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The Journey of One of the Largest Diamonds in the World

5000 years of the Kohinoor

Radha Kapadia
7 min readSep 20, 2020
The diamond crown — Image by India TV News

OOne of the largest diamonds in the world, Kohinoor has always been famous for its dazzling beauty. This beautiful and rare jewel is known to have changed hands many times, as well as borders. It has traveled a long path, with a bloody history which has added all the more to its value.

Early Discovery

Mined at Golkonda, India, about thousands of years ago, it weighed around 793 carats. Back then, India was the world’s only source of diamonds and, since they weren’t found anywhere else, owning diamonds was considered to be a sign of great prestige. It’s still unclear who was the original owner of the this biggest diamond in the world but it was discovered under the Kakatiya Dynasty in the 13th century.

In the early 14th century, Alauddin Khilji, of the Khilji Dynasty, began looting Southern India with his army. That’s when one of his Generals stole the priceless diamond for the Dynasty.

The Era of Mughals

When King Babur of Central Asia invaded India in 1526, he began establishing the Islamic Mughal Dynasty. Babur learned that the Fort of Agra held a gem that defied all the descriptions in the world. Impressed, Babur set his mind on acquiring it. After winning…

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Radha Kapadia
Radha Kapadia

Written by Radha Kapadia

Welcome to my memoir where I’m a forever student of life | Catch me: radha19kp@gmail.com | Connect/Support: https://linktr.ee/radhakap

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