“He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity.” So goes an old Hindi curse placed on the Kohinoor. The book traces the history of the Kohinoor and the history of all those whose hands it passes through to chronicle the violent fates that befell those who owned it. From its first known possible mention as the Syamantaka of the Krishna story to its passage to the hands of Babur and his family, down to Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah Abdali, Ranjit Singh and finally the British, the story is elaborated.