Mrs. Fagin and a Poor Prince

Fagin and Oliver Twist

Fagin is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates among them) whom he teaches to make their livings by pick-pocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for shelter.

Mrs Fagin of Talangas

That is what young Maharaja Duleep Singh once called Queen Victoria. The biggest pickpocket of them all - the empress of the mighty British Empire. The receiver of stolen goods, stolen kingdoms, and stolen jewels smuggled away from his homeland - Punjab by her loyal viceroys, men like Lord Dalhousie, with immaculate records and evidence of guilt. The thousands of pearls and emeralds and rubies and diamonds taken from Lahore Toshakhana and presented to her by the East India Company. After the Great Exhibition of 1851, the jewels were locked away in the Tower of London, stuck in her tiara, and sewn on her dresses.

Queen Victoria  Mrs. Fagin for Duleep Singh

Embezzled Jewels

The most famous among the jewels embezzled from the Sikh kingdom include the following:

• Koh-i-Noor 279.6 carat Diamond
• Timur Ruby 361-carat (72 g) Red Ruby
• Emerald Girdle of Maharaja Sher Singh

Embezzlement of Koh-i-Noor

That’s how she received the Koh-i-noor. Dalhousie tucked it away into a chamois bag especially made by his wife, which was then sewn into his belt by Login. Historian, William Dalrymple says,

"I can tell you the case that hurts and nags at me the most is the one in which the little boy is forced to sign the Kohinoor over ... You take a mother away from a child, you surround him with grown ups speaking a different language, who are in military or State regalia, you tell him he must sign this over or else... What else is he meant to do? How can anyone call that a 'gift'? It beggars belief!"

Surrender by Maharaja Duleep Singh

There is a whole line of documented evidence to say what went on there.It doesn't feel right or feel good. The seizure of the diamond from Duleep Singh was not a straightforward case where someone came in and fought a battle and seized it from a grown up. There was something so brutal and underhand in the way in which it was done.

The Great Exhibition

Willy Dalyrymple writes in his half of the book that one man had no idea what it was and used it as a paperweight. And apparently (John) Lawrence (commissioner of Jalandhar district, Punjab and later viceroy) lost it in his waistcoat and the (valet dealing with) his laundry thought it was a chunk of glass.

The British took this diamond -- that really wasn't very well known outside of the Punjab -- and isn't referred to in any Indian sources, that we can find -- and turned it into a symbol of colonial loot which is why it is a live issue. The (myth) that the Kohinoor is the greatest diamond in the world, and a symbol of colonial conquest, was something that the British created.

The Great Exhibition of Jewels

The Great Exhibition created the myth, where it was put on display as a symbol of colonialism. It was the relationship between Britain and India that makes the Kohinoor so vivid and alive. The Kohinoor has always been much more than itself. The ultimate show of power and dominion.

When Ranjit Singh took it from Shah Shuja, he was jubilant because it was a very visual sign that he had in the north of India in his thrall. Punjab was strong and wealthy. And Ranjit Singh wore the Kohinoor, on his arm, almost like a shorthand for a message to marauding Afghans: 'Don't come back here anymore.'

Arm Bracelet of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The British definitely had their eyes on it for that very reason. It represented not just the conquest of the north, but crushing of resistance in India. Punjab was one of the last bastions to hold out.

The Curse of Koh-i-Noor

The great diamond had a dark myth associated with it. It was said, whoever wears the diamond, his family will vanquish forever. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, there were extraordinary succession of five murders that almost wiped out his dynasty, leaving one heir, Maharaja Duleep Singh.

When the HMS Medea sailed with the looted treasury from Lahore Toshakhana to England, first, cholera breaks out in the ship killing most of the sailors. And then it sails into a typhoon. Straight out of a movie. Like a horror film.

HMS Medea

Even Queen Victoria was uncomfortable. She wouldn't wear it until she had permission from Duleep. It would really have pissed James Ramsay, the earl of Dalhousie, governor general of India, who took the Kohinoor from Prince Duleep Singh) if he were still alive, that the idea of a curse had taken hold in his country.

Even in his lifetime, when Queen Victoria expressed concern about the diamond's bad luck, he said, 'Let her bloody give it to me if she is that worried. I will wear it.'

The Queen and Her Own Maharaja

The bond between Queen Victoria and Maharaja Duleep Singh as her ward was special and she cared for him genuinely. The Maharajah Duleep Singh was a handsome and glamorous prince whose life was dramatic and filled with intrigue, not to mention a sad and tragic end. He became the ruler of the Punjab when barely more than an infant. But, by the age of 11, he had been removed from his mother’s care and was held at the fort of Futteghar where, influenced by his new British ‘friends’, he converted to Christianity. After that he was brought to England and became very popular at court where Victoria and Albert encouraged the prince’s friendship with their own royal children.

Painting by Queen Victoria: Duleep Singh dressing her Grandchild as Indian prince

The Queen was very fond of handsome Duleep Singh. She ordered his portrait painted by famous artist Winterhalter. The Queen would come in just to watch him, every inch her loyal subject, with her portrait set in diamonds around his neck and her miniature picture in a ring on his finger.

Duleep Singh with Royal Children

Queen Victoria had reason to be fond of Duleep Singh as he was such a great addition to her banquets; a fine specimen to show off to the rest of society. A young oriental king who spoke English and, to top it all, was Christian. He also said things that must have eased her conscience. he would tell her that he was glad to be in England, far away from the violent ways of his people. He even told her, on a ferry ride to the Isle of Wight, that he had become a Christian because of his own beliefs, that he had broken caste by having tea with Tommy Scott and by drinking from the same glass as Lady Login in front of Rani Dukhno, widow of Maharaja Sher Singh. He exculpated everybody—Dalhousie, Login, Lady Login, even Bhajan Lal from having anything to do with his change of faith and took it all upon himself.

Is one still a child at sixteen, to be forgiven such complete surrender to manipulation . . .?

Watercolor Painting by Queen Victoria

“Those eyes and those teeth are too beautiful,” she wrote after meeting him. For the next 10 years, the Maharajah lived a life of luxury, travelling with the royal family across Europe. He first settled in Scotland where he became known as “The Black Prince of Perthshire”.

Another Painting by Queen Victoria

Historian and writer Peter Bance has been on the trail of the Maharaja’s story for almost 17 years now. He says,

“You need to understand that this was a young boy — a delusional young prince that the Queen presented or displayed like a trophy. He was bound to have an effect on the British. People started to talk about him in elite social circles, and even though he neither had his kingdom, nor its glorious riches, what he did have was the attention of the English folk and a lavish lifestyle that he couldn’t really complain about.”

Duleep Singh with Servants Aroor Singh and Hukam Singh

The Reunion

One day, while Duleep was posing in his Sikh ceremonial robes the Queen appeared in the White Room too, instructing the prince to close his eyes and hold out his hands – into which she then placed the Koh-i-noor.

Scene from Movie "Black Prince"

She was probably testing Maharajah’s loyalty. And although he had the good sense to hand the stone back into her palms, Duleep admitted to intimates that he had felt insulted and was more than tempted to throw the stone out of an open window. He called the Queen, Mrs Fagin – the handler of stolen property. He would also have been very much aware of the ancient curse upon the stone – which was that any man who held it would see his dynastic line disappear from the light.

Aftermath of the Curse

Duleep’s line did indeed disappear. He married twice and had several children, but no grandchildren. And then, in his middle years, when Duleep became disaffected, often asking for the diamond’s return, it could have been that he believed in another well-known prophecy: if the stone was returned to its homeland all foreign invaders would be cast out.

Catheryn, Bamba, Edward, and Sophia Duleep Singh

Fearing another Mutiny should Duleep attempt to reclaim his throne, British government had the Maharaja followed by spies and eventually he was exposed as consorting with various dissidents, mainly, French, Russians, and Irishmen with whom he had been making plans to march an army on the Punjab by route of Russia and Afghanistan. Duleep was exiled from England as well as India. He was forced to live out the rest of his life on the European continent, where he died at the age of 55 in a shabby Parisian hotel – but not before Queen Victoria secretly met him in South of France and pardoned him, and after which she brought her beautiful boy back to  be buried in England – despite the Maharajah’s wish for his remains to return to his native India.

Graves of Duleep Singh Family

So, Duleep’s life appeared to be cursed. But the descendants of Victoria, who still possessed the stone, may well have received its blessings, with the diamond linked to a prophecy that any woman who owned it would then go on to rule the world. She did command an Empire, and became the Empress of India.

Queen Mother with Koh-i-Noor in Crown

References

Adding to the list of references is Exile, the acknowledged book by well known diplomat and author Navtej Sarna. The Wire article that I referenced was a review of this book. I am correcting this by adding the actual source of information - Exile, book by Navtej Sarna available to buy from Amazon webste.

1. https://www.amazon.com/Exile-Navtej-Sarna-ebook/dp/B01N9I63NE
2. http://www.rediff.com/news/special/how-the-british-stole-the-kohinoor-from-a-child/20170123.htm
3. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/true-story-betrayal-bloodshed-behind-10691738
4. https://thewire.in/history/queen-victoria-the-receiver-of-stolen-goods-stolen-kingdoms-stolen-jewels
5. https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/queen-victoria-the-maharajah-and-the-diamond/
6.  https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/people/day-grandfather-met-indias-black-prince/