The Curse Stories of the Kohinoor & Hope Diamonds

Words by Divya Goyal

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This painting was done by John Joseph Fonçeca in 1872 in Madras as a documentary of traditional South Indian attire. Madras in 1872 was a bustling port city and one of the key administrative centers of British India. It served as the capital of the Madras Presidency, which encompassed most of South India. The city bore the distinct mark of colonial rule, with its urban landscape shaped by British infrastructure and its society reflecting the intersections of colonial modernity and traditional Tamil culture. (Available now as print).

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Recommended Reads:

The Art of Tawaif: A Tradition Lost to Colonial Moralities

Reena Virk: Beyond the Headlines

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The Curse Stories of the Kohinoor & Hope Diamonds

Kohinoor, or Koh-i-noor, a diamond of unparalleled beauty, fame, and controversy, comes with a controversial history and an enigmatic curse. Known as much for its breathtaking beauty as for the legendary stories of destruction and downfalls surrounding it, the Kohinoor, or “Mountain of Light” (literal Persian translation) has been the subject of both admiration and mystique. It is believed that when a consort of Nadir Shah (of the Afsharid dynasty), who once owned the Kohinoor, was asked to describe the value of the Kohinoor, and it is believed that she replied: "If a strong man were to throw four stones – one north, one south, one east, one west, and a fifth stone up into the air – and if the space between them were to be filled with gold, all would not equal the value of the Kohinoor.” The stories of Kohinoor’s worth are only rivalled by the stories of the curse associated with the (now) 105.6-carat natural wonder.