in any way with the sinister diamond, and, in a special interview, expresses just what he thinks about it. The Stone of Tragedy. "Certainly the diamond has brought terrible misfortune, and even direst tragedy, to those who possessed it," he said, "but that was only because i was the most dramatised jewel in the world, and the one stone which men would sell their souls to possess. It brought out the worst in some natures, because certain people were so fascinated, so dazzled by it that they were willing to sacrifice everything and go to any lengths to obtain it.

"There is no greater romance in history/' Sir Edward continued, "than the 6tory of this diamond, weighing a hundred and eighty-six carats, and how it came into the possession of Queen Victoria. "While I don't pay the slightest attention to the legends that have grown up around the stone, I agree that it has been a jewel of ill-omen, inasmuch as it has caused men to be imprisoned, tortured, "and killed for it. Battles have been fought for it. Lifelong friendships have been severed for it. Brothers have become bitter foes through it. It has played a hideous part in history. It has affected the fate of nations.

"Now it is going to make one of the most dramatic and historically important pictures ever filmed, a_nd it will be one of which Queen Mary may well be proud." Sir Edward then outlined some of the startling history of the Koh-i-Noor, the beginnings of which have been lost in the mists of Time. Indians shivered when, shortly after the gem had been worn for the first time by Queen Mary, which was at her coronation, her young son, Prince John, died. Natives insisted that the diamond was once again exerting actively its baleful influence.

Another singular fact concerning the Koh-i-Noor is that while it has cost countless lives, its toll has always been taken from men. To women, according to native opinion, it is harmless. The civilised world first knew it as something more than a legend in 1305, when Ala-ed-Din, the Emperor of Delhi, defeated the Rajah of Molwa, in whose family the Koh-i-Noor had been an heirloom for several hundreds of years. Ala-ed-Din considered the taking of the jewel an event of even greater importance than the actual winning of the battle. In 1526 the battle of Parlput was fought, and the great Mogul dynasty established in Delhi. This brought the diamond into the possession of Shah Jehan, whose daughter presented it in a golden bowl of jewels to Aurung-zeb, at her father's death. Plots and counter-plots to steal the monster diamond distir#cd the politics of the time. placed it in the eye of one of the golden peacocks that adorned his throne, but here it was seen and coveted, by the Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, who had the throne taken away under cover of night and broken up Nadir Shad had overlooked the fact that Aurung-zeb's first thought would be for the Koh-i-Noor, and that, fearing treachery from his visitor, he had had it removed from the iiracm-V-; eye, where another jewel was substituted A Harem Beauty's Revenge. A harem beauty, incensed because another dancing girl had taken her place in the Emperor's favour, betrayed the secret of its whereabouts to Nadir Shah, revealing to him that Aurung-zeb wore it hidden in his turban, which he never removed, day or night. The Persian conqueror, who did not wish to do violence publicly to Aurung-zeb, was equal, nevertheless, to the occasion. Having seized the major part of the Delhi Treasury, he had little to lose by concluding a treaty of peace with the Mogul Emperor, and, with this new knowledge given him by the Emperor's erstwhile favourite, everything to gain. He planned a gorgeous State function, the climax of which would be the ceremony of reinstating the Mogul Emperor on the throne of his Tartar ancestors.

While this ceremonial was taking place, Nadir reminded Aurung-zeb that it was a time-honoured custom that, as a sign of friendliness they should exchange turbans. He himself pulled off the sheepskin turban that was his national headdress, and, in one breath-taking instant, had seized the Mogul Emperor's and placed it on his own head. The matchless gem was safely in the turban, and in his joy the conqueror shouted aloud, " Koh-i-Xoor," which means " Mountain of Light," and thus the jewel gained its name. Shortly afterwards Nadir Shah was found dead in mysterious circumstances.

His feeble-minded son. Shah Eokh, then took possession of the jewel. His weak intellect was so overpowered bv this priceless toy that it became an obsession with him. The legend of its fabulous worth had spread, of course, from one end of India to the other, and men fought each other while planning to present a united front to Shah Rokh and take it from him.

Most powerful of those who desired it was Aga Mohammed. He determined that nothing should prevent him from adding it to his already superb collection of diamonds. Cunningly, under pretext of visiting the sacred shrine of Imam

Riza, he advanced with a large force. This' shrine was visited annually by thousands of Shiva pilgrims, so that no suspicion was aroused. When Aga Mohammed had finished his devotions, he threw off his disguise and ordered the young Shah Rokh to give up the gem. Shah Rokh, who had already fled to Meshed, a better fortified place, solely that the diamond might be safer, refused. It is one of the mysteries of history that Aga Mohammed was able to carry out the fiendish plan that he had devised, but, none the less, he ordered his soldiers to put out with spears the eyes of the Prince of the Moguls, and so unprotected was he that they were able to execute his command.

Still the infatuated Shah Rokh refused to say where the jewel was concealed. He was tortured, but although in his anguish he told the hiding-place of many a costly gem, he would not give to Aga Mohammed the one upon which he had set his heart. Under Aga Mohammed's orders, the Prince's head was closely shaved and encircled with a diadem of paste. Into this boiling oil was poured. Even in this extremity the lips of Shah Rokh remained eealed. The shuddering peoples of India believed that the diamond had hypnotised him, and that through its malignant influence he could not speak if he would. Before he died from the injuries inflicted upon him, Shah Rokh made an alliance with Ahmed Shah, the founder of the Durani Afghan Empire, and he handed the diamond over to him. Scarcely had he possessed himself of the jewel when he died a violent death. His grandson, Shah Zeman, was later to come into possession of the stone. From mat moment Prince Shuja, his brother, up till then his most loyal supporter and friend, became his bitter enemy. Shuja, hoping as Aga Mohammed had hoped, that blindness would cause the stone to lose its fascination in the eyes of its possessor, had Shah Zehan's eyes put out and flung him into prison, where he languished for many years. Shah Zeman, however, who loved the Koh-i-Noor more dearly than life, managed to take it into prison with him, although he was blind, succeeded in embedding it in the damp plaster wall of his dungeon. There it remained hidden as the years rolled by, but eventually the plaster crumbled and an official discovered it and took it to Shuja. The Indian Queen's Secrtt. That brought its history right up to comparatively modern times, and it was the centre of admiration when Elphinstone was sent as a Government Envoy to Peshawar during Shuja's troubled reign.

It was an awe-inspiring piece of poetic justice that Shuja should suffer the fate that he had inflicted on his unfortunate brother. His younger brother, in turn, desired the jewel, as he himself had desired it, and he, too, was blinded and deposed. The celebrated Runjit Singh, from whom he sought help, curiously enough in the company of his elder brother, Shah Zeman, whom he had treated so brutally, was disposed at first to be friendly. But so soon as he heard that the blind brothers possessed the " Mountain of Light " he took them prisoner. Every means, including torture, was used to wring from them their secret. At last the wily Singh approached Shuja's wife. What took place between the Oriental ruler and the wife of his prisoner will never be known but Singh left the beautiful woman possessed of the knowledge he wished. True to his word to her, Singh released Shuja.

It was in 1813 that Runjit Singh went to Shadera, where the blind Shuja, hi? former prisoner, received him. The meeting must have been tense with emotion, albeit that, according to the records of that fateful reunion, both potentates retained, on the surface, their Eastern impassivity. The two sat facing one another for an interminable hour of silence. At last Singh became impatient and demanded the diamond. Shuja nodded silently to a slave, who brought a packet and laid it on the carpet between the two. Trembling with emotion lest after all he encounter treachery, Singh tore open the parcel. A thousand gleaming rays of sparkling light told him that at last he had realised the most passionate, indeed, the all-consuming desire of his life. Runjit Singh took the diamond to Lahore, where it remained until the young Rajah Dhulip Singh was recognised by the British Government and the Punjab annexed. All property was handed over to the East India Company in payment of debts due by the Lahore Government, and a stipulation was made that the Koh-i-Noor should be presented to Queen Victoria. " The Koh-i-Noor was brought to England," said Sir Edward Denison-Ross. by Lord Dalhousie. He put the stone in his pocket and, later, when he was dressmg for dinner, his servant found it and, thinking that a jewel so large must be a valueless piece of glass, was in the act of throwing it away when his master retrieved it." A model of the Koh-i-Noor is kept at ilie Tower of London, but the original is lodged safely in Windsor Castle. Queen Mary has in her possession unique documents relating to the " Mountain of Light, and she is using all those that will add to the interest of this thrilling piece of history, which should make one of the most arresting moving pictures ever shown on the screen.