Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond - Hardcover

Kevin Rushby

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312228139 ISBN 13: 9780312228132

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2000

Synopsis

The Kohi-Noor diamond, the Mountain of Light, the world's largest diamond was found in India, traveled from Golconda to the Mughal palaces in the north. Fought over, cursed and occasionally lost, it finally reached the sikhs in the Punjab, only to be seized by British agents eager to please young Queen Victoria. It now lies in the Tower of London where some say its curse controls the fate of the Windsor family. In Chasing the Mountain of Light, Kevin Rushby pursues the dramatic career of the KohiNoor on a journey to the heart of Indian culture meeting dealers, smugglers and petty crooks along the way. It's another great adventure from Rushby whom the Washington Post recently compared to William S. Burroughs and Arthur Rimbaud.

About this title

About the Author

Kevin Rushby lived and worked in Sudan, Malaysia, Thailand and Yemen before becoming a fulltime author. He is the author of Eating the Flowers of Paradise.

Reviews

Rushby's interest in the ancient diamond trade was piqued after a chance meeting with a diamond smuggler in Ethiopia. Driven to unearth the history-drenched underbelly of the diamond trade, Rushby (Eating the Flowers of Paradise: A Journey Through the Drug Fields of Ethiopia and Yemen) treks across India in search of old gemstone mines and ancient accounts. Rushby isn't quite sure what he's looking for, but he narrows his focus to the fate of Koh-i-Noor, the world's largest diamond, from its origins circa 1000 B.C., when it was believed to be a gift from the Sun God, to its present home in the Tower of London. He seeks out unorthodox storytellers, be they miners, peasants, gem dealers, diplomats, gurus or Jesuit priests. Unfortunately, Rushby is limited to the stories told by those who speak English; he very eloquently describes the frustration of watching someone gesture and talk excitedly, only to receive a two-word translation from a jaded interpreter. However, Rushby's keen sense of humor and sharp eye more than compensate for this handicap. Acutely written, this meandering adventure will appeal equally to mystics, gemologists, historians and travelers. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A sometimes glittering travelogue that traces the strange fortunes of a fabulous jewel. Rushby, an accomplished and adventurous English traveler in the vein of the Victorians he so clearly admires, has a knack for choosing oddball quests. For his first book (Eating the Flowers of Paradise, 1999) he went off in search of a mildly narcotic stimulant that keeps much of northeastern Africa humming; in this, his second, he wanders across northern India to relate the curious history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, whose name means the mountain of light. Held in Indian folklore to have been the possession of the god Krishna, the great diamondpossibly thousands but more likely hundreds of years oldwrongly fell into English hands in 1849 and, after having been misplaced for a time, was shipped off as a gift to an apparently unimpressed Queen Victoria before ending up in the Tower of London. Rushby takes his readers through back alleys and marketplaces to discuss the still-thriving Indian diamond trade, once the worlds largest; anyone seeking an introduction to how diamonds are mined, graded, and made into ornamental objects will learn much from his pages. He also examines, carefully and patiently, contending claims over the diamonds ownership, coming down on the sidebut not without reservationof the Indian activists who are now seeking the diamonds return. Rushbys narrative bogs down here and there, and creaks a little under the weight of his hurried synopses of Anglo-Indian history. The author atones, however, with self-deprecating humorattempting a sentence in the Telugu tongue, he sputters, Where great man diamond history? only to have his interlocutors answer in perfectly fluent Englishand with a practiced eye for useful local detail. A satisfying entertainment that will beguile armchair travelers, students of Indian history, and jewel collectors alike. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In some circles, gems--like the Koh-i-Noor diamond--are believed to influence people for good or ill. Now in the possession of the British Crown, that legendary Indian diamond has been coveted and fought over through the centuries. Here, Rushby (Eating the Flowers of Paradise) tours the subcontinent in order to trace the diamond's blood-splattered history. He visits diamond mines in Andhra Pradesh, Bombay and Gujarat, and Delhi and the Punjab; stops at roach-infested hotels; travels by bus and train; and gets robbed by diamond smugglers. Whether you agree with Rushby that the accursed diamond should not be returned to its lawful owners (India) is beside the point. This travelog--as spellbinding as any thriller--contains some brilliant portrayals of ex-princes, scholars, cranks, and other sundry characters whose hospitality Rushby enjoys. Highly recommended for public libraries.
-Ravi Shenoy, Hinsdale P.L., IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The world's largest diamond, the Koh-I-Noor, boasts a long and colorful history, traced here to present-day India, from Bombay and other southern gulf towns to Punjab and cosmopolitan Delhi to remote outposts such as Hyderabad. Rushby, whose previous book, Eating the Flowers of Paradise , followed the history of the addictive plant called qat, encounters all manner of smugglers, illegal diamond dealers, and helpful souls while following the route of the giant diamond, which today resides in the Tower of London. Rushby is an engaging writer, unafraid to speak his mind, and along with tracing the history of the stone itself, his encounters with the fascinating people of India and his references to books such as Willkie Collins' The Moonstone make this account as comfortable as an old pair of sandals. Encounters with cheap crooks with cheap diamonds, filthy hostels, and other adventures along the way add up to one of the easier-to-read travelogues about a place difficult to understand. Joe Collins

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312228139
• ISBN 13: 9780312228132
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272