America’s New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrived to meet Britain’s King Charles on April 30, 2026. Earlier he had said that if he talked to the king separately, he would definitely ask for the return of Kohinoor to India. Although, it was not known whether this issue came up in their meeting or not, but this statement has once again refreshed the painful history of this rare diamond and the demand for its return. Let us know in the explainer how precious this diamond is and how much money is required to buy it…

Kohinoor was equal to a hen’s egg

According to the book ‘Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Diamond’, the first mention of Kohinoor is found in Persian historian Mohammad Marvi’s account of Nadir Shah’s invasion of India in 1750. Marvi had seen this diamond with his own eyes and has written that at that time it was embedded in the upper part of Takht-e-Taos. Nadir Shah looted it from Delhi in 1739 and took it to Iran. According to Marvi, Kohinoor at that time was ‘equal to a small hen’s egg’. It is from here that this diamond got its name ‘Kohinoor’ i.e. ‘Mountain of Light’, which was named by Nadir Shah himself.

According to Baburnama, Humayun got this diamond from the treasury after the attack on Agra Fort in 1526 and he presented it to his father Babar. But Babar returned this diamond to him. In Baburnama, the weight of this diamond is written as 36 masha and its price is said to be equal to the expenditure of half a day in the world. It is also said that this diamond was once embedded in the eye of an idol in a temple in South India, from where the Turks might have taken it out.

Noor Bai had informed about Kohinoor

However, this diamond reached Nadir Shah after a clever move. Noor Bai, a court dancer, informed Nadir Shah that Mughal emperor Mohammad Shah Rangeela had hidden the Kohinoor in his turban. On this, Nadir Shah proposed the ritual of exchanging turbans for the sake of friendship and thus Kohinoor came into his hands. When he saw this diamond for the first time, he kept looking at it.

According to the book ‘Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Diamond’, after Nadir Shah’s assassination in 1747, the diamond passed to his Afghan bodyguard Ahmed Shah Abdali and then passed through several hands to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1813. Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to go out with it tied on his arm during Diwali, Dussehra and big festivals and whenever any British officer came to the court, it was specially shown to him.

After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, five-year-old Dalip Singh was made the king of Punjab in 1843 amid a bitter power struggle. But after the British victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, a dramatic ceremony took place in the Sheesh Mahal of Lahore Fort on 29 March 1849. Ten-year-old Maharaja Dalip Singh was brought into the British circle wearing a red coat and hat and was made to sign a document under which both the Sikh Empire and the Kohinoor were handed over to the East India Company. At the same time, the flag of the Sikh Khalsa was taken down from the Lahore Fort and the flag of the company was hoisted.

Cholera had spread on the ship carrying Kohinoor

According to the book ‘Kohinoor the Story of the World’s Most Famous Diamond’, Lord Dalhousie himself came to Lahore to collect Kohinoor and took it in his hands after getting it taken out from the Toshekhana. At that time its weight was 190.3 carats. He decided to send it to Queen Victoria in a ship named ‘Medea’. This sea journey was very difficult. The ship’s crew were not even told what they were carrying. Cholera broke out on the ship en route, the Mauritians threatened to fire cannons if it came ashore, and a fierce storm nearly broke the ship in two. It was only when they finally reached England that they came to know that they were bringing Kohinoor with them.

This diamond was given a luxurious welcome in London and it was shown in the Crystal Palace. According to the report of The Times of India, such a large gathering of people has never been seen before in London. Later, Dalip Singh was also brought to London and presented the diamond to Queen Victoria herself in an emotional moment at Buckingham Palace. However, by then its shape had been changed by cutting it. Queen Victoria wore it continuously until her death. Then this diamond was set in the crown of Queen Alexandra and then Princess Mary (wife of George V). Currently, this world’s most famous diamond is kept in the Jewel House in the Tower of London and is a part of the crown of the British monarchy.

Why is the Kohinoor diamond valued so high?

Legends have been prevalent for centuries regarding the value of Kohinoor and the most famous and shocking estimate comes from the historical document ‘Baburnama’. According to Baburnama, Kohinoor was so precious that it could feed the entire world for two and a half days. The price of this diamond was said to be equal to half the world’s expenses. Persian historian Mohammad Marvi has also confirmed in his document that according to the understanding of that time, by selling it, people of the whole world could be fed for two and a half days.

However, it is very difficult to estimate its current value, because it is an ‘priceless’ historical and cultural heritage. It was never formally put up for sale in the market. There is no official price, but gem experts and historians believe that it could be worth trillions or even billions of dollars, making it one of the most expensive things in the world.

Can Kohinoor be sold despite its worth of billions?

This question is at the center of the entire Kohinoor controversy and its simple answer is – no. It is impossible to ‘sell’ Kohinoor in the traditional sense. Even if it is sold somehow, it cannot completely eliminate world poverty.

There are two strong reasons behind its not being sold.

1. Legal and Proprietary Rights: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran have all, from time to time, staked their historical claims on this diamond and described it as their national heritage. The Indian government has demanded its return several times, although the Supreme Court of India, while hearing a petition in 2017, said that it cannot order the British government not to auction it or return it. The stand of the British government and the royal family has also been clear that this diamond had come to them legally under the Lahore Treaty of 1849 and there was no question of returning it.
2. Kohinoor is not a common diamond: It is a historical and cultural symbol, which has the status of ‘Crown Jewel’. It is an integral part of the crown of the British monarchy and has been set in the crowns of women of the royal family. Selling it in the open market would not only be a legal violation, but would also cause huge damage to the reputation of the British monarchy and create a major controversy.

Experts believe that even if the Kohinoor is worth several billion dollars, it is still a drop in the ocean to completely eliminate global poverty. According to the World Bank and United Nations (UN), trillions of dollars are needed annually to end world poverty. According to an estimate, about 175 billion dollars will be required every year to eliminate poverty by 2030.

In this context, even if the hypothetical value of Kohinoor is assumed to be 10-20 billion dollars, this amount can still eradicate poverty for a few months or one or two years. Cannot eliminate world poverty forever. This question is also wrong because poverty is not just the name of lack of money, but it is the result of inequality, lack of education, health and opportunities. This cannot be solved with a lump sum price.

So will India never get the Kohinoor back?

At present, this most famous and controversial diamond of the world is kept safe in London. It is no longer in the same form as it once was. By cutting and carving it, its shape was completely changed and its weight reduced from 190.3 carats to 105.6 carats. An interesting superstition is also prevalent that this diamond is a curse for men and any man who wears it is doomed, whereas there is no such danger for women. Perhaps for this reason it was always embedded in the crowns of queens and princesses, never in the crown of any king.

Sources in the royal family say that there is no question of returning Kohinoor as it is the property of Britain under legal treaty. Even if it is returned, a big diplomatic crisis would arise as to which country should it be returned – India, Pakistan, Afghanistan or Iran? Because all of them have historical arguments to claim this.