Chasing the Mountain of Light : Across India

on the Trail of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond

book by Kevin Rushby, as reviewed by Barbara M. Martin

Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond by Kevin Rushby is a fascinating book. The Koh-I-Noor or Kohinoor Diamond is one of the largest and probably the most well known named diamond throughout history and the world. Rushby spins the tale of his physical journey in search of this jewel’s historical roots, which are many and broad and intricate since this is the most fought over diamond of all time with a history said to date back to the Sun god. In recounting the rich stories and tracing the travels of the diamond itself, likely beginning with its mining in the south of India in Golconda through to its current placement in the Tower of London, he evokes the awe of diamonds, highlighting the mystique and mysticism and magic of this particular jewel, and the power it has wielded over man and monarch alike for centuries.

As Rushby retraces the diamond’s possible route across India and back around again, we are seduced by the plausibility of each turn of the story despite the unavoidable elements of surmise and uncertainty due to the blurring of actual facts over time,legend and circumstances. We begin to understand how truly this diamond is “the stone of kings and the king of stones.” Too, we are aware of the power or curse attributed to this unique diamond, if indeed it is the Syamantaka jewel, the power to “do good for a good man and bad for the bad man.”

Just as important as explaining the historical events and extensive background research, Rushby communicates the mystery of India as experienced by an outsider who travels there today on a mysterious quest. Throughout the book he renders descriptions of almost dream-like scene-moments that bring us directly to his side, equally mesmerized by all that he experiences. We are drawn in by the characters he meets, the people who help him and the people who do not, as well as those who may confuse him, directly or indirectly.

I recommend this book to history buffs, to diamond-lovers and those who feast on the lore of diamonds, to romantics who appreciate a good yarn, to those planning a trip to India, and to armchair travelers everywhere. It is a long, complex and convoluted tale and will transport you to a special place in the history of diamonds, the story of the Kohinoor and the Mountain of Light. Serious readers will also appreciate the maps, chronology and excellent bibliography.

The Kohinoor diamond’s story is very complicated; if history did not back it up we might think it the purely imaginary subject of a long and intricate series of tales taken from the realms of kings where bloody battles are fought for fortunes measured in elephants, gold … and diamonds, and where nothing is quite as it seems. The book includes many difficult names and places and events unfamiliar to those of us who are not schooled in the history of this region of the world including India and Punjab. In this regard, this book is not an easy read.

On the other hand, the vignettes and interweaving of modern places and events with the historical aspects of the journey and the significance of the stone (or stones, as the case may be) make it possible to simply enjoy the journey, to feel transported to another world in another time and place. As such, it is a wonderful bedside read full of surprises, mysteries, tumultuous events, and of course, we are drawn along by the irresistible and powerful allure of the Mountain of Light itself.

Rushby’s trip tracing the ownership of this famous diamond through history is a long and twisted one, with surprises and mis-steps and even dead ends, much like the checkered history of the famed Kohinoor diamond itself. Throughout the convoluted history of this diamond, Rushby reminds us that this marvelous stone is also said to be cursed, in that as expressed by Babur’s son, Humayun, when he refused to sell his father’s diamond, the diamond brought out of the south in the fifteenth century by Alau’u’d-din (or Alauddin Khilji, who built the first Indian empire): “Such precious gems cannot be bought; either they fall to one by the arbitrant of the flashing sword which is an expression of the divine will, or else they come through the grace of mighty monarchs.” Subsequently, it was Humayan’s son Akbar who related this stone, as the story goes, through his Divine Faith, with the diamond in the lotus – a claim reflected in ownership claims still today.

So does it seem possible that this truly is the same stone dating back to Babur the first Mughal, and before that the Syamantaka of Krishna? Is it the slightly more recent, legendary diamond given to Shah Jehan by Mir Jumla, Prime Minister of Golconda? Is this the gem Muhammad Shah, the last independent Mughal, concealed inside his turban? The diamond we know today was named Kohinoor or Mountain of Light in 1739, when Nadir Shah took it as his own. Was it the rightful property of the Persian King of Kings? Whose claim was the rightful claim then? And later, when it was taken off as far as Afghanistan.… As we read along with the journey, experiencing India’s history and present day impressions through Rushby’s eyes, the journey is a distant one and nearly anything seems to become possible.

And the Koh-I-Noor today? For now, the stone is among the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and held in the Tower of London. Rushby recounts how it unfolded that Marquis Dalhousie arranged for both the symbolic golden throne and this very diamond to be taken from the defeated Sikhs thus putting, as Dalhousie wrote, “the historical jewel of the Mughal Emperors in the crown of his Sovereign.” Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India in 1850, and the jewel was presented to her. She herself never wore it, perhaps in deference to the curse. One could also wonder, as suggested by a gemologist quoted in the book, if the House of Windsor is affected by its power?

Apparently, rightful ownership of this magnificent fiery jewel is still disputed, with modern claims based on the many threads of ownership dating back through the stone’s centuries of history. Could possession once again be restored to the Sikhs and given to the Golden Temple, perhaps fittingly as the All Hail the Diamond in the Lotus of Om Mani Padme Hum…or should it be taken to the temple of Jagganath as an offering to Krishna, as Ranjit Singh wished as he lay dying? As the story goes, it was Krishna who rescued the diamond previously given to man by the Sun god….roughly a thousand years before Christ. And still other lineages, based on the many bejeweled facets of its twisted, occasionally uncertain and frequently violent history, continue to lay claim to this magnificent diamond.

This beautiful and allegedly cursed diamond, with, as Rushby describes, such a “strange and astonishing pedigree” has over the centuries been taken by extortion and outright theft, it has been cut and recut -- at Price Albert’s behest in 1852 the stone was cut from its original 186 carats to its current 105 carats in an effort to improve its brilliance – and it has been plundered and treasured, moved from place to place and named and renamed by one owner after another. And yet we feel compelled by its magic and power and we are drawn to its convoluted story as to no other.

I recommend this book to history buffs, to diamond-lovers and those who feast on the lore of diamonds, to romantics who appreciate a good yarn, to those planning a trip to India, and to armchair travelers everywhere. It is a long, complex and convoluted tale and will transport you to a special place in the history of diamonds, the story of the Kohinoor and the Mountain of Light. Serious readers will also appreciate the maps, chronology and excellent bibliography.

Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond by Kevin Rushby. ISBN 0-312-23933-5 (paperback 2001.) ISBN 0-312-22813-9 (hardback 1999.)