--- title: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Belongs to Britain, Was Not Stolen: India description: A diamond at the center of a historic ownership battle involving at least four countries belongs to Britain and was not stolen, India says. canonical: https://time.com/4297347/koh-i-noor-diamond-india-britain/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-18T12:37:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:30:34.115Z article:section: World og:title: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Belongs to Britain and Was Not Stolen, India Says og:description: A handful of countries, including India, are fighting for the gem og:url: https://time.com/4297347/koh-i-noor-diamond-india-britain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560f56ea59df51a/69888f71524fc01f90df79af/koh-noor-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Crown Koh-i-noor Diamond og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Belongs to Britain and Was Not Stolen, India Says twitter:description: A handful of countries, including India, are fighting for the gem twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560f56ea59df51a/69888f71524fc01f90df79af/koh-noor-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Koh-i-Noor Diamond Belongs to Britain and Was Not Stolen, India Says  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 18, 2016 12:37 PM CUT  The Queen Mother's Crown contains the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, along with other gems. The Queen Mother's Crown contains the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, along with other gems.Tim Graham—Tim Graham/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 18, 2016 12:37 PM CUT A famous diamond at the center of a historic ownership battle involving at least four countries [belongs to Britain and was not stolen](https://sg.news.yahoo.com/india-says-koh-noor-diamond-belongs-britain-092158181.html "undefined"), India’s government said on Monday. The 108-carat [Koh-i-Noor](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1883142%5F1883129%5F1883003,00.html?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") gem, which is part of the Queen Mother’s Crown, was gifted to Britain during the colonial era by Sikh king Ranjit Singh, India’s Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said, according to the Agence France-Presse. A [handful of countries](http://time.com/3976327/kohinoor-diamond-keith-vaz-india-return-queen-crown/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined"), including India, have laid claims to the gem. The All India Human Rights & Social Justice Front, a non-governmental organization, had filed legal proceedings in London’s High Court to get the diamond back. A group leading the fight for its return says the diamond was stolen from India, [_Business Insider_](http://www.businessinsider.com/india-is-suing-the-queen-for-a-100-million-diamond-2015-11?pundits%5Fonly=0&get%5Fall%5Fcomments=1&no%5Freply%5Ffilter=1#comment-56424c54ecad045b176a2a12 "undefined") reported. India’s solicitor general said that was not the case. “It was given voluntarily by Ranjit Singh to the British as compensation for help in the Sikh Wars,” he said in court. “The Koh-i-Noor is not a stolen object.” \[[_AFP_](https://sg.news.yahoo.com/india-says-koh-noor-diamond-belongs-britain-092158181.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4297347/koh-i-noor-diamond-india-britain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4297347/koh-i-noor-diamond-india-britain/"},"headline":"Koh-i-Noor Diamond Belongs to Britain and Was Not Stolen, India Says","datePublished":"2016-04-18T12:37:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:30:34.115Z","description":"A handful of countries, including India, are fighting for the gem","url":"https://time.com/4297347/koh-i-noor-diamond-india-britain/","keywords":["India"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560f56ea59df51a/69888f71524fc01f90df79af/koh-noor-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560f56ea59df51a/69888f71524fc01f90df79af/koh-noor-diamond.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Crown Koh-i-noor Diamond","caption":"The Queen Mother's Crown contains the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, along with other gems.","creditText":"Tim Graham—Tim Graham/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4297347/koh-i-noor-diamond-india-britain/","name":"Koh-i-Noor Diamond Belongs to Britain and Was Not Stolen, India Says"}}]}] ```