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India suing UK over £100m Koh-i-Noor diamond

Queen Alexandra and her crown, with the Koh-i-Noor

Britain presented the world famous £100 million Koh-i-Noor diamond to the queen after the colonization of the Indian region of Punjab in the 1849.

Arguing that the gem is part of the Indian heritage, a group of businesspersons and actors from the subcontinent are demanding that the UK give the 105-carat diamond back.  

The group has commenced legal proceedings in London’s High Court to regain the diamond which is now part of the UK’s crown jewels, media sources reported on Sunday.

“The Koh-i-Noor is one of the many artifacts taken from India under dubious circumstances. Colonization did not only rob our people of wealth, it destroyed the country’s psyche itself,” said David de Souza, co-founder of an Indian group which is partiality funding the legal action.

The diamond in the crown on the Queen Mother’s coffin (Reuters)

The British law firm which is acting on behalf of the group said it would cite principles enshrined in British law that give institutions the power to return stolen art as the basis of its case.  

The UK government has so far rejected all calls to return the Koh-i-Noor. During a 2013 visit to India, British Prime Minister David Cameron defended his country’s right to keep it saying that he did not believe in “returnism.”  

A 1851 illustration of the Koh-i-Noor diamond in its original setting.

The 105-carat stone, whose name means Mountain of Light was presented to Queen Victoria in 1851 and was first worn in 1902 as part of Queen Alexandra’s crown during her husband King Edward VII’s coronation.It is currently kept in the Tower of London and is set in the late Queen Mother’s crown.

The stone is thought to have been mined from the Kollur Mine in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh in India during the Kakatiya dynasty in the 13th century.

In 1739, Nader Shah of Persia took the stone to Iran, along with the Daria-i-Noor, and Peacock Throne, after capturing the Indian cities of Agra and Delhi.


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