Power in India through material culture: how we have used the story of the Koh-i-Noor diamond to explore imperial rule

The Koh-i-Noor by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand is one of the most page-turning history books we have come across. The first half, written by Dalrymple, focuses on the diamond’s history before it came to England. It explores how, initially, the diamond was not a particularly desired gemstone – it sat atop the Mughal Empire’s illustrious Peacock Throne, just another treasure among the 2500 lbs of gold and 500 lbs of gemstones it featured. Yet it soon came to symbolise much more and the lure of the diamond became central to multiple power struggles, in Dalrymple words, leaving a “trail of blood and suffering” wherever it went. The diamond’s possessors were deeply unfortunate, earning its reputation as ‘cursed.’ From violent assassinations such as that of Nader Shah to the memorable tale of Ahmed Shah, ruler of the Afghan Empire, whose face was devoured by a gruesome ulcer.

The second half of the book is written by Anita Anand and recounts the story of how the British East India Company seized the diamond, along with the power of the child Maharaja, Duleep Singh. Later, he was sent to England, refused contact with his own mother and kept as one of Victoria’s ‘exotic’ princes. In one of the most memorable moments of the story, Queen Victoria is said to have shown the Maharaja the diamond now in her possession, only for him to fail to recognise it due to the extent to which it had been re-cut to meet the ‘beauty’ expectations of Western jewellery.

While the Koh-i-Noor’s story is a complex one, which takes getting your head around, helpfully there is a children’s version of the book available called The Adventures Of The Kohinoor. There is also a helpful podcast episode on it from Dalyrmple and Anand’s Empire: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5FMRc4C9R5MwITtTNuQBOs?si=eF5GKNMUQG2vgZjRrF6t9g&utm_source=native-share-menu&nd=1

This enquiry provided a really good opportunity for pupils to unpick how power operated in a range of situations. The passing of the diamond reflected the rise and fall of various Empires and, over time, the diamond became a symbol of imperial power in its own right. Through the range of Empires pupils encounter (including the Mughal Empire, Persian Empire, Afghan Empire, Sikh Empire and finally the British Empire), pupils are able to appreciate the nature and fragility of imperial rule.

As well as the trends and overview of imperial power, there are moments of real depth for pupils to explore different methods of power used by each of the emperors to obtain the diamond and, often by extension, dominance. Some of the stories are absolutely fascinating and are gripping in themselves. 

A short extract from a guided reading in Lesson 4 – What does the Koh-i-Noor reveal about the power of Ranjit Singh?

Pupils are given the challenge of describing what kind of techniques and power-play each ruler used to obtain the diamond, which varied widely from coercion and violence by Ranjit Singh to the more subtle manipulation used by the East India Company. This enables pupils to think carefully about the nature by which power was wielded by the diamond’s various rulers.

A spectrum we used to encourage pupils to characterise the wielding of power at points in the story:

Something else we love about the Koh-i-Noor’s story is the opportunity it provides for focusing on ‘material culture.’ As the diamond passes from hand to hand, it begins to carry cultural connotations that only increase its value. To unravel the multiple meanings that have been attached to one physically unchanging object is at the heart of the way we want pupils to engage with cultural history. It requires them to understand that the ideas behind the actions and words of people in the past take some dissecting and contextualising to appreciate. For instance, by studying the lengths various rulers went through to obtain the Koh-i-Noor, pupils can start to make inferences about what it meant to them.

More revealingly still, we found that analysing how each of the Koh-i-Noor’s owners displayed the diamond once it was in their possession provided great insight into their ideas about it. For instance, as one of many of many gems on the Peacock Throne, the Mughals characteristically saw the diamond in terms of its artistic value. Yet when Nader Shah stripped the Throne of the jewel and wore it on an armband into battle, we can suppose he was invoking the might of the by-gone days of Mughal Empire. Ranjit Singh’s insistence that the diamond was transported in one of 40 identical camels’ pouches (should they be ambushed on their travels) might even suggest that he saw ownership of the diamond as synonymous with his legitimacy to rule. Finally, the diamond’s own dedicated room in London’s 1851 Great Exhibition brings us back round to its status as prized colonial loot…

Below is an example of an activity from Lesson 4 where pupils’ analyse a source from an old courtier through a cultural history lens to unpick what Ranjit’s actions revealed about what the diamond ‘meant’ to him

Example of overview sheet that pupils completed throughout the enquiry to record their ideas about what the Koh-i-Noor reveals about power

One of the particular strengths of this enquiry is that the British Empire does not feature until Lesson 5. The richness of the Indian subcontinent and its various Empires are covered on their own terms, which challenges the narrative of  ‘European Empire’ as exceptional or as a unique form of Empire. During a reading homework, which is a chapter from the children’s Adventures of the Koh-i-Noor book, pupils are exposed to the origins of the word mogul (definition: a rich or powerful businessmen) and in so doing how the British were astounded by the wealth and prosperity of the Mughal Empire when they came across it. The opulence of the Peacock throne, having cost four times as much as the Taj Mahal to build, demonstrated the power of the Mughals to Europeans at the time.

This story promotes a decolonial view in the sense that it exposes the brutal power struggle and harsh reality of British imperial rule. There is nothing to recommend the Empire in this story and certainly no balance sheet approach would be possible. Through the story of Duleep Singh and the British Empire, pupils encounter the merciless manipulation of a child of 10 years old, separated from his mother, Jindan Singh (who the British imprisoned fearing her anti-British influence over the young ruler) and forced to sign a legal document relinquishing both his territory and the diamond. Furthermore, the strangely possessive relationship between Victoria and Duleep Singh once he is taken across to England provides real food for thought.

Extract from Lesson 6 guided reading

While researching the history of the diamond, we came across a fascinating exploration of the diamond being cut by Danielle Kinsey called “Koh-i-Noor: Empire, Diamonds, and the Performance of British Material Culture” in the Journal of British Studies (2009). We found this piece inspirational for thinking about how material culture could expose colonial power and sentiment.

Victoria, keen on showing off her new possession the Koh-i-noor decided to display the diamond in the Great Exhibition. However, the response to the diamond was lukewarm at best and was seen as a disappointment by many. The diamond was not as shiny or brilliant as many Western cut diamonds due to its imperfections and irregular shape. As a consequence, and perhaps as a symbol of their new found power, Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert ended up paying vast sums to cut down the weight of the diamond by an astounding 42% to make it shine! The huge transformation is highly emblematic of the perceived superiority of Westernised standards and allowed us to draw a symbolic parallel to the Empire’s aims of ‘improving’ and ‘modernising its territories.

Worksheet encouraging pupils to compare the diamond before and after re-cutting to think about what the shape of the cut reveals about attitudes.

If you are interested in using the Koh-i-Noor diamond’s story in a future scheme of work it is worth noting that it has an amazing spin-off story attached. Sophia Duleep Singh, Maharaja Duleep Singh’s daughter, became a suffragette and was involved in Indian nationalism. Her story specifically offers a great opportunity to engage with a wide range of early 20th century History and explore complex forms of activism. Her sister, Catherine Singh ended up living in a lesbian relationship with Lina Schäfer in Germany and together they were instrumental in aiding many Jewish families escape during World War II.