Beneath that scorching land of Andhra, the silence in the mines of Golconda was broken only by the sound of shovels. Thousands of laborers, drenched in sweat, were making futile attempts to find something by tearing open the chest of the earth. Among them was 'Rama', whose generations had mingled into this very soil while digging it. On that day, there was a strange heaviness in the air, as if nature was about to unfold a massive secret.
Rama's shovel struck a surface so hard that its sound was not like a stone at all. Stooping down with his trembling hands, he began to slowly clear away the layers of mud and debris. In that corner of the dark tunnel, a ray suddenly burst forth that dazzled Rama's eyes. It was no ordinary stone; it was a living, breathing star beating in the heart of the underworld.
Rama's breath hitched; he felt as though he had touched a part of God Himself. He hid it in the corner of his torn dhoti, but its brilliance was piercing through the cloth. There was fear in his mind—would this stone make him rich, or would it become the cause of his death? The eyes of the guards standing at the mouth of the mine had already fallen upon Rama's nervousness. As soon as he stepped out, the first ray of the sun fell upon that stone and the entire area turned milky white. The laborers stopped working and the eyes of the mine contractor filled with greed. The wheel of destiny had turned; the Kohinoor had left the company of the soil and stepped onto the journey of human greed.
The First Blood of the Mine
The contractor snatched that stone from Rama's hand, as if he had pulled out his very soul. Rama kept begging that it was the fruit of his hard labor, but sweat held no value before power. The form of that stone was such that anyone who looked at it would lose their senses. The contractor thought of celebrating that night, but he did not know that the first rule of the 'Noor' is—sacrifice. He called his most trusted soldier so that this gem could be taken to the king.
But the brilliance of that stone had filled the soldier's eyes with treachery instead of loyalty. In the middle of the night, when the entire camp was asleep, the soldier's sword slit the contractor's throat. Without making any sound, the Kohinoor had accepted its first 'blood anointment'. That soldier fled towards the forest taking advantage of the darkness, but the weight of the stone felt heavy to him. He felt as if a shadow was pursuing him from behind, perhaps it was the contractor's soul or the curse of the stone. The sounds of the forest animals began to terrify him, and he saw death behind every bush. By the time it was morning, he collapsed under an old banyan tree, desperate with hunger and thirst. In his hand was the Kohinoor, whose light was still just as calm and cool. Just then, the thumping of horses' hooves was heard from afar, belonging to the special cavalrymen of the King of Golconda. The soldier tried to run, but destiny was taking him back towards the very same court.
The Court of Warangal
Pratap Rudra Deva, the King of Warangal, was watching the setting sun from the balcony of his palace at that time. A commotion arose at the main gate of the palace, and the cavalrymen brought that blood-soaked soldier dragging along. As soon as the soldier's fist was opened, the entire court was bathed in a supernatural blue and white light. The king stood up from his throne, astonishment and an unknown fear written on his face. The Royal Priest stepped forward and looked at the stone, and his hands began to tremble, his tongue faltered. He warned, "Maharaj, this stone is not ordinary; it is the embodiment of Time (Death) itself." The king ignored the guru's words and, placing it on his palm, began to gauge its depth.
He felt that with the possession of this stone, his empire would now become immortal. A proclamation was made throughout the city that the Kakatiya dynasty had found the world's most precious gem. Merchants and spies from far-off kingdoms began to arrive to catch a glimpse of this 'miracle'. The king decided that this gem would not be kept in any vault, but at the feet of the clan deity. In the sanctum of the Bhadrakali temple, the Kohinoor was adorned on the forehead of the goddess's idol. Crowds of devotees surged, everyone seeking their destiny in the light of that stone. But even in that peaceful atmosphere of the temple, some people could sense the scent of conspiracies. The Kohinoor had now become a religious symbol, but its brilliance had reached the dreams of the Sultans of Delhi.
The Hungry Eyes of Delhi
Stories of the opulence of the South began to reach the court of the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Khilji. Malik Kafur, who was the Sultan's most loyal and cruel commander, instigated the king. He said that the stone of the South should adorn the throne of Delhi, not some temple. A new fire of greed ignited in Khilji's eyes; he considered himself entitled to every valuable thing. In thousands, Khilji's army began to cross the hills of Vindhyachal.
Celebrations were still being held in the fort of Warangal when news of destruction arrived from the border. King Pratap Rudra Deva had thought that his walls and his stone would protect them. But whoever possesses the Kohinoor often develops the habit of harboring an illusion of safety. Khilji's army surrounded the fort of Warangal from all sides; supplies were cut off. Inside the fort, people began to die of hunger, but the king was not ready to give up that stone. Every night the king would go to the temple to pray, but that shining eye of the goddess now began to look terrifying. Outside, Malik Kafur's cannons were wreaking havoc on the walls of the fort; every stone was cracking. The queens of the palace had prepared the fire of Jauhar, because slavery was unacceptable to them. Just then, a traitor opened a secret gate of the fort in the darkness of the night. The soldiers of the Sultanate entered the city like hungry wolves, and the second chapter of the Kohinoor began.
The Destruction of the Temple
Amidst the screams and smoke, Malik Kafur headed straight towards the Bhadrakali temple. The priests risked their lives trying to block the gate of the sanctum . But arguments of non-violence did not work against cruelty, and the floor of the temple turned red with blood. When Kafur saw that diamond on the forehead of the idol, his own sword narrowly escaped slipping from his hand. With a single jerk, he extracted that diamond with his dagger, desecrating the adornment of the idol. At that very moment, it is said that lightning flashed in the sky and the earth of Warangal shook.
Bound in chains, King Pratap Rudra Deva was presented before Kafur; he was completely broken. Tossing the diamond in the air, Kafur said, "This stone will now serve the Sultan." The glory of Warangal had turned into a heap of ashes, and the journey of the Kohinoor was now towards the North. All along the way, Kafur kept looking at that diamond; he felt that the Sultan would give him this diamond as a reward. But the diamond showed its nature again; on the way itself, a rebellion began to brew among the army over the looted goods. Many loyal soldiers fought among themselves just to catch a glimpse of that stone and died. Out of fear, Kafur locked the diamond in an iron box so that its brilliance would not be visible to anyone. When Kafur reached near Delhi, he received news that the Sultan's health had suddenly begun to deteriorate. As the Kohinoor was coming closer to Delhi, the foundations of the Sultanate were beginning to shake.
The Terror of the Sultan
When Malik Kafur entered the boundaries of Delhi, there was dust and the scent of death in the winds. That iron box, in which the Kohinoor was locked, was loaded on a camel's back like a heavy burden. Alauddin Khilji lay groaning on his bed, his body now having become a house of diseases. When Kafur opened that box before the Sultan, the darkness of the entire room vanished in an instant. Khilji touched that gem with his trembling fingers; he felt as if he had received a new life.
But the coldness of the Kohinoor produced a strange shiver and restlessness in the Sultan's body. He would keep looking at that diamond all night long; he began to feel that the diamond was looking at him, testing him. The Sultan's mental balance began to deteriorate; he began to see his death and treachery in every shadow. He started putting his loyal ministers to death purely on the basis of suspicion. The guards of the palace whispered that this stone had brought some dark calamity along with it from the South. Khilji started keeping the diamond under his pillow, but his sleep had completely vanished. He began to feel that the brilliance of the diamond was sucking away the sight of his eyes and the strength of his body. The physicians of the Sultanate threw up their hands; medicines were turning into poison and prayers were proving ineffective. The diamond was unyielding in its place, but the Sultan holding it now stood on the verge of turning into ashes. Then one night, before Khilji's closing eyes, the shining greed appeared in Kafur's eyes.
The Murder of Loyalty
With the final breath of Alauddin Khilji, the corridors of Delhi became a market of conspiracies. Malik Kafur seized the keys of power and that diamond before Khilji's corpse could even turn cold. Making Khilji's minor son a puppet, he seated him on the throne and became the all-in-all himself. The Kohinoor was now in the hands of a commander who was making the mistake of considering himself God. Kafur deployed thousands of soldiers for his protection, but he would not leave the diamond alone. He knew that the other sons of the Sultan and the nobles had become enemies of his life.
Behind the walls of the palace, swords were being sharpened and plots were being hatched. One midnight, when Kafur was lost in the brilliance of the diamond, his own guards broke inside. The very same soldiers whom he had rewarded with gold had now come bloodthirsty for him. Kafur did not even get a chance to compose himself, and the Kohinoor fell on the floor once again, drenched in blood. In front of that innocent brilliance of the diamond, the corpse of another protector writhed and fell still. Khilji's second son, Mubarak Shah, was now on the throne, and in his hand was the same blood-stained diamond. Mubarak thought that he was the rightful owner of this diamond, but he was unaware of its temperament. Instead of respecting the diamond, he made it a medium to display his debauchery. But destiny was smiling, because the throne of Delhi was now awaiting a new and terrifying change.
The New Writing of Tughlaq
Mubarak Shah's debaucheries weakened Delhi, and Khusrau Khan removed him from the way. In this period of anarchy, Ghazi Malik marched towards Delhi with his army from the border of Punjab. After bloodshed, he laid the foundation of a new dynasty under the name of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. When the treasury was inspected, the Kohinoor was found in its full glory within the impoverished treasury. Ghiyasuddin was a strict and religious man; he lowered his eyes upon seeing the diamond. He did not call it 'cursed', but considered it a great responsibility and a test from God.
He built a special vault for the diamond, whose guards were changed every hour. But the magic of the diamond began to work on his son, Juna Khan, that is, Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Juna Khan would often go into that vault and spend hours gazing into the depth of that stone. Inside that stone, he saw a vision of a vast empire and the dream of conquering the world. When Ghiyasuddin was returning after conquering Bengal, Juna Khan organized a grand welcome for him. That wooden palace, which was built for the welcome, suddenly collapsed upon Ghiyasuddin. Many people believed that this was not a mere accident, but a well-thought-out conspiracy to obtain that diamond. With the death of Ghiyasuddin, the Kohinoor was now with a Sultan whom the world was going to call 'mad'. As soon as he became the Sultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq got the Kohinoor studded right in the middle of his crown.
Obsession and Borders
An obsession to make the world dance on his fingers was now riding on the head of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. He decided that Delhi would no longer be his capital and ordered everyone to move to Daulatabad. Thousands of people, the old and children, were forced to leave Delhi in that severe heat. The brilliance of the Kohinoor adorned on the Sultan's horse did not diminish even on the dusty paths. Among the stones of Daulatabad, the diamond was now close to the very same soil of the South from where it had emerged.
But there too, the Sultan found no peace; news of rebellions began to surround him from every direction. He introduced leather coins, planned to send his army to Khorasan, but everything failed. With every failure, the Sultan's anger increased and he became even more cruel. He felt that perhaps the Kohinoor was not giving him that power which was promised in its brilliance. Wrapping the diamond in a large silk cloth, he hid it under his golden bed. In the middle of the night, he would have dreams that the same laborers of Golconda were calling him from inside the Kohinoor. Famine struck the entire Sultanate, people were forced to eat grass, but the Sultan possessed that invaluable stone. Finally, burning in the fire of his own obsession, Muhammad bin Tughlaq breathed his last in Thatta. At the time of his death, he had neither a loyal army nor any close relative. The diamond was now about to come into the hands of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who was fonder of books than the sword.
Darkness and History
When Firoz Shah Tughlaq took over the Sultanate, he tried to repent from bloodshed. Seeing the diamond, he wished to make it a medium for the prosperity of his Sultanate. But he knew that whoever possessed this stone, their end was very tragic and violent. Firoz Shah discussed the future of this stone with his astrologers and courtiers. An old courtier advised that it should be kept in such a place where no one could see it or touch it. The Sultan ordered it to be locked in the deepest and darkest vault of the Kotla fort in Delhi.
For years, the Kohinoor yearned for a single ray of light, as if gathering its power. The last rulers of the Tughlaq dynasty grew weak and the walls of Delhi's security began to crack. Just then, a terrifying shadow advanced towards Delhi from the direction of Samarkand, whose name was Timur Lang. Timur caused such a massacre in Delhi that the water of the Yamuna remained red for seven days. He dug up every palace, every wall, and every vault so that he could find that 'Noor'. It is said that Timur took that diamond in his hand and, seeing its brilliance, he trembled. He decided to take it with him to Samarkand, and in this way, the Kohinoor crossed the border of India for the first time. The soil of India was weeping, because its most precious gem was now in the bag of a plunderer. But in the icy winds of Samarkand, the Kohinoor was preparing to write a new and bloody tale.
This is only the first chapter of the story of the Kohinoor. Spanning 27 chapters, this complete and original work unveils unshared secrets that have remained buried in the pages of history—how the Mughal Empire collapsed, the kind of devastation it brought to Afghanistan, and how this cursed diamond claimed the lives of young soldiers of the British Empire.
If you wish to uncover all the secrets of this authentic and untouched history, contact the author: sodhaiqbalkasam@gmail.com
WhatsApp Contact: 9712682152
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
