The Kohinoor diamond, weighing 105.6 carats, is one of the largest cut diamonds worldwide. Its first verifiable historical record appears in Muhammad Kazim Marvi's history of the 1740s invasion of Northern India by Nader Shah. Marvi writes that Nader Shah looted the Kohinoor, among many other precious stones, from the Mughal Peacock Throne in Delhi. The diamond then exchanged hands between different empires in South and West Asia until it was given to Queen Victoria after the annexation of Punjab by the British East India Company in 1849.
Upon its arrival in the UK, the Kohinoor diamond has exclusively been worn by female members of the British royal family. Queen Victoria adorned the stone in both a brooch and a circlet. Following her death in 1901, it was set in the Crown of Queen Alexandra. The diamond was then transferred to the Crown of Queen Mary in 1911 and later to the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, in 1937 for her coronation. Presently, the Kohinoor diamond is on public exhibit in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.
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