Kohinoor diamond’s association with British Crown

In news– After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the formal coronation ceremony of the King Charles III will see him wear the Imperial State Crown for the first time & Kohinoor diamond will also be part of Crown Jewels.

The UK Crown Jewels-

They are the ceremonial treasures which have been acquired by English kings and queens, mostly since 1660.
The collection is at the Tower of London and includes the crowns acquired by various monarchs, their robes, and other items of great historical value.

The regalia is used for rare, ceremonial occasions.
The Kohinoor diamond was embedded in the crown of Queen Elizabeth’s mother, Queen Elizabeth I, for the coronation ceremony of her husband King George VI in 1937.
She wore it again during her daughter’s coronation in 1953. During her funeral procession in 2002, it was placed atop her coffin.
The crown has been worn by her as the Queen Consort, the person who is married to the King but is not a queen through the line of succession.
According to reports in the British media, Charles’s wife Camilla will wear it next as the new Queen Consort.
The Queen Consort is usually crowned with the King, in a similar but simpler ceremony .

Journey of Kohinoor from India to Britain-

Famed as a shiny, big diamond, the Kohinoor, Persian for ‘Mountain of Light’, is counted among the largest precious stones in the world.
There is some disagreement over where and when it was mined, but it is generally believed to have its origins in India, in the Golconda mines(Kollur Mine) of present-day Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
It was found during the period of the Kakatiya dynasty, who placed it in the Bhadrakali Temple in Warangal.
Since its discovery, the stone has moved from king to king. It was placed on the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s famous Peacock Throne at the Red Fort in Delhi in the 17th century.
Following the invasions of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah, the Kohinoor was taken away from India, and it finally reached the Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Durrani.
In the 19th century, it went to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh empire, who had his capital in Lahore.
After the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849, the kingdom of Punjab was annexed by the East India Company, and the child king Duleep Singh was forced to give up the diamond to Queen Victoria.
The movement of the diamond through its history has made the claims for its return contentious.
Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as India, have at various points demanded it from the British government.