From Kohinoor to Delhi Durbar Tiara: Royal Jewellery looted by Queen Elizabeth II

(The article is based on Twitter thread)

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8th, 2022 at the age of 96 years old. While some are condoling the demise of the longest-serving monarch of Britain, there is a section of people who are celebrating it. The reason - colonisation, racism, discrimination, and looting of colonial countries.

Speaking of India, people here were quick to point out the monarchy's role in the subjugation of their countries. In fact, within hours of Buckingham Palace’s announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, tens of thousands of tweets about the crown jewels had the term “Kohinoor” trending in India.

From Kohinoor to Delhi Durbar Tiara Royal Jewellery looted by Queen Elizabeth II

Apart from Kohinoor, there were several precious royal jewellery collections that was used by Queen Elizabeth II. The queen owned 23,000 jewels of which more than 19,000 originate from India. Firstly, let us get into context before we explore-

The English royalty has the world's greatest collection of Royal Jewelry, thanks to colonisation. Their clothes, costumes, and ceremonial & coronational objects are adorned with a rich set of jewels. Particularly speaking, the English Kings and Queens had a great fascination for diamonds.

However, there was a problem. Diamonds were not naturally available in England. Until 1725, all of the world's diamonds came only from one country: India. India was the only natural home of diamonds. India's proverbial riches were famed and desired throughout the world.

Of course, when the British came, they envied the Indian diamonds. It was one of the primary reasons for the establishment of the East India Company. After the conquest and colonisation of India, the diamonds & gems increased multifold in the royal collection.

Here are few-

KohinoorIt is the most expensive diamond in the world. The diamond originally belonged to a Hindu temple. An object of British loot, it was forcibly seized from an 11-year-old child Duleep Singh in a treaty after defeating him in war. The diamond adorns the English crown today.

Delhi Durbar TiaraIt was designed in 1911 for Queen Mary for a massive celebration held in Delhi to mark the coronation of her husband King George V. It hosts precious Indian & African diamonds acquired through colonialism. It is now worn by Queen Elizabeth II's daughter-in-law.

The sovereign's orbIt has been used during the coronation ceremony of every English Monarch since 1661. After British victory in Battle Of Plassey(1757) & from the Indian riches acquired, it was adorned with diamonds. Today, it is set of pearls, emeralds, 365 diamonds and one Amethyst.

A 300-diamond-studded necklaceThe British put Nizam and his personal possessions under tremendous political pressure and danger. To curry favor with them, he "gifted" a 300-diamond-studded necklace to Queen Elizabeth II. Most of these precious diamonds came from Kollur mine of Andhra Pradesh.

It is pertinent to mention that "gifts" were often a means of colonialist loot induced by exerting tremendous political and military pressure.

A TiaraThe Nizam of Hyderabad also "gifted" Queen Elizabeth (then princess) a tiara studded with expensive diamonds due to the tremendous pressure put on him.

1,200 diamonds and gemsThe British conquest of Bengal was soon followed by the Bengal famine of 1770. This famine killed an estimated 10 million people (almost 1/3rd of the population of the presidency). At the same time, around 1,200 diamonds and gems were added to the Royal Jewelry.

In 1876, when Southern India was hit by a huge famine over 10.3 million people were killed. Just when a famine occurred, Lord Lytton shipped to England 6.4 million tons of wheat from India. Just then, Queen Victoria gave herself the title "empress of India" as well as the royal family continued to acquire diamonds.

In the famine year, Queen Victoria presented to her granddaughter a diamond pendant called the English Rose. This was one of the world's most expensive diamond pendants of its time.

These are just a few instances of the Queen collecting diamonds at the cost of lives in India. This article is published to put us in a different perspective when we condole the monarch.