hore
government, a stipulation being made that the " Koh-i-noor" should be
given to the queen. It was taken from Bombay, April 6, 1850,
surrendered to the officials of the East India Company in London, July
2, and on the following day presented to Queen Victoria.
Thus
the rough crystal of the " Great Mogul," weighing nearly eight hundred
carats, was found between 1630 and 1650 (some say 1550). It was cut for
the Mogul to a stone of about two hundred carats, similar in shape,
size, and style of cutting to that now known as the " Orloff," and seen
by Tavernier in 1665.
Tavernier
saw a large diamond of two hundred and forty-two and five-sixteenths
carats at Golconda in 1642. This could have been a part of the " Great
Mogul" crystal.
The " Great Mogul" was carried to Persia in 1739, after which there is no definite knowledge of it.
In
1747 Ahmed Shah, the Afghan, took with him to Cabul from Persia, the "
Koh-i-noor." It remained with his dynasty until 1813, when Runjeet
Singh carried it off to Lahore.
In 1791 the " Orloff" was sold in Amsterdam to Count. Orloff.
In 1850 the English took the " Koh-i-noor" from Lahore to England.
