Dhaka: Bangladesh is getting ready to unseal a vault for the primary time in additional than a century that has remained locked since 1908. Inside this long-forgotten chamber of the Sonali Financial institution lies what many imagine to be one of many world’s rarest gems, the Daria-i-Noor diamond, which is commonly described because the “sister” of the Koh-i-Noor.
Bangladesh’s interim authorities chief handed the order. A high-powered 11-member committee, led by the cupboard secretary, has been tasked with inspecting the jewels and treasures saved within the sealed vault.
The Diamond Of Legends
The Daria-i-Noor, loosely translated as ‘river of sunshine’, is a 26-carat, table-cut and pale pink diamond believed to have been mined from the fabled Golconda mines of Telangana in southern India. From the identical mines got here the Koh-i-Noor, now held within the British Crown Jewels.
The gem rests on the coronary heart of a golden armlet. It’s framed by 10 smaller diamonds of practically 5 carats every. What makes it outstanding will not be solely its uncommon brilliance but in addition the odyssey it has undertaken, from Maratha courts to Mughal palaces and from Sikh treasuries to the coffers of colonial directors.
Final Seen A long time In the past
Few mysteries in South Asia rival this one: does the diamond nonetheless relaxation in Dhaka? In accordance with report printed within the Enterprise Commonplace, the vault holding it was final opened in 1985, when its presence was verified. A long time later, in 2017, rumours swirled that it had vanished. Even the custodians confess they’ve by no means laid eyes on it.
“The vault is sealed. Years in the past, an inspection group got here, however they checked solely the door, not the treasure inside,” Shaukat Ali Khan, managing director of Sonali Financial institution, instructed information company AFP.
A Nawab’s Descendant On The Misplaced Diamond
For Khwāja Naeem Murad, great-grandson of Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, the diamond was by no means simply legend. “It’s no fairy story. The diamond is rectangular, with smaller stones round it,” he instructed AFP.
As a baby, he additionally heard of the vault’s different riches, 108 objects in all, together with a gold-and-silver sword, a fez encrusted with diamonds and even a French queen’s star-shaped brooch.
How Did It Attain Bangladesh?
The Daria-i-Noor’s passage into Bangladesh stays an unsettled story. Some historians hint its arrival to the Partition of 1947, when treasures had been divided and displaced throughout borders. Others level to the turmoil of the 1971 Liberation Struggle, when total collections vanished or reappeared in sudden locations.
Complicating the story additional is one other Daria-i-Noor, locked right this moment in Tehran’s Nationwide Jewelry Treasury. That stone is bigger, over 180 carats, with a deeper pink hue, elevating the chance that two completely different gems have lengthy shared the identical legendary title.
A Vault Of Secrets and techniques
Bangladesh’s interim authorities has appointed a particular committee to unseal the chamber, assess the treasures inside and file their destiny. For the nation, the invention, or the absence, may reshape the legacy of some of the fabled diamonds ever to go away India’s soil.
Anticipation is feverish in Dhaka. Will the ‘river of sunshine’ glitter as soon as once more after 117 years of darkness? Or will Dhaka’s most fabled secret dissolve into the fog of historical past?