By Balchand, c. 1616.
Shah Jahan on the Peacock Throne, c. 1630.
Aurangzeb on the Peacock Throne, c. 1680.
Jewellers examining royal ornaments.
By Payag, c. 1650.
Mohammad Shah Rangila making love, c. 1720. This celebrated painting may well have been painted to counter the widespread rumour that Muhammad Shah was impotent.
Nader Shah. By Muhammad Reza i-Hindi, one of the Indian artists who Nader Shah took back to Iran along with the Koh-i-Noor and the Peacock Throne.
c. 1740, Isfahan.
Mohammad Shah and Nader Shah in the Red Fort, 1740.
Ahmed Shah Durrani, c. 1755.
Ahmed Shah Durrani, c. 1755.
Shah Shuja, c. 1830 (detail).
Ranjit Singh on an Elephant rides through the bazaars of Lahore, c. 1830 (detail).
Maharaja Kharak Singh, 1801–40.
Son of Ranjit Singh; poisoned to death.
Maharaja Nau Nihal Singh, 1821–40.
Son of Kharak Singh; killed by falling masonry as he returned from his father’s cremation.
Maharani Chand Kaur (regent), 1802–42.
Wife of Kharak Singh; bludgeoned to death by her maids.
Maharaja Sher Singh, 1807–43.
Son of Ranjit Singh; shot dead.
Maharaja Duleep Singh seated on a chair with attendants.
Lithograph on paper, 1849, from an original sketch by Lady Helen C. Mackenzie.
James Andrew Braun-Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie.
Governor-General of India, 1838–49.
Sir John Spencer Login, Guardian of Maharaja Duleep Singh.
Engraved print, c. 1860.
The submission of the Maharaja Duleep Singh to the Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge, after defeat in the First Anglo-Sikh War.
Engraving by J. & F. Tallis, London, c. 1850.
Portrait of Rani Jindan (1817–63) by George Richmond. Oil on canvas, 1862 – one year before Jindan died in London.
Different views of the Koh-i-Noor, before and after cutting.
John Lawrence, who claimed to have lost the Koh-i-Noor for a time after he was entrusted with its safekeeping.
An 1852 Punch cartoon depicting the Duke of Wellington making the first cut to the Koh-i-Noor.
The opening of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace, 1 May 1851. This was the first time the Koh-i-Noor would be seen by the British public.
Maharaja Duleep Singh, attending court at Buckingham Palace in March 1879. Though the maharaja still appeared close to Queen Victoria, he was now questioning his treatment at her hands.
Portrait of Maharaja Duleep Singh by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Oil on canvas, 1854. While posing for the portrait, the maharaja held the Koh-i-Noor for what would be the last time.
Portrait of Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Oil on canvas, 1856.
The queen would wear the Koh-i-Noor to all her important engagements.
Duleep Singh, c. 1865. Though living the life of a British aristocrat, Duleep Singh was on a collision course with the monarchy.
The Koh-i-Noor took centre stage at the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII in Queen Alexandra’s specially designed crown.
Queen Mary opted for a simplified crown for the coronation of her husband, George V, in 1911. The Koh-i-Noor was retained at the heart of the design.
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First published in 2016 in India by Juggernaut Books, New Delhi
First published in Great Britain 2017
© William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, 2017
Map © Olivia Fraser, 2017
William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work.
Photographs are from the authors’ personal collections except where credited otherwise.
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ISBN: HB: 978-1-4088-8884-1
TPB: 978-1-4088-8886-5
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