Darya-ye Noor

The Darya-ye Noor (Persian for "Sea of Light"), is one of the largest diamonds in the world, weighing 182 carats (36.4 g). Its colour, pale pink, is one of the rarest to be found in diamonds. The Darya-ye Noor presently forms part of the Iranian crown jewels.

History

This diamond, like the Kohinoor, was mined at the Golconda mines in southern India, and found its way into the possession of the mughal emperors. In 1739, the adventurer Nader Shah of Persia invaded India and sacked Delhi; the booty he garnered from the mughal treasury included the Darya-i-noor, in addition to the Kohinoor and the Peacock throne. All of these treasures were carried to Persia by Nader Shah and the Darya-i-noor has remained there ever since.

After Nader Shah's death, the Darya-ye Noor was inherited by his grandson, Shahrokh Mirza. It then passed into the possession of Alam Khan Khozeimeh, and later, of Lotf Ali Khan Zand, a member of Iran's Zand dynasty. Agha Mohammad Khan, founder of Qajar dynasty, defeated the Zands, and thus the Darya-e-noor came into the possession of the Qajars. Fath Ali Shah Qajar had his name inscribed on one facet of the diamond. Later, Nasser-al-Din Shah Qajar often wore it on an armband. He apparently believed that this diamond had been one of the those adorning the crown of Cyrus the Great. When armbands fell from royal fashion, he wore the diamond as a brooch. On occasion, the gem would be left in the care of high personages of the land, as a sign of honor. It was eventually kept hidden in the Golestan Palace treasury museum until Mozzafar-al-Din Shah Qajar's time -- this monarch wore it as a hat decoration while visiting Europe in 1902.

Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, wore the diamond as a decoration on his military hat during his coronation in 1926, and it was used in Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's coronation ceremony in 1967. This diamond is now in Iran.

Possible association

In 1965, a Canadian team which was conducting research on the Iranian imperial jewels concluded that the Darya-e-Noor may well have been part of a large pink diamond that had been studded in the throne of the mughal emperor Shah Jehan, and had been described in the journal of the French jeweller Tavernier in 1642, who called it the "Diamanta Grande Table". This diamond may have been cut into two pieces; the larger part is the Darya-e-noor ("Sea of Light"); the smaller part is believed to be the 60 carat (12 g) Noor-ol-Ein diamond, presently studded in a tiara belonging to the Iranian imperial jewel collection.