Mountain of Light
Also known as Mountain of Light' or Syamantaka Mani. The Koh-i-Noor is a Piece of Eden in the form of a diamond that was mined at Kollur Mine, in the present state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It was originally 793 carats when uncut. Once the largest known diamond, it is now a 105.6 metric carat diamond, weighing 21.6 grammes in its most recent cut state.
In 1852, Albert the Prince Consort ordered it cut down from 186 carats. The diamond was originally owned by the Kakatiya dynasty, which had installed it in a temple of a Hindu goddess as her eye. The diamond was later confiscated from its original owners by various invaders. Today the diamond is a part of the British Crown Jewels. Mountain of Light held such an immense amount of power that it could bind all of the other Pieces' fates.
It was also rumored that only women could control its power. "The transcription reads: 'He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman can wear it with impunity.'" ―Hamid explaining the Koh-i-Noor's cursed legacy, 1839.
During the early 19th century, the Koh-i-Noor was in the possession of Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire. Wary of the artifact's curse and its power, Singh decided to store it in a pool of water in the hands of a statue dating back to the First Civilization.
It was stolen in the year 1839 by the Assassin Arbaaz Mir and hidden on Raza Soora's person, where it later came into the hands of the Princess, Pyara Kaur. As Pyara attempted to leave Amritsar's imperial palace after her grandfather's assassination, the princess was set upon by the British Templar Francis Cotton. To defend her, Raza clawed at Cotton's forehead with his nails, allowing Pyara the time to activate the Piece of Eden.
Suddenly possessed by an unknown member of the First Civilization, the being gave a statement referring to humanity as "splintered", but that the race was guided through messages left behind by their own across time.
"We are one of many but essential to the unity of all. Splintered though we may appear within the limited notion of this moment, we exist as one, as we always have and always will. You have been fragmented, children, but know that you are also whole. Do not allow your concept of time to act as a paralyzing veil when the fate of all you hold dear rests in your hands. We speak through this vessel to you, this time and medium and anchor that we might commune. We must exist freely at all points for your race, our children, to exist and to remain free. Shroud this intelligent lens until you become united and can realize this heart, our heart, to be the one that endowed your precious breath. And never doubt the lengths to which we will go to protect what is precious to us." ―Pyara Kaur (possessed), 1839
Horrified at the appearance of the being, Cotton fired multiple shots at the Precursor, though upon striking the Koh-i-Noor with a bullet, the diamond shattered and severed Pyara's connection to the First Civilization woman. As Arbaaz shielded Raza from the blast, the force of the energy's release gave form to a tiger, which brutally savaged Cotton, leading to the latter's demise. In 1839 on Maharaja Ranjit Singh death bed, according to custom in India, Ranjith Singh wished to donate the diamond to a temple. He wanted to donate it to the Lord Jagannath of the Puri temple in Odisha.
However, after his death in 1839 the British administrators did not execute his will. On 29 March 1849, the British raised their flag on the citadel of Lahore and the Punjab was formally proclaimed part of the British Company rule in India. The Governor-General in charge of the ratification for this treaty was Lord Dalhousie. He more than anyone, was responsible for the British acquiring the Koh-i-Noor, in which he continued to show great interest for the rest of his life. Dalhousie's work in India was primarily aimed at appropriation of Indian assets for the use of the British East India Company.
His acquisition of the diamond, amongst many other things, was criticized even by some of his contemporaries in Britain. Although some suggested that the diamond should have been presented as a gift to the Queen, it is clear that Dalhousie felt strongly that the stone was a spoil of war, and treated it accordingly. Dalhousie arranged that the diamond be presented by Maharaja Ranjīt Singh's young successor, Dulīp Singh, to Queen Victoria in 1850. Dulīp Singh was the youngest son of Ranjīt Singh and his fifth wife Maharani Jind Kaur. Dulīp, aged 13, travelled to the United Kingdom to present the jewel.
The presentation of the Koh-i-Noor and the Timur ruby to Queen Victoria was the latest in the long history of transfers of the stones as a spoil of war. Dulīp Singh had been placed in the guardianship of Dr Login, a surgeon in the British Army serving in West Bengal, East India. Dr Login, his wife Lena and the young Dulīp Singh travelled to England for the ceremony. On 1 February 1850, the jewel was sealed in a small iron safe, which was also enclosed in a red despatch box, both sealed with red tape and a wax seal and kept in a chest at Bombay Treasury while awaiting for a steamer ship to arrive from China.
It was then sent to England for presentation to Queen Victoria in the care of Captain J. Ramsay in conjunction with Brevet Lt. Col F. Mackeson under strict security arrangements, one of which was the placement of the despatch box into a larger iron safe. They departed from Bombay on 6 April 1850 on board the paddle sloop HMS Medea, captained by Captain Lockyer. The ship had a difficult voyage — an outbreak of cholera on board when the ship was in Mauritius had the locals demanding its departure and they asked their governor to open fire and destroy the vessel if it did not respond.
Shortly thereafter the vessel was hit by a severe gale that blew for some twelve hours. Legend in the Lawrence family has it that during the voyage, John Lawrence left the jewel in his waistcoat pocket when it was sent to be laundered, and it was returned promptly by the steward who found it. On arrival in Britain on 29 June 1850, the passengers and mail were unloaded in Plymouth, but the Koh-i-Noor stayed on board until the ship reached Spithead, near Portsmouth, on 1 July 1850.
On the morning of 2 July 1850, Ramsay and Mackeson in the company of Mr Onslow, the private secretary of the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the British East India Company, proceeded by train to East India House in the City of London and passed the diamond into the care of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the British East India Company. The handing over of the Koh-i- Noor diamond to the Queen on 3 July 1850 as part of the terms of the conclusion of the Sikh War also coincided with the 250th anniversary of the Company.
Dr Login received a knighthood in 1854 from Queen Victoria and was known as Sir John Spencer Login (he had added the 'r' to his middle name to change it from Spence to Spencer). The diamond is now set into the crown worn by the female consort to the Monarch of the United Kingdom, and is currently on display in the Tower of London.
In present day, Jot Soora, managed to unknowingly hold on to a piece of the Koh-i-Noor that had been embedded in his engagement ring to Monima Das. Through the events uncovered within the Brahman V.R., it was made known to Jot that the famous diamond which resided within the Crown Jewels of England was not the true Koh-i-Noor, but a replica.
The message of the First Civilization member spoke through time to Arbaaz Mir, whose memories is being relived by Jot Sora, a programmer in MysoreTech located in Bangalore, approximately one and a half centuries later, in present day, in the same manner that Minerva spoke to Desmond Miles through Ezio Auditore Da Firenze.
She stated that the Assassins and Templars must put their differences aside and ruin to defeat one common enemy of humanity, Juno.
So now we understand the following: The Koh-I-Noor is a Piece of Eden capable of controlling all other Pieces of Eden Only women can effectively use it. The Koh-I-Noor in the British Crown is not the real Koh-I-Noor A piece of the real shattered Koh-i-Noor is in Jot Soora’s possession, present day. Around 1850, the Koh-i-Noor was in Britain.
There’s no information on whether the Koh-i-Noor which was taken to England in 1850 is the real one and somehow later came in possession of Jot Soora as a diamond in the engagement ring which he gave to his fiancée, Monima Das, which he reclaimed after her death, not knowing that this is the real Koh-i-Noor diamond in the ring which he’s wearing as a necklace around his neck. Juno and Clay Kaczmarek both referred to Eve and urged Desmond Miles to find her.
In AC Unity, a “Lady Eve” is mentioned. So now we’re talking about someone called Eve who existed in completely different times and places So that makes me think: Eve is a Sage and she’s continuously being re-incarnated so that one day, she leads the revolution, like she did back in First Civ. reign.
The original Eve has been uploaded to a server just like Juno was and she awaits to be released in time to fight Juno Theres’s only one Eve, which is the one who led the revolution, the names are a references to her lineage. We need to find a descendant of Eve who can relive her memories, and somehow understand how to start the revolution.
Since the Koh-i-Noor can only be wielded by women, and I’m guessing it somehow works just like The Apple which requires people with a significantly high First Civ. (Homo Sapiens Divinius) DNA, like Desmond Miles. We could be talking about a modern day version of Eve. Let’s follow the possibility of Eve being a Sage. Since Juno used Aita as her backup plan to release her in the future, Minerva could’ve used Eve as her backup plan.
Minerva saw what Desmond will choose at the end of ACIII, so she knew that Juno will be released. During that time First Civ. members and humans were greatly damaged by Toba Catastrophe, so they started working together, so maybe since Eve is the one who started the revolution against the First Civilization, Minerva saw that she’s the best candidate to start the revolution against Juno, in the future.
So she did to her what Juno did to Aita to make sure she’s continuously re-incarnated until the time is due, and that’s where she can wield the Koh-i-Noor, control all the Pieces of Eden and unite the Assassins and Templars against Juno.
Since the Koh-i-Noor can only be wielded by women, and the First Civ. member from AC: Brahman who communicated with Jot Soora through Arbaaz Mir, said that the Assassins and Templars must unite together and fight Juno, then this is a clear indication that a woman will certainly be involved in saying the world, so we might end up having a female modern day protagonist or a male modern day protagonist who searches for this female who’s capable of wielding the Koh-i-Noor and leading the revolution.
A descendant of Eve, a female of high concentration of H.S.D. (Homo Sapiens Divinius, a.k.a. First Civilization) DNA, like Desmond Miles is the one who will wield the Koh-i-Noor and lead the revolution against Juno in present day/near future.
On a side note, we know that Galina Voronina’s mother claimed to have spoken to Eve and she suffered from the Bleeding Effect. Galina may or may not have been a descendant of Eve, yet she’s still one of the likely candidates of leading the modern day story of Assassin’s Creed or at least have a role in the Koh-i-Noor.
The game is known to take place during the Victorian Era, and presumably around or after 1850, which is the time when the Koh-i-Noor diamond (or the fake version of it) was taken to Britain. So it is highly likely that the Koh-i-Noor will be the First Civilization artifact that we’ll be seeking thorough AC:Victory which could eventually turn out to be fake or perhaps the real one and the Assassins will play a role in taking it back to where it belongs, away from Templar hands, where it eventually ended up in the Monima Das’ engagement ring.
