The Nevada journal., 1856-07-18

Foremost among those gems which deck
the brows Of royalty, is fhe great East In
dia diamond, Koh-i-ncor, valuable as the
largest known stone1ef its species, and al
SO from the mayvellous incidents which
have attendedN from its first discovery,
to the pressA time. This stons was dis
covered ip the renowned mines Of Golcon-
da in the year 1850, and remained in the
possession of the Kings Of that country,
until the rise ofthe Mogul Empire.
In the conquests of this country, the
throne and jewels Of Golgonda were alike
swept away as the spoils of the VICTOR
With the royal family of the Mogpls. The
fatal gem remained through that career Of
prosperity which made them the despots
of the Indies, and the arbitrers Of Asia.
Raised to power by conquest, the Mo.
gul Empire at last fell by the genii it had
invoked, and the fortunes of war transfer
ed their treasures to Nadir Shah, Per-
sian invader. To its new owner, the Koh.
i-noor proved fatal prize. He was as
sassinated by band of afghan soldiers
in his employ. and the glittering gem pass
ed Into the hands of Achmet Shah, an Aft
CHAN ehieftain. Ambitious and energet-
ic, this prince scorned life of inactivity,
and heading the warlike tribes of his own
country, invaded and subjugated the Pc
ninsula of Hindoostan, and ruled supreme
in the Indies. Over two centuries had
elapsed since its FIRST discovery, and once
more the Golconda diamond adorned the
crown of an Indian King. With Achmet
Shah and his successors it remained, until
the eighteenth century, when a revolution
placed Shah Shuja on the throne, and the
last scion of the Afghan conqueror in a
prison.
Amid the treasures of the dethroned
monarch, the usurper sought in vain for
the great diamond. Equally futile were
his efforts to extort, by either promises or
threats, its pace of concealment from his
fallen capti,e. He answered their prom
:ss: VIC; T%isn contemptuous silence, and scorn-
ing to purchase life by gratifying the av-
rice of his captors, died with his secret un.
revealed.
A more thorough inspection of the walls
of his prison, however, brought the court
ed jewel TO light, and added its lustre to
the trophies Of the successful rebel. But
the triumph of the usurpcr was of brief
duration. Another insurrection, and he
was a dethroned fugitive, carrying with
him in his exile the "Mountain of Light. ;,
sole relict of his power, and last remnant
of his vanished royalty.
Hunted, through the mountain fastness-
es Of Northern India, by enemies whose
relentless pursuit was stimulated as much
by hatred as avarico, he found protection
in the dominions of Runjet Sigh, and
purchased safety with the royal gem.
Already defed by the superstitious ma.
tions, and invested by Indian seer and In.
dian tradition with magic powers and vir.
tues, now glittering in the pageant of ris-
ing Empires, and then shedding its bale.
full light over their ruins-cnhancing the
pride Of royal power, or mscking the I'd.
gitivs in his exile weakncss-it next An.
tered tho service of religion, and formed
the eye ofa hideous Hindoo idol.
Here its stay was brief. An invade,
was upon the soil Of India, more rapacious
than the Persian, more cruel than the Aft.
CHAN, prouder than the Mogul, and mean.
er than bis lowest serf. England wa.
there in her work of reformation. and
overthrew the idolin the name of religion:
robbed the rulers in the name of the law
and crushed the people in the namc o,
freedom. She plundered alike the shrine
and tbs worshipper, and among the spoil,
ofthe former, was the fated gem that now
glittcrs the first ornament in the regal d.
adem Of Britain.
Thus has the history of this brilliant
formed large portion of the annals of In.
dia for the last three centuries.
Its future fate is united With that of 3
greater Empire than owned the sway Of
the Mogul, and yet the strange and 10.
mantle incidents Of its past history NAV
be forgotten in the greater events of it.
futurity, and the historian may yet record
that the last scion Of the house of Hano.
yer purchased protection in exile from
some power now unknown, with the gem
which his ancestors wrested from the
Kings of India.