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  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to thank the following authorities on Indian gems who kindly shared their learning with me: Susan Stronge, Navina Haidar, Courtney Stewart, Momin Latif, Ebba Koch, Derek Content, Iradj Amini, Amin Jaffer, Alan Hart and Jack Ogden. Bruce Wannell, Michael Axworthy, Katherine Butler-Schofield, Robert McChesney, Ursula Sims-Williams and Saqib Baburi all gave crucial and generous advice on the Persian sources that hold the key to unravelling the forgotten twists of the Koh-i-Noor’s history. Navtej Sarna, Lily Tekseng, Riya Sarkar and Ian Trueger provided invaluable assistance with various bits of research and editing. Nandini Mehta, Parth Mehrotra and Chiki Sarkar, at Juggernaut, and Alexandra Pringle and Mike Fishwick, at Bloomsbury, have all been wonderful to work with, as has my brilliant, kind and ingenious agent, David Godwin. Together they helped turn a momentary jeu d’esprit into a book. My lovely family – Olivia, Ibby, Sam and Adam – have kept me sane and happy during this long summer and autumn of writing. Finally, I’d like to thank my wonderful co-writer, Anita – a diamond geezer if ever there was one.

  William Dalrymple

  My thanks to Peter Bance for being so generous with his time and expertise and in giving access to his extraordinary Duleep Singh archive. Many of the images in this book are from his collection, and I can think of nobody else who has devoted so much care and time to conserving the artefacts of the Ranjit Singh/Duleep Singh era. He has always been a tremendous support. Thanks also to Alan Hart, chief executive of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, for his guidance and extraordinary knowledge. From the corner of a dimly lit pub in west London he illuminated the Koh-i-Noor story. My thanks to Sue Woolmans – a jewellery expert right under my nose! Also an enthusiastic supporter. I will always be deeply indebted to F. S. Aijazuddin, not only one of the foremost authorities on the Lahore Darbar, but a man whose family history and very DNA is entwined around the history of Ranjit Singh and his heir. His generous guidance has proved to be invaluable. Thanks also to the British Library and its ever helpful archivists, to the Royal Archive and to Amandeep Madra for being my Sikh history guide. Thanks too to Navtej Sarna, who has done so much to put flesh on the Duleep Singh story, and to Patrick Walsh, my agent and wise friend. Thanks to Chiki Sarkar, Ameena Syed, Alexandra Pringle and Michael Fishwick for their enthusiasm for this project, and special thanks to Nandini Mehta for helping to birth this baby. Thanks to my late father, who first took me by the hand to visit the Koh-i-Noor when I was a child of six, and talked about its loss with such passion that the diamond burned bright in my imagination ever after; and to my husband and sons – Simon has captained our little ship heroically while I have been crossing oceans for this book. I could not have written it without his patience and support. Finally, thanks to Willie Dalrymple – what a joy to work with you. Shine on, you crazy diamond!

  Anita Anand

  Index

  Abu’l Fazl, here

  Ad Begum, here

  Adams, Robert R., here

  Agha Muhammad, here

  Ahmad Khan Abdali, see Ahmad Shah Durrani

  Ahmad Shah Durrani, here, here, here, here, here, here

  Ajit Singh Sandhanwalia, here

  Akbar, Emperor, here, here, here, here

  Akil Khan, here

  Alauddin Khalji, Sultan, here, here

  Albert, Prince, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here death and mourning, here, here, here

  Alexander the Great, here

  Alexandra, Queen, here

  Allard, General François, here

  Amritsardestruction of Sikh temples, here

  and return of Koh-i-Noor, here

  Anderson, Lieutenant, herer />
  Anglo-Mysore War, here

  Anglo-Sikh Wars, here, here, here, here, here

  Argyll, Duke of, here

  Arnold, Edwin, here

  Arthasastra, here

  Asaf Khan, here

  ‘Ashiq Shinwari, here

  Assaye, Battle of, here

  Astarabadi, Mirza Mahdi, here, here

  ‘Ata Mohammad, Mirza, here, here, here, here, here

  ‘Ata Muhammad Khan, here, here

  Attock fort, here, here

  Auckland, Lord, here, here

  Aulak, Manna Singh, here

  Aurangzeb, Emperor, here, here, here

  Azizuddin, Fakeer, here

  Babadal Khan, here

  Babur, Emperor, here, here, here

  Babur’s Diamond, here, here, here, here, here, here

  Baburnama, here

  Bala (demon), here

  Bala Hissar forts, here, here

  Bazin, Père Louis, here, here

  Beli Ram, Misr, here, here, here, here, here

  Bengal army, here, here

  Bhagavad Purana, here, here, here

  bhang, here

  Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali, here, here

  Bikramjit, Raja, here

  Borgio, Hortensio, here

  Brewster, Sir David, here

  British Museum, here

  British Sikhs, here

  Buckingham Palace, here, here

  Buddhist literature, here

  Burhan Nizam, Sultan, here

  Burnes, Alexander, here, here

  Byron, Robert, here

  Callaghan, James, here

  Cameron, David, here

  Catherine the Great, here, here

  Chakravartin principle, here

  Chand Kaur, here

  Chandragupta Maurya, here

  Charat Singh, here

  Charles I, King, here

  Cheshire Stakes, here

  Chillianwala, Battle of, here, here, here

  Chitarman, here

  Cholas, here

  cholera, here

  Chubb, Jeremiah, here

  Chuki, here

  Chunnar Fort, here

  Claudius, Emperor, here

  Collins, Wilkie, here, here

  Coster, Mozes, here, here

  Coutre, Jacques de, here

  Crimean War, here