IT STUNS YOU when you first see it. The stone itself. And, the setting. This brilliant piece of India is the star in the ensemble of platinum, velvet, ermine and diamonds that together make up the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. I remember vividly the time I first saw the Koh-i-Noor in the Tower of London. At that moment I realised that it was not called the ‘Mountain of Light’ for nothing.

The crown made by Garrard & Co—the crown jewellers from 1843 to 2007—has 2,800 diamonds on it, but not one matches the size and story of the Koh-i-Noor. You feel the weight of history when you look at it, and that is why it is on the cover of THE WEEK’s mid-year special issue. Then again, you might be wondering why the Koh-i-Noor now. I hope to answer that question.

These are strange times, if I may say so. The light of the Arab Spring and Hong Kong’s Yellow Umbrella movement has still not faded, but support for authoritarian governments seems to be growing worldwide. In the US, statues of Confederate generals and Columbus are being pulled down; in the UK, memorials to those who profited from the Atlantic slave trade are being erased. Last November, Barbados dropped Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, and right now we are looking at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Artefacts ‘acquired’ during the colonial era are being returned to their rightful owners by France, the Netherlands and other countries, while the Koh-i-Noor remains in London. Is the Koh-i-Noor conundrum a legal issue alone? Yes, and no. Is it a moral issue? Yes, undoubtedly. The case for the return of the Koh-i-Noor as well as the mystique behind the stone is what this cover story looks at. Deputy Chief of Bureau Mandira Nayar has put together a comprehensive cover story, and I am certain that you will enjoy reading it as much as I did. The voices from the family of Maharaja Ranjit Singh—arguably the last Indian owner of the diamond—reflect the angst of the Sikhs.

Of course, there is more to this issue of THE WEEK than the Koh-i-Noor. There is Senior Special Correspondent Rekha Dixit’s account of how farmers in the mountains are turning to an aromatic crop, lavender. The Union government’s Aroma Mission provides crucial support to these farmers. In a photo-feature, Deputy Photo Editor Bhanu Prakash Chandra explores the private world of crypto miners. A world quite different from the one inhabited by the Kollur miners who unearthed the Koh-i-Noor, I must say. There is also Principal Correspondent Abhinav Singh’s article on the new courses being introduced by colleges and universities.

I have written in these pages earlier about my mother and her passion for food and food writing. Ingredients fascinated her. When she began, everything was sold loose. Eventually, they started coming in packets and people began asking for brands. Basmati rice is one example that comes to mind. Somewhere along the line basmati became Kohinoor. Not surprisingly, even for Indians who had not seen the stone, the word came to symbolise something peerless and the Arora Brothers from Amritsar capitalised on that.

When my mother looked at ingredients, she saw possibilities. When I look at the Koh-i-Noor, I see the same.