Introduction

122
Sabina Fazli
collection was named the ‘Mazarins’. In a spectacular heist they were stolen in
1792, and only some have since been recovered (Balfour 60-61).
The diamond which is today known as the Regent was formerly named after
its owner Pitt. Thomas Pitt was the East India Company’s president of Fort Madras
and also traded in diamonds. In this function, he somehow obtained the diamond
and, on his return to England, rumours spread that he had used foul play.
During his lifetime, Pitt not only suffered from the slander, but he was also constantly
afraid that his diamond might be stolen and desperately tried to sell it. Philippe
II, the Regent of France finally bought it and incorporated it into the French
crown jewels (Balfour 61-66).
Obviously, a range of motives in fictional texts have their parallels in the legends
and histories of existing diamonds. While the Koh-i-Noor furnishes the archetypal
story, some of the factual and legendary instances in the histories of
other diamonds also have inspired the histories of fictional stones. The slander
surrounding the acquisition of a valuable diamond and misbehaviour in the colony
is prefigured in the story of the Regent and also appears in The Moonstone and “The
Rajah’ Diamond”. The curse is a recurring element in many stories and is associated
with the Koh-i-Noor and the Orlov and its ghostly guardian. The story of the
Frenchman serving the Hindu priests to get near the diamond bears resemblance
to “The Rajah’s Diamond” and Thomas Vandeleur’s services to the Rajah of
Kashgar. The disguised three Brahmins of The Moonstone – who are, moreover,
supposed to have converted to Islam –, also recall the Orlov and its history. Apart
from the Koh-i-Noor and the Orlov, other precious stones like the Nassak, too,
were believed to have been part of a statue of a god and hence stolen in an act of
sacrilege (Balfour 97).
The legends surrounding the historical Indian diamonds unanimously suggest
that objects of such great value invariably boast a history of violence and theft.
The abundance of legends and fables testifies to the diamonds’ propensity to generate
stories and especially crimes and to stand at their centre with owners as well
as crimes revolving around them. They are, furthermore, associated with distinctly
Indian episodes, the recurrence of Hindu temples and deities and the violence of
the Mutiny in the legend of the Agra posit them as positively Oriental.
The Description of the Fictional Diamonds
Most of the texts I am concerned with give the diamonds an individual name. The
implication is that these share the individuality and history of their real-life counterparts.
Furthermore, the names already signal their Indian origins. The Rajah’s
Diamond’s other appellation, the “Eye of Light” (Stevenson, “Rajah’s” 88) echoes
the Koh-i-Noor, the ‘Mountain of Light’ and the Nur-ul-ain, the ‘Light of the
Eye’, a famous diamond in the Persian crown jewels (Balfour 51). Richard Marsh,
too, refers to the diamonds’ putative previous owners, as the Datchet diamonds