FIVE THINGS ABOUT A DIAMOND THAT WASN’T STOLEN

1 AN OLD CASE OF INDIA VS. THE QUEEN

The 105-carat Kohinoor diamond, which is kept in the Tower of London, has been at the heart of a bitter dispute between India and Britain ever since it was taken from the Punjab and presented to Queen Victoria in 1849.

2 NOW INDIA HAS CHANGED ITS MIND

But India’s solicitorgeneral appeared to drop his country’s longstanding objection to British ownership this week, telling a judge that, in the opinion of the culture ministry, the diamond was a gift.

3 DIAMOND WASN’T ‘FORCIBLY TAKEN’

“Kohinoor cannot be said to be forcibly taken or stolen as it was given by the successors of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to the East India Company in 1849 as compensation for helping them in the Sikh wars,” said Ranjit Kumar.

4 A 10-YEAR-OLD’S GIFT TO QUEEN VICTORIA

The jewel was in the possession of the rulers of Punjab’s Sikh Empire when the Anglo-Sikh wars broke out in the late 1840s. The East India Company, acting for the British Crown, emerged victorious and had the 10-year-old Maharaja present the jewel to Queen Victoria under the Treaty of Lahore. It is now set in the queen consort’s crown.

5 IT’S A SLIPPERY SLOPE, COURT TOLD

India’s top court heard a public petition on Monday calling on New Delhi to spell out its policy on the gem. Kumar cited a 43-year-old law that does not allow the government to bring back antiquities taken out of the country before independence unless they were illegally exported. He told the court that if India claimed treasures such as the Kohinoor from other countries, “every other nation will start claiming their items from us.”