It was Kakatiya's who found Kohinoor

Hyderabad: The historically famous Koh-i-Noor diamond that caught world attention as the largest known uncut diamond was in deed extracted by rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty and not by the Qutb Shahis, as is commonly perceived.

Noted geologist and retired professor V Madhavan claimed that the earliest historic mention of the world famous diamond was during the 13th century, when the Kakatiyas ruled most of the lands of the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

It is an established fact that the diamond was extracted from the Kollur mines, located near present day Guntur. During the 13th century, when the earliest mention of Koh-i-noor can be found, the Kakatiyas were ruling this area

There is reason to believe that it was the Kakatiyas who had extracted the diamond, the geology professor argues. 'The Kakatiyas realized that their kingdom was rich in diamond deposits and were the first rulers to mine near Kollur to leverage their value,' he said.

However, Prof Madhavan said that though the Kakatiyas were the innovators, the rulers of the Qutb Shahi dynasty were the ones to seriously take up mining.

'Kakatiyas were aware of the value of diamonds, but they did not pursue it with great interest. The Qutb Shahi dynasty, which ruled a couple of centuries after the Kakatiyas, really drove diamond trade, which made them the richest dynasty in the world,' he said.

Madhavan, who has conducted several seminars on the issue, said that the Telangana government should recognize the importance of Warangal, Golconda and the diamond trade and work towards getting World Heritage status to them.

'There has been a lot of work done to preserve and celebrate Telangana culture. Diamonds and their trade is the earliest known culture of Telangana and this should be celebrated too,' he opined.

The geologist wanted the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to remember the rich history and heritage that was prevalent during the Kakatiya and Qutb Shahi dynasties, which was made possible only due to the diamond trade.

'Until 18th century, India had a monopoly on diamond trade. And in India, the best and most famous diamonds were from the Kollur mines,' he said. The former Kakatiya University professor also said that the Kakatiya dynasty was the first to build a fort near Golconda. 'The Golconda fort was initially a mud fort that was built by the Kakatiya dynasty,' he claimed.

Madhavan argued that as the Kakatiya dynasty was based in Warangal, they developed a magnificent fort there, but neglected the Golconda region.'Once again, it was the Qutb Shahi dynasty that developed the fort on the foundation laid by the Kakatiyas. When the Qutb Shahis took over, they put up their base in Hyderabad or Golconda, and built the fort that is present to this day,' he said.