 |
| Darya-ye Noor Diamond |
The Darya-ye Noor (Persian: دریای نور which means "Sea of Light", or "Ocean of Light" in Persian; also spelled Darya-i-Noor, Darya-e Noor, Daria-i-Noor and Darya-i-Nur) is one of the largest diamonds
in the world, weighing an estimated 182 carats (36 g). Its colour, pale
pink, is one of the rarest to be found in diamonds. The Darya-ye Noor
is now preserved in the vault of Central Bank of Iran ,in Tehran
In 1739, Nader Shah of Iran invaded Northern India, occupied Delhi and then massacred many of its inhabitants. As payment for returning the crown of India to the Mughal emperor, Muhammad, he took possession of the entire fabled treasury of the Mughals, including the Darya-i-noor, in addition to the Koh-i-noor and the Peacock throne. All of these treasures were carried to Iran 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 adorning the crown of Cyrus.
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 Mozaffar 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. and it was owned by the Mughal Emperors.
The Hope Diamond
The Hope Diamond is 45.52 carats and is another stone originating from
India and worn by English kings. Besides the beautiful quality of the
stone, its unique blue color also attributes the price. You can view
this infamous rock at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History..
The Hope Diamond, also known as "Le bleu de France" or "Le Bijou du Roi", is a large, 45.52-carat (9.10 g), deep-blue diamond, now housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. It is blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure, but exhibits red phosphorescence after exposure to ultraviolet light. It is classified as a Type IIb diamond, and is notorious for supposedly being cursed. It has a long recorded history with few gaps in which it changed hands numerous times on its way from India to France to Britain and to the United States. It has been described as the "most famous diamond in the world"
