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94 THE KOH-I-NUR.
once again to pass from the conquered to the conqueror, from the weak to the strong.
It
is said that Nadir Shah, overjoyed at the beauty of the gem he had thus
cleverly filched from his ally, called it " Koh-i-nur" (i. e. the Rock
of Light) the first time that he laid eyes upon it. If this is really a
fact it is very singular. It is indeed strange that Jehangir, who was
so fond of descriptive names compounded with Light, should have left it
to the enemy of his race to endow one of his favorite diamonds with
this poetical title. One would prefer to think that he had called his
diamond the Rock of Light just as he had called his wife the Light of
the World.
Upon
the retreat of the conqueror the diamond was carried off with other
booty. The Koh-i-nur therefore went from Delhi into Persia, and
eventually it descended to Shah Rokh, the hapless son of the mighty
Nadir Shah. But he who would wear the great diamond in peace must
himself be strong, and Shah Rokh was
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