Kohino or

(“ mountain of light ”), a diamond once called “The Great Mogul.” Held in the fourteenth century by the rajah of Malwa. Later it fell into the hands of the sultans of Delhi, after their conquest of Malwa. It belonged in the seventeenth century, to Aurungzebe the Great. The Schah Jihan sent it to Hortensio Borgio to be cut, but the Venetian lapidary re-reduced it from 793-5/8 carats to 186, and left it dull and lustrele . It next pa ed into the hands of Aurungzebe’s great-grandson, who hid it in his turban. Nadir Schah invited the po e or to a feast, and insisted on changing turbans, “to cement their love,” and thus it fell into Nadir’s hands, who gave it the name of “Koh-i-no or.” It next pa ed into the hands of Ahmed Shah, founder of the Cabûl dynasty; was extorted from Shah Shuja by Runjet Singh, who wore it set in a bracelet. After the murder of Shu Singh, it was deposited in the Lahore treasury, and after the annexation of the Punjaub, was presented to Queen Victoria, in 1850. It has been recut, and, though reduced to 106 carats, is supposed to be worth £140,000. ⁂ There is another diamond of the same name belonging to the shah of Persia.