Video Gallery
Kohinoor: The Light of the World
NEW YORK, September 20, 2018 — Perhaps no other gem has a more riveting and contested history than the Kohinoor, a diamond whose "cursed" journey takes it from the mountains of Andra Pradesh, India to Her Majesty the Queen of England's crown jewels. Author William Dalrymple and Ambassador Navtej Sarna dismiss the legends surrounding the jewel to present a true story that is stranger and bloodier than any work of fiction. Their discussion, introduced by the Metropolitan Museum's Curator of Islamic Art Navina Haidar, was part of JLF at New York, a daylong celebration of literature, culture, and ideas. (46 min., 39 sec.)