1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised. Hey, this 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: is Danas Schwartz, host of Noble Blood, the podcast you 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: are currently listening to. Just a few quick bits of 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: housekeeping before the episode. Today, I wrote a novel called Immortality, 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: a Love Story. It's a sequel to the book I 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: wrote last year, Anatomy a Love Story. And if you 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: liked that, or you're just interested in spooky stories about 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: nineteenth century British doctors, please pre order. It would mean 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 1: so much. Pre Orders mean like a ton to authors. 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: It's how publishers know which books to actually promote. Other 12 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: than that, Noble Blood merch is available. I think you 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: can probably still sneak it in if you want to 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: get a holiday gift for someone. The link is in 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: the episode description and also incredibly exciting a next summer 16 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: August twenty twenty three, I'm co leading a pilgrimage to 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: Cornwall to talk about Rebecca, the novel and Daphne du Mourier, 18 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: the novel's author. That you can sign up for the 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: company is called common Ground. If you google Danish words 20 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: common Ground, Rebecca it'll come up. I went on one 21 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: of these last spring about Frankenstein and Mary Shelley, and 22 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: it was just amazing. It was like life changing. You 23 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: get days just like reconnecting with your creative side, reading books, writing, 24 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: talking to people, going on walks. I just I can't 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: wait to go back, and I hope you come too. 26 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: So yeah, that's the housekeeping, and now let's dive in. 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: In London. On September nineteenth, twenty twenty two, thousands of 28 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: people formed a q ten miles long to pay their 29 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: respects to the late Queen Elizabeth the Second at Westminster Abbey. 30 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: A million people were estimated to have amassed in London 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: to witness the funeral procession. Those in line waited as 32 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: long as twenty four hours. But imagine you turned away 33 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: from the crowd who were looking west towards Windsor Castle, 34 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: the Queen's final resting place. Imagine you walked against the 35 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: crowd three miles east along the Thames, all the way 36 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: to the Great Fortress of the Tower of London. If 37 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: you walked into the inner ward, past the Neo Gothic 38 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: gargoyles and into the Waterloo barracks, you would see it 39 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: The enormous diamond, brilliant and gleaming, mounted in a crown, 40 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 1: an awe inspiring symbol meant to represent the wealth and 41 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: power of British royalty. It is the Koenoor Diamond, the 42 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: Mountain of Light, one of the most famous diamonds in 43 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: the world. It weighs one hundred and five point six carrots, 44 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: or more than one hundred times larger than the average 45 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: engagement stone. It sits at the front of the crown, 46 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: in the middle of a cross made of thousands of 47 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,519 Speaker 1: smaller diamonds, the centerpiece of a velvet tap in brilliant 48 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: purple with a white ermine band dotted with black fur. 49 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: On Whose head has that crown sat? You might be 50 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: imagining the crown perched on the procession of British queens 51 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: and queen consorts at their coronations Victoria Alexandria Mary the 52 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: Queen Mother. In theory, Queen Camilla, the now wife of 53 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: the new King Charles the Third, might that crown with 54 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: the coinor diamond at their royal coronation scheduled for next 55 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: year May twenty twenty three. But and although this speculation, 56 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: recent sources indicate that Camilla won't be wearing that crown. 57 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: Why well, because there's another side of British history, and 58 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: the diamond in the crown also evokes a very different 59 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: royal funeral from the one that occurred outside the tower 60 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: walls during the summer of twenty twenty two. In seeing 61 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: the Koi Noor diamond on Queen Camilla's head, one might 62 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: imagine thousands upon thousands of mourners who flocked to a 63 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: cremation in June of eighteen thirty nine in lo War. 64 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: You might imagine Rajit Singh, the Lion of Punjab, first 65 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: Maharaja of the Sick Empire, his body displayed on a 66 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: model ship with sails made of spun gold, the sandalwood 67 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: smoking under his funeral pyre. One might imagine his coenor 68 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: diamond passing hand to hand and finally into the palm 69 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: of a young boy, his young son, du Leip Singh. 70 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: One might imagine the ten year old signing the treaty 71 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: that passed his diamond to the British. One might imagine 72 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: his birthday party one year later, age eleven, Now in 73 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 1: the care of the British family he was placed in 74 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: after his mother was taken from him, One might imagine 75 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: the strained birthday celebrations the young boy gifted with comparatively 76 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: tiny jewels that had been taken from his empire only 77 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 1: months before. One might imagine his mother locked in prison 78 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: desperately trying to get to her son, and one might 79 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: get very, very angry. In eighteen forty nine, the British 80 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: separated a little boy from his mother and separated a 81 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: jewel from a continent. Ever since, many Indians have wanted 82 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: the Coinoor diamond back, but the call for reparations are 83 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:35,119 Speaker 1: especially strong right now because many specifically do not want 84 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: the diamond sitting on the head of Queen Camilla at 85 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: the coming coronation. Of course, returning the fruits of imperialist 86 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: hunger may not be as straightforward as it seems. After all, 87 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 1: the diamond had had a long history before the British 88 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: took it from India. Over the centuries, it was involved 89 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: in a series of brutal conflicts from the Mughal Empire 90 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: to Iran, to Afghanistan to the Sikh Empire in Lahore, India, Pakistan, 91 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: Afghanistan and others have all made claims to the Kohinoor. 92 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: As of this recording, the coronation of King Charles and 93 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: Queen Consort Camilla has not yet taken place. It is 94 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: set for May sixth, twenty twenty three, and so the 95 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: diamond for now sits in the crown in the Tower 96 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: of London, a gift or a stolen bounty, a beautiful adornment, 97 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: or a cursed talisman that has left a trail of 98 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: blood in its wake. It is not the biggest diamond 99 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: in the world. There are eighty nine bigger, but it 100 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: looms large as a symbol of colonialism and imperialism of 101 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:02,239 Speaker 1: Britain's erstwhile dominance over the South Continent and a big 102 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: chunk of the world. The diamond is cut in an 103 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: unusual way, said to look when viewed on, like a 104 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: black hole. I'm Danish schwartz and this is noble blood. 105 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: In the Baghavad Purana, a revered Hindu text, there's a 106 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: story about the most famous jewel in Hindu legend, the Sayamantaka, 107 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,839 Speaker 1: sometimes described as a ruby, sometimes a diamond. The sun 108 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: god himself wore the dazzlingly bright Siamontaka around his neck. 109 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: When it made its way into the hands of men. 110 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: It was a resplendent blessing or a disastrous curse, murder 111 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: and bloodshed attended the gems. Perhaps, legend has it the 112 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 1: Siamontaka was, in fact the diamond we know today as 113 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: the coinor, forged by the gods themselves. For the less 114 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: legendary minded among us, it's more likely that the chinor 115 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: was sieved from a riverbed in India in unusual but 116 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: not impossibly large diamond the size of an egg. Today 117 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: we may think of blood diamonds mined in conflict zones 118 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: in Angola or Sierra Leone, but until the eighteenth century, 119 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,080 Speaker 1: almost all of the diamonds in the world were from India. 120 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: The conor made its first definitive historical appearance in the 121 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: Mughal dynasty, a Muslim empire that came to rule much 122 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: of South Asia between the early sixteenth and mid nineteenth centuries. 123 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: The capitol was in Delhi, and that is where the 124 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: magnificent peacock throne sat, positively dripping with rubies, garnets, emeralds, pearls, 125 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: and diamonds at the top of the throne. Attached to 126 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: the head of one of the peacock figures that gave 127 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: the throne its name was the Kohinoor in seventeen thirty nine, 128 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: Natarshah of Iran staged a bloody conquest of Delhi. In 129 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,559 Speaker 1: the end, he took the peacock throne out of India 130 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,559 Speaker 1: and the Kohinoor with it. Natarshah wore it in his armband, 131 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: alongside the Timor ruby, which was possibly even more valuable. 132 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: At the time, the Mugguls did not consider diamonds as 133 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: the most precious of the stones. They were more interested 134 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: in rubies. The brilliant crimson Natarshah was assassinated by beheading 135 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,439 Speaker 1: eight years after acquiring his bounty. As his head fell 136 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: into the arms of a nearby soldier, his last thoughts 137 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: racing through his severed brain impulses of electricity, he may 138 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 1: have had a glancing thought about the Koeenor that glittered 139 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:24,079 Speaker 1: on his headless arm. He may have wondered, as many 140 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: have since, if the diamond was a curse to all 141 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: its conquerors. Natarshah was dead, the Koeenor and its blood 142 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: red sister wound up around the arm of his guard, 143 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: Ahmad Khan Abdali, who took the diamond with him as 144 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: he led the Drani dynasty in what is considered the 145 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: start of modern Afghanistan. The Kohenor had two sister diamonds 146 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: that were also dispersed. The Darya nor Or the Sea 147 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: of Light is now part of the Iranian Crown Jewels 148 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: in Tran's Na National Bank. The Great Muughul diamond is 149 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: probably now known as the Orlov diamond, named for the 150 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: man who was the lover of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. 151 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: It wound up in her scepter and is now in 152 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: the Kremlin. Roughly sixty years after Natashah's death, Shujshah was 153 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: leading the Afghan Empire to the east. Ranjit Singh was 154 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 1: the first Maharajah of the Sikh Empire. He had captured 155 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: Lahore and expelled the Afghans during the Anglo Sikh Wars. 156 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: Now he wanted the Koheinor back. To get it, he 157 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: imprisoned Shujashah, tortured his son in the scorching sun, and 158 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: threatened to bring his daughters into a harem in the 159 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: Sikh Empire, to the point that Shujishah's wife threatened to 160 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: pound the Kohenor into dust and feed it to the 161 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: women of the family just so Ranjit Singh would never 162 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: get his hands on it. In the end, Rajit Singh 163 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: got the Koenor and he treasured it. He had two 164 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: replicas made of glass, so the real diamond and the 165 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: two fakes could travel on three separate camels, and a 166 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:23,359 Speaker 1: would be thief would never know which was real. Rajitsingh 167 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: was the first to prize the diamond on its own, 168 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: to wear it separately from its ruby twin, in an 169 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: armband that was often the only adornment he wore on 170 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: his white robes. It was not the last time the 171 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: Kohenor would come to be a symbol of empire. He 172 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: had taken the territory and the diamond that had been 173 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: taken by the Afghans, and he intended to show it. 174 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: Rajitsingh died in eighteen thirty six. His cremation was attended 175 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: by thousands. But as much as he had loved the 176 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: Koheienor in life, he seemed unable to escape its curse 177 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: in death. His first successor was fatally poisoned, the next 178 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: died of a smashed skull, perhaps a covered up bludgeoning. 179 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: The third was shot in the chest in a so 180 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: called accident. That's how the diamond and the sick empire 181 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: fell into a young boy's hands. Dulip Singh was five 182 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: years old when he became Maharajah. He was already forming 183 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: a love of painting and Persian poetry, but the Kohienor 184 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: was the size of his tiny bicep. As he struggled 185 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: to wear the heavy stone around his arm, he was 186 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: told he was continuing his father's legacy, but he couldn't 187 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: really remember his father, the fearsome run Njit saying what 188 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: he knew was his mother, Jindan, who was only twenty 189 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: six years old when her son ascended to rule the Punjab. 190 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: She was a fierce, low born, beautiful woman who refused 191 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: to be screened off in the woman's quarters. She was 192 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: attentive when in eighteen forty five, the first Anglo sik 193 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: War broke out against Britain's East India Company. She listened 194 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: to the terms of the Treaty of Lahore at the 195 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: end of the war, which stipulated that her son could 196 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: remain Maharaja only under the so called care of the 197 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: British only until he turned sixteen. They claimed, Maharani Jindan 198 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: was not fooled. This was in occupying power, coercing her 199 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: son to pay them to act against his interests in 200 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: his name. She told him to resist at every return. 201 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: The mid nineteenth century was not an especially good time 202 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: to be a noble woman in India. Ranjitsingh had had 203 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: seventeen wives. Four were burned with him in his funeral 204 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: pyre as sacrificial widows called sati. Seven enslaved girls had 205 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: also burned in the smoke and skin and sandalwood. Jindan 206 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: had been the seventeenth and last wife, only eighteen years 207 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: old when she married the fifty five year old Maharaja. 208 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: Rumors swirled about her supposed sexual indiscretions, and now the 209 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 1: British too had no use for a meddling young woman. 210 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 1: They decided that her quote general misconduct and habits of 211 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: intrigue are sufficient to justify her separation from her son. 212 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: The British government, being the guardian of the Maharaja, have 213 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: the right to separate him from the contagion of her 214 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: evil practice end quote. Duleep Singh at this point was 215 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: nine years old. His fierce beautiful mother, his one truest protector, 216 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: was thrown screaming into a prison cell. So when the 217 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: Second Anglo sic War erupted in eighteen forty eight. There 218 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: was no one to protect him this time. The treaty 219 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: that ended the war did not even pretend friendship. According 220 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: to historians William Dalrymple and Anita anand Quote, the child, 221 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: terrified by the recent fighting in his kingdom, separated from 222 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: his mother and surrounded by foreigners, was told he must 223 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,359 Speaker 1: sign over his kingdom, his fortune, and his future. His 224 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: British abae allies now required nothing less than his complete acquiescence. 225 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: The nine year old dou Leip Singh was utterly alone. 226 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: In the first article of the treaty, he signed over 227 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: the entire territory of the Punjab to the British. In 228 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: the second, he ceded all state property to the East 229 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: India Company. The second article was not specific enough for 230 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: the British, they included a third article all on its own, 231 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:38,160 Speaker 1: which solely concerned the coveted diamond, the Coenore, It said, 232 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: must be surrendered to the Queen than Victoria of England. 233 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:49,399 Speaker 1: The treaty is known as the Act of Submission. So 234 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: by the age of ten, dou Leip Singh had lost 235 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: his diamond, his kingdom, and his mother to the British. 236 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: He was placed in the care of a British family, 237 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: even though he had a mother who loved him, who 238 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: was writing prison letters to her British captors, begging them 239 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: in the name of their God to reunite her with 240 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: her son, promising quote, I will accept what you say. 241 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: There is no one with my son. He has no sister, 242 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: no brother to whose care has he been entrusted end quote. 243 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: The answer was John Spencer Logan, a Scottish doctor, and 244 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 1: his wife, Lena Logan, was kind enough for a guy 245 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: who was essentially an accessory to kidnapping. In one of 246 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: the wildest anecdotes from this whole period, Logan threw to 247 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,919 Speaker 1: Leap an eleventh birthday party in which he showered the 248 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:50,640 Speaker 1: boy with his own jewels, recently taken from his kingdom 249 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: by the British, only the smallest of his jewels. Of course, 250 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: we can imagine the sorrow of that little boy, draped 251 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: in jewels, rules surrounded by strangers, without his mother. We 252 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: can only wonder if any part of him knew that 253 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: miles away his mother was trying to get to him. Yes, 254 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: only a few days after her son signed the treaty. 255 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:22,919 Speaker 1: Roni Jindan, the absolute badass, dressed in rags and broke 256 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,640 Speaker 1: out of prison, leaving a note to the British. Quote 257 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: you put me in a cage and locked me up 258 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: For all your locks and your centuries, I got out 259 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: by magic. I had told you plainly not to push 260 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: me too hard. End quote. She walked eight hundred miles 261 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: to Nepal. The history of colonialism is brutal, a history 262 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: of bloodshed and children ripped from their parents. While Jindon 263 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: did make it to Nepal, the British had beaten her 264 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: there and they gave her, saying sanctuary only as long 265 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: as she promised never to contact her son again. It 266 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: is probably too romantic and sentimental to imagine that something 267 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,239 Speaker 1: in young Duleep knew that his mother was trying to 268 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,760 Speaker 1: reach him. It's pure magical thinking. But the magical coeenor 269 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: diamond will do that to you. In April of eighteen fifty, 270 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: the Coeynor wound up locked in an iron chest on 271 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 1: a ship leaving Bombay. You can be forgiven for hoping 272 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: at this point in the story that it drowns there, 273 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: that it never reaches the British and concludes its cursed 274 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: magical existence at the bottom of the sea. It almost 275 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,360 Speaker 1: did the crew of the ship came down with cholera. 276 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: The ship got caught in a massive storm at sea. 277 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: On June twenty seventh, Queen Victoria survived a seemingly random 278 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: assassination attempt in which a man caned her in the head. 279 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: On June thirtieth, her former Prime Minister, Robert Peel was 280 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: fatally trampled by his own horse. That very day, the 281 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,639 Speaker 1: Coeynor arrived on the shores of England. I'll leave it 282 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: to you to decide if all this was the curse 283 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 1: of the Diamond of the little boy and his mother, 284 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: maybe it was pure bad luck. I'll just say this. 285 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: The ship carrying the Coeynoor was named the Medea, the 286 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: woman of Greek myth who murders her own children in 287 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:45,639 Speaker 1: fury and revenge. If you're superstitious, you might wonder what 288 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:50,919 Speaker 1: the Coeynoor, at this point chained in irons, had in 289 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: its carbon heart. Ten months later, Queen Victoria and her husband, 290 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 1: Prince Albert, welcomed the world to London for the World's Fair. 291 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: They displayed the coenors of the British public for the 292 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: first time, and the British public was not impressed. Quote 293 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: two ordinary eyes said one reviewer, it is nothing more 294 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: than an egg shaped lump of glass end quote. Satire 295 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: magazine Punch called it the Mountain of Darkness and claimed 296 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:30,160 Speaker 1: a Frenchman said that it shone with quote about as 297 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: much light as the sun in England end quote. Queen 298 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,479 Speaker 1: Victoria herself, upon first seeing the gem, had dismissed it, 299 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: remarking that it was so badly cut that it was 300 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: spoiled all this blood and conquest for that you might 301 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: start to think, in the words of Ted Danson's character 302 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: on The Good Place, diamonds are literally carbon molecules lined 303 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,399 Speaker 1: up in the most boring way. But of course the 304 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: Koeinor was never so much a diamond as it was 305 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: a symbol, a symbol of conquest of the Lion of Punjab, 306 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: reconquering his land from the Afghan Empire, of British imperialism, 307 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: forcing India to submit a symbol, albeit a symbol that, 308 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: once gotten, the British public didn't even really seem to like. 309 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:31,879 Speaker 1: Prince Albert was especially invested in rehabbing the disappointing coeenre 310 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: but no matter how he displayed it, how he angled 311 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: the curtains and pillows and gas lights. The magnificent Mountain 312 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: of Light just woodn't shine for England, so he decided 313 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: to recut it. In early modern India, the prevailing trend 314 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: was to cut diamonds in order to best preserve their size, 315 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: but in England the style was to sacrifice size for sparkliness, 316 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: and in July of eighteen fifty two, gem cutters embarked 317 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 1: on thirty eight days of work that would surgically anglicize 318 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: the Coeynor. In the end, what remained of the Mountain 319 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: of Light was sixty percent of its original size, true 320 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 1: to cursed form. The man who made the first cut 321 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:31,119 Speaker 1: died of a stroke within weeks, but those losses didn't 322 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: seem to matter to the British. They took the remains 323 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: of their diamond, held it to the light, and saw 324 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: it finally obediently shine. In eighteen fifty five, Queen Victoria 325 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 1: debuted the new Coeynor in a crown of gold and 326 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: silver flowers with hundreds of pearls and thousands of smaller diamonds. 327 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,680 Speaker 1: When her husband, Prince Albert died, she dressed in all 328 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 1: black for the rest of her life, as covered on 329 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: this podcast, but in her very first appearance after his death, 330 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: she also wore the koeenore. Her look in all black 331 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,640 Speaker 1: was coincidentally an exact inverse of Radjit Singh, who had 332 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:24,640 Speaker 1: worn the diamond over robes of white. Queen Victoria outlived 333 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 1: du Leap Singh. Under the influence of the British, he 334 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: converted to Christianity as a teenager. He cut his hair 335 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:37,440 Speaker 1: against the sick tradition, grieving the Punjabi people he left behind. 336 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty one, after a separation of fourteen years, 337 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: he did finally see his mother again. Jindal, nearly blind, 338 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: brought her fingers to her son's face. She felt the 339 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: hard angles of jaw that had replaced the soft cheeks 340 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 1: she'd known of her precious little boy. Un his mother's influence, 341 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:06,120 Speaker 1: Dulp converted back to Sikhism. He fell out of favor 342 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,199 Speaker 1: with Queen Victoria and died in poverty in Paris in 343 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety three. His children remained in England. We covered 344 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: the suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh on this podcast. Queen Victoria 345 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: died in nineteen o one, and a new line of 346 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,439 Speaker 1: inheritance for the Conoor began. No longer did it pass 347 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: on thrones and armbands of men. Now the diamond moved 348 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: from British Queen to queen, the bauble in a crown. 349 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: A new myth took hold, wishful thinking perhaps that the 350 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:47,919 Speaker 1: diamond brought bad luck only to its male wearers. Maybe 351 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: a matrilineal inheritance could avoid the so called curse. So 352 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: the coinnor passed from Victoria to the wife of King 353 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: Edward the seventh, Queen Alexandria. In nineteen ten, it passed 354 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: to King George the Fifth's wife Mary. It skipped Wallace 355 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,479 Speaker 1: Simpson and went to George the Sixth's wife, who we 356 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: know as Elizabeth the Queen Mother. That was in nineteen 357 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:20,399 Speaker 1: thirty six. In nineteen forty seven, India gained its independence 358 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 1: and the Bloody Partition split the territory into India and Pakistan. 359 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: The Punjab was divided between the two. The British Queen 360 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: was no longer Empress of India. One year later, the 361 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: De Beers Diamond Corporation coins the slogan diamonds are forever 362 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 1: to this day. Harvard Business School uses the slogan to 363 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: discuss marketing that artificially preserved the whole diamond industry. In 364 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, The Queen Mother wore the Queen Noor 365 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: at her daughter Elizabeth the Second's coronation. As recently as 366 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: two thousand and two, it rested on a purple pillow 367 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: on the Queen Mother's coffin. Throughout Queen Elizabeth's seventy year reign, 368 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: the coinor was hers to wear if she pleased. She 369 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: never wore it, wisely, perhaps, whether she was fear of 370 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: international criticism or a curse. The large crown you may 371 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 1: have seen her in replete with diamond crosses, purple cap 372 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 1: and irmine band looks similar, but it's a ruby at 373 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: the center and a different diamond at the base. Not 374 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: the koeinor The coinor sits in the jewel room in 375 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: the Tower of London. On the day of Queen Elizabeth's 376 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: grand funeral, the conor passed to Queen Consort Camilla. Will 377 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: she dare wear it to the coronation in May of 378 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Calls for its return have grown stronger 379 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: amid the prospect, and since Rishisunak became Prime Minister of 380 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: the UK in October of twenty twenty two. The question 381 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: of repatriating objects taken by imperialist conquest is a long 382 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: and complicated one, which we don't have time to cover 383 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: fully or fairly in this podcast episode. The basic question 384 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: is to whom do cultural artifacts belong to? A person, 385 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: a family, a dynasty, a religious group, a nation, a government, 386 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: a geography. Dulip Singh is no longer alive, and he 387 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: has no known legitimate heirs. Even if he did, was 388 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: the diamond truly his or did it belong to something 389 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:56,160 Speaker 1: bigger and more nebulous to his empire or its subjects. 390 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,959 Speaker 1: The British have given no indication that they will give 391 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: of the diamond back, but if they did, to whom 392 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: The Sikh Empire no longer exists. The Punjab region from 393 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: which the diamond was taken is now divided between two countries, 394 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: Pakistan India and Afghanistan Iran, and smaller states and communities 395 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: within them have all made competing claims. There is no 396 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: doubt that the British were brutal imperialists who took the 397 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: Kohinoor from Duleep Singh, and there is no doubt that 398 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: a long pre colonial history of brutality got the diamond 399 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 1: into his hand in the first place. Still, it doesn't 400 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: feel right for the Diamond to remain in captivity in England, 401 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: a ready made symbol of imperial conquest. I'm honestly left 402 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: frustrated by the lack of an easy solution. Could the 403 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: coen live in peace in a museum between the Indian 404 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: and Pakistani Punjab? Could it be divided like Solomon's Baby? 405 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: There is a certain poetry to that idea. The peacock 406 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: throne was meant to invoke King Solomon's from the Quran, 407 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: after all, but doing so would destroy the Diamond. Frustratingly, 408 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: idealism doesn't align with reality. Here's what I know. The 409 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: Koinor has been in British hands for nearly two centuries, 410 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 1: but it has a history of not staying in one 411 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:46,480 Speaker 1: place forever. That's the story of the bloody history of 412 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: the Koinor Diamond. But stick around after a brief sponsor 413 00:32:50,440 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: break to hear about Duleip Singh's only reunion with the Stone. 414 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria adored the young Duleep sing She found him 415 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: charming beautiful. He converted to Christianity, which pleased her, and 416 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: she had brought him to England in eighteen fifty four. 417 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: She commissioned a portrait of him by Franz Winterhalter, which 418 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: showed him turbaned with a mini portrait of Victoria around 419 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: his neck. Victoria watched the teenaged du Leap posing for 420 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: a portrait, and something must have come over her, some 421 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: twisted love or uncomfortable guilt, or simply esthetic inclination. She 422 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: told him she had something to show him, and then 423 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria handed duleip Sing his father's diamond. He held 424 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: the Coenore again, this degraded thing, now half its original 425 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: size and weight, so chiseled compared to the heavy stone 426 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: he had worn born as a chubby child in his 427 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: mother's lap. His heart must have been aching. Who knows 428 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 1: what he thought at that moment of his imprisoned mother, 429 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:16,160 Speaker 1: his departed father, his old empire, his old God, maybe 430 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: of Christ, his loyalty to a new God, maybe his 431 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:27,400 Speaker 1: gratitude to a new sovereign. Maybe rage and humiliation of revenge. 432 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: It is novelesque theatrical, this young boy holding his inheritance 433 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 1: in his hand by the window sill. But it's also true. 434 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: After some time he gave the diamond back to the 435 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 1: British Queen. Queen Victoria had never worn the con doer before. 436 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:51,359 Speaker 1: Then maybe she felt guilty after he gave it back 437 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: to her, though maybe it was like she had been 438 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:58,879 Speaker 1: given permission. She started wearing it. But I can't help 439 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: but wonder what else could Duleep Singh have done. Thrown 440 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 1: it out the window, smashed it, swallowed it. Diamonds are not, 441 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: in fact indestructible. Actone, chlorine bleach, extreme high temperatures all 442 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: can damage them, but a boy's hand cannot. So Duleep 443 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 1: Singh gave the coinor to England for a second time, 444 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 1: this time not to faceless Britain in a treaty, but 445 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:35,320 Speaker 1: to the Queen herself in an intimate handoff. We cannot 446 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,440 Speaker 1: and will never know what it must have felt like 447 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:58,239 Speaker 1: and how much it might have hurt. Noble Blood is 448 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey. 449 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,760 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me danash Sports. Additional writing 450 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: and researching done by Hannah Johnston, Hannah'swick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, 451 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: and Lori Goodman. The show is produced by rima Il Kali, 452 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:21,320 Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey, 453 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: Alex Williams and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 454 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 455 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.