Kohinoor diamond - Maharajah Ranjit Singh bequeathed it to Jagannath temple of Puri, Odisha -

Kohinoor diamond and the British Crown. asianage.com

the British Crown and Queen's coffin, britannica.com

Above image: The British crown with the cursed diamond. The Hindu text about the diamond from 1306 reads: ''Only God or a woman can wear it with impunity.''......

British Crown with Kohi-noor diamond.canberratimes.com

Above image: The British Crown and the flawless 105.6-carat gem - diamond from the kollur mines (alluvial deposits) of Gunter district, Andhra. ''When it comes to valuable stuff, jewelry, gemstones, diamonds, paintings, etc., the word "contentment" is anathema to the British royals. Any valuable spoil of wars in the British colonies is theirs. This is the way they seized the most valuable diamond in the world - Koh-i-Noor from the Punjab rulers''..... http://www.navrangindia.in/2018/07/queen-victoria-officially-received-koh.html.......

The Koh-i-Noor, weighed 190.3 metric carats when it arrived in Britain, had had two comparable diamonds - the Darya-i-Noor, or Sea of Light, (in Tehran ; today estimated at 175-195 metric carats), and the Great Mughal Diamond, ( could be the Orlov diamond (189.9 metric carats; today part of Catherine the Great's imperial Russian scepter in the Kremlin). It is said to be cursed affecting only men. According to a Hindu folklore, the curse warns that he who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God or woman can wear it with impunity.”

The famous flawless diamond safely locked in a double chest with three keys on the steam ship Medea sailed for Britain in April, 1850 from Bombay (Mumbai) and had a turbulent and risky sea-journey. It looked as if the curse had a hold on the ship. There was an immediate outbreak of cholera that overwhelmed the crew. Quarantined off Mauritius and the captain burdened with very low provisions and lack of local help, took the ship to the Cape. where he was confronted with a severe storm that rattled the ship and dis-masted them. Back at the Cape, the captain had the ship fully repaired and set sail in perfect weather. The so called cursed diamond reached Britain safely in June 1850. Days later, the Deputy Chairman of the Honorable East India Company presented the legendary diamond to Queen Victoria as a gift from the Prince of Punjab Duleep Singh. In 1852 to enhance its beauty, brilliance and luster the 190 ct diamond was cut to the present size at Garrard of London, the royal jeweler.

Since its arrival in the royal family only women had worn the diamond and the men were kept away from the cursed diamond.

The stone’s curse is believed to be fatal only to men and women were immune to the ill-effects. So, this crown had been reserved only for female royals and in 1911, the stone became an integral part of the Imperial Crown. The queen’s state crown was fashioned for use by Queen Elizabeth, consort of George VI, at her coronation in 1937. The late queen Victoria and later Queen Elizabeth used to wear the crown with the diamond only occasionally. In the later years the Crown became part of the Collection of Crown jewels on display at the Tower of London.

During their hey day Kakatiya rulers with their capital at Warangal (then known as Orugallu) had ruled most of the Telugu speaking lands that now form part of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states.

King Pulakesi II of Chalukya dynasty around 625 AD Pulakeshin II (IAST: Pulakeśin, r. c. 610–642 CE) was the most famous ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka, India). During his reign, the Chalukya kingdom expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in peninsular India. The Kakatiyas kept the diamond in the temple of Goddess Bhadrakali, their family Devta.

The diamond was looted and taken to Delhi by the Sultanate army chief Malik Kaufer, a Hindu convert and a homosexual after the raid on the Davagiri palace, etc. The Delhi sultanate was headed by notorious Alauddin Khilji. The diamond went out of India for a century or so during the Mogul period (that lasted roughly 300 years) when it was plundered and looted in 1739 by Nadir Shah of Persia. who rendered the moguls powerless. While he English company operating in India was growing by leaps and bound acquiring more lands, the famous diamond had a chequared history and none of the owners had a natural death or peaceful life.

The famous diamond finally landed in the hands of Ranjit Singh, a Sikh Maharajah of Punjab (composite Punjab) in 1809 who developed a particular passion for it and used to wear it on this upper arm. Thus Koh-I-Noor became a fore most superior gem stone of aura of power and status.

Koh-I-noor in arm band of the ruler Ranjit Singh. alamy.com

Above image: An illustration of the Koh-i-Noor diamond (center), as it was worn before being signed over to the British Crown by the young Maharajah 10 year old minor Duleep Singh.... . Wikimedia Commons.....

That the diamond was a gift to the British queen from the royal family of Ranjit Singh is travesty of truth. The ruler was aware of the greedy and grasping EIC officials whose eyes were glued on his rich kingdom and his expensive collection of jewelry. Being shrewd as he was, he had a military alliance with the English company and at the same time a powerful army on his own. The ruler never trusted the British and kept them at a safer distance as much as possible. He knew very well the corrupt English administrators were like a rattler in a woodpile and might strike at any time. The Maharajah saw to it that no Briton could enter his land without invitation. This might give you some idea about the kind of mistrust he had for the British Sahibs. So the maharajah was guarding the popular diamond just like Leprechaun protecting his precious pot of gold.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh (2 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) facebook.com

Young Maharajah Duleep Singh.in.pinterest.com

The ruler used to wear the diamond on his arm during state banquets. Before death he wrote a ''Will'' and according to which he bequeathed the famous Kohinoor diamond neither to the English company, nor to the British, not even to Queen Victoria who was fond of diamonds, gem stones and jewelry, but to the famous Jagannath temple of Puri, Odisha.

The British carefully waited for the right time to lay their hands on the jewelry collection of Ranjit Singh and capture his kingdom. . After Ranjit's death, chaos and anarchy descended on Punjab and the ruling family was in a mess. In the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849, the British emerged victorious and on March 29, 1849, the British company formally annexed Punjab as masterminded by Lord Dalhousie. The last treaty of Lahore was held in the fort of Lahore to be signed by the Council of regency. Finally, the young minor 10 year old prince was forced to affix to the documents (prepared by the British according to their wish) which deprived him of his crown and kingdom along with Koh-i-Noor diamond and Red Timur Ruby (largest Spinel- precious stone in the world). The latter gemstones went to the Queen; the company grabbed all the assets of the Maharajah.

The wily British ingeniously prepared the treaty and Article III of the treaty read: “The gem called the Koh-i-No which was taken from Shah Sooja ool-Moolk by Maharajah Ranjit Singh, shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the the Queen of England.” The implication here is that the ruler Ranjit Singh got the diamond using violence and the British did the same thing when seizing the diamond, etc., from the family of Ranjit Singh. It was part of the game and, in such a situation, one has to gloss over the injustice and scruples. The muddled history is rife with so many incidents and the best thing is we can better understand the world with our past history.

The unfortunate thing was the young legal heir 10 year old Duleep Singh (who went to London along with his mother) was on December 7, 1849 compelled to hand over the gemstones both Koh-i-Noor diamond and Timur Ruby to Queen Victoria in the presence of the Board of Administrators for the affairs of the Punjab in a public function held in London. Later he was forced to stay in England and become a Christian covert. He was educated privately under the care of an English man and later was never allowed to visit India till it became a free country in 1947.

Earlier Queen Victoria wearing the brooch set
with diamond .bbc.com

An Odisha-based organization claimed the 'Kohinoor' diamond – mounted on Queen Elizabeth II's crown was already bequeathed to Puri Jagnnath temple as per the ''Will'' of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and knowing well the diamond was taken away by the British illegally. Ranjit Singh died in 1839 and and 10 years later the British created a mess in Punjab with a view to seizing the kingdom, etc.

The transfer treaty was signed by the legal heir under duress as a gift to the English queen. The organization was to request Prime Minister to take steps to bring it to India for Lord Jagannath as Maharajah Ranjit Singh donated it to God Jagannath in his will, according to .Sena convener Priya Darsan Pattnaik. Maharajah of Punjab Ranjit Singh had donated the diamond to the Puri Lord after he won a battle against Nadir Shah of Afghanistan. However due to internal turmoil in the family the diamond was handed over to the temple.

Neither the British family nor the British government, as of to day in the last 75 years, has not apologized to India for their colonial blunders and atrocities. Expecting Koh-I-Noor diamond and other gem stones, etc., from the snobbish and greedy British royal family is akin to recovering sugar cane being eaten by the elephant or saving a big animal being swallowed by the ''Boa Constricts''.

After the arrival of the famous diamond in England and its setting on the British Crown, the British Empire is back to square one. Now remains as a small island after having lost all the colonies. All their colonies became free after India's freedom in 1947 and the statues of colonial administrators are either off the pedestal or in the dark room of the museums as they are reminders of legacy of colonial atrocities and exploitation. With the passing of Queen Elizbeth II, soon the so called Common Wealth of nations may fall apart and drift far away from Britain that still dwells on their past colonial glory that was achieved not through honest ways.