The Myth of the Koh-i-noor | William Dalrymple | TEDxJadavpurUniversity

Watch William Dalrymple deconstruct several myths about the most prized jewel in the world, the Koh-i-noor Diamond. In his inimitable style, Dalrymple explains how the Koh-i-noor diamond has been portrayed in history and why most of it is factually incorrect.


William Dalrymple is an acclaimed writer and historian, and one of the co-founders and co-directors of the annual Jaipur Literature Festival. A collection of his writings about India, The Age of Kali, won the French Prix D'Astrolabe in 2005. 'White Mughals' was published in 2003 which won the Wolfson Prize for History 2003, the Scottish Book of the Year Prize and shortlisted for PEN History Award, the Kiryama Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 2007, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, from the University of Lucknow "for his outstanding contribution in literature and history" and in March 2008 won the James Todd Memorial Prize from the Maharana of Udaipur.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx