Sent the Koh-i-Noor back to Punjab!
Blog: 99 + 1 countries - 16 October 2009
By: merja
As my infatuation with the turban wearing men keeps growing, I bought a book on Sikhism called the Sikhs by Khushwant Singh, a famous Sikh scholar.
The following is a brief summary on the most curious passage involving Koh-i-Noor and the cruelty of the English imperialism.
After two Anglo-Sikh wars the young maharaja Dalip Singh of Punjab surrended his dominions to the English and the kingdom of Sikhs ceased to be in 1849.
The English took the maharaja under their wing, and brainwashed him into Christianity. As if that wasn't enough they sent him to England and gave him an estate in Suffolk. In 1850 the Delhi Gazette reported an "announcement of a momentous event": The ex-sovereign of the Punjab has eaten a beef steak! "The king of Sikhs... has sold his claim to the allegiance of his people by a juicy mouthful".
The same year Lord Dalhousie, the man in charge of the English Punjabi operations visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The temple was beautifully lit up to honour of the conqueror. The English Lord did not care much for the Sikh hospitality however and chose to walk through the sacred precinncts with his shoes on.
The following year the English auctionedall the possessions of the Sikh kingdom except the Koh-i-Noor. The diamond was sent to England to become the most revered piece of the crown jewels.
However, the Sikhs were not at all that unhappy with the English rule. The last few Punjabi maharajas had been weak and the kingdom on the brink of collapsing. The English brought a period of peace and economic prosperity to Punjab. Not only that, the English demanded that all their new Sikh army recruits had to have a long, unshorn hair! According to Khushwant Singh, this demand was of enormous importance to preserving the Sikh identity as distinct from the Hindu which by the time was taking over the Punjabi pshyche. Had it not been for the English, Sikhism probably would have melted back into Hinduism.
History does have its odd twists. But I still think that the Koh-i-Noor belongs to Punjab. If you happen to know a petition I could sign, please let me know.
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