# Koh-i-Noor passes to Ranjit Singh (1813)

URL: https://allhistories.com/afghanistan/timeline/1813-koh-i-noor-passes-to-ranjit-singh
Location: Lahore
Themes: Koh-i-Noor, Treasures

In 1813 Ranjit Singh took the Koh-i-Noor from the exiled Shah Shuja Durrani, who had fled to Lahore. Accounts differ about how. One says Ranjit demanded it in return for hospitality. Shuja's memoirs say he was extorted, partly by having his son tortured. The page says Ranjit later paid Shuja 125,000 rupees. The diamond had been taken from Delhi by Nader Shah in 1739 and passed to Ahmad Shah after Nader's assassination in 1747, though another account says it was given in 1751. Shuja, Ahmad Shah's grandson, wore it in a bracelet in 1808. Its earlier history includes disputed claims linking it to Babur and Shah Jahan. After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the stone passed through other Sikh rulers and reached the child maharaja Duleep Singh in 1843. Under the Last Treaty of Lahore it was surrendered to Queen Victoria in 1849. India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan all claim it, while the British government rejects those claims. At this point in the timeline (1813), the Durrani Empire was under Mahmud Shah Durrani, Durrani king (3 May 1809 – 1818). Other contemporary rulers included Ranjit Singh, maharaja of the Sikh Empire (1801 – 1839). The main location of this event lies outside present-day Afghanistan.

## Why it matters
The diamond's journey from Kabul to Lahore and London still fuels Afghan claims to restitution.

Ruler at the Time: [Mahmud Shah Durrani (second reign)](https://allhistories.com/afghanistan/rulers/mahmud-shah-durrani-second-reign)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Koh-i-Noor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor)
- [Wikipedia — Shah Shuja Durrani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Shuja_Durrani)