<story><title>The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)</title><url>https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-koh-i-noor-diamondand-why-british-wont-give-it-back-180964660/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>UncleMeat</author><text>Okay. But that&amp;#x27;s surely not a reason why the Brits get to keep it. &amp;quot;This is too hard, let&amp;#x27;s give up and keep bringing in tourist money to our museums through these artifacts&amp;quot; feels like an awfully convenient excuse.</text></item><item><author>twblalock</author><text>David Frum&amp;#x27;s new Atlantic article shows a similar situation in Nigeria: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;magazine&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2022&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;benin-bronzes-nigeria-return-stolen-art&amp;#x2F;671245&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;magazine&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2022&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;benin-b...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Basically the Nigerian federal government, the state government of Benin, and the descendants of the kings of Benin who originally owned the stolen Benin bronzes all think they should be the ones to whom the bronzes should be returned -- and in the case of the current king, he asserts they are his family&amp;#x27;s private property.&lt;p&gt;On top of that, there is a long track record of art being stolen from modern-day Nigerian museums and sold to other museums or collectors, and returning the bronzes just for them to be re-stolen does not benefit any of the parties involved.</text></item><item><author>alephnerd</author><text>Not a fan of the British crown (why are they exempt from taxes during record high inflation) but who should they return the diamond to - Afghanistan (it was the Durranis that looted it from Nader Shah after he looted it from the Mughals), India (Maharaja Ranjit Singh took it as tribute from Shah Shuja after conquering Kashmir from the Durranis), or Pakistan (the Sikh Empire capital was Lahore and the Durrani Empire capital was Peshawar until the last Sikh-Afghan War, thus any claim India or Afghanistan has on either Empire&amp;#x27;s legacy is also owned by Pakistan, even inspite of Partition or the Durrand Line).&lt;p&gt;On top of that, if it goes to India - should it be owned by the Central&amp;#x2F;Federal government, the Punjab government (the state that is the core of the former Sikh Empire), Jammu Kashmir&amp;#x27;s Government (because of Shah Shuja and Raja Gulab Singh), Delhi Government (the Mughal capital), or Andhra Pradesh Government (the mine is located there). And is it worth putting a logjam into the Free Trade Agreement India and the UK are currently negotating?&lt;p&gt;If they give it to Pakistan, should it go to the Pakistan Federal Government, Punjab Government (the state that is the core of the former Sikh Empire), AJK Government (because of Shah Shuja and Raja Gulab Singh), or Khyber Pakhtunkwa Government (the state that is the core of the former Sikh Empire and former Durrani Empire)? Is it worth putting British Humanitarian and Military Aid at risk?&lt;p&gt;If they give it to Afghanistan, is it to the Taliban led government, or the government in exile? Is it worth putting British Aid and potential recognition at risk?&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a conundrum and an complicated legal question that honestly isn&amp;#x27;t worth it for any of the countries, all of whom have bigger issues to deal with, also it can be argued that the Sikh Empire handed it to the UK fairly.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Symbiote</author><text>For what it&amp;#x27;s worth, the Benin Bronzes are in the British Museum, which is free to visit. (Though special exhibitions usually cost extra.)&lt;p&gt;Of course, there&amp;#x27;s still monetary benefit to the museum, London and Britain from people visiting to see them.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.britishmuseum.org&amp;#x2F;about-us&amp;#x2F;british-museum-story&amp;#x2F;contested-objects-collection&amp;#x2F;benin-bronzes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.britishmuseum.org&amp;#x2F;about-us&amp;#x2F;british-museum-story&amp;#x2F;...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)</title><url>https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-koh-i-noor-diamondand-why-british-wont-give-it-back-180964660/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>UncleMeat</author><text>Okay. But that&amp;#x27;s surely not a reason why the Brits get to keep it. &amp;quot;This is too hard, let&amp;#x27;s give up and keep bringing in tourist money to our museums through these artifacts&amp;quot; feels like an awfully convenient excuse.</text></item><item><author>twblalock</author><text>David Frum&amp;#x27;s new Atlantic article shows a similar situation in Nigeria: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;magazine&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2022&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;benin-bronzes-nigeria-return-stolen-art&amp;#x2F;671245&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;magazine&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2022&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;benin-b...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Basically the Nigerian federal government, the state government of Benin, and the descendants of the kings of Benin who originally owned the stolen Benin bronzes all think they should be the ones to whom the bronzes should be returned -- and in the case of the current king, he asserts they are his family&amp;#x27;s private property.&lt;p&gt;On top of that, there is a long track record of art being stolen from modern-day Nigerian museums and sold to other museums or collectors, and returning the bronzes just for them to be re-stolen does not benefit any of the parties involved.</text></item><item><author>alephnerd</author><text>Not a fan of the British crown (why are they exempt from taxes during record high inflation) but who should they return the diamond to - Afghanistan (it was the Durranis that looted it from Nader Shah after he looted it from the Mughals), India (Maharaja Ranjit Singh took it as tribute from Shah Shuja after conquering Kashmir from the Durranis), or Pakistan (the Sikh Empire capital was Lahore and the Durrani Empire capital was Peshawar until the last Sikh-Afghan War, thus any claim India or Afghanistan has on either Empire&amp;#x27;s legacy is also owned by Pakistan, even inspite of Partition or the Durrand Line).&lt;p&gt;On top of that, if it goes to India - should it be owned by the Central&amp;#x2F;Federal government, the Punjab government (the state that is the core of the former Sikh Empire), Jammu Kashmir&amp;#x27;s Government (because of Shah Shuja and Raja Gulab Singh), Delhi Government (the Mughal capital), or Andhra Pradesh Government (the mine is located there). And is it worth putting a logjam into the Free Trade Agreement India and the UK are currently negotating?&lt;p&gt;If they give it to Pakistan, should it go to the Pakistan Federal Government, Punjab Government (the state that is the core of the former Sikh Empire), AJK Government (because of Shah Shuja and Raja Gulab Singh), or Khyber Pakhtunkwa Government (the state that is the core of the former Sikh Empire and former Durrani Empire)? Is it worth putting British Humanitarian and Military Aid at risk?&lt;p&gt;If they give it to Afghanistan, is it to the Taliban led government, or the government in exile? Is it worth putting British Aid and potential recognition at risk?&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a conundrum and an complicated legal question that honestly isn&amp;#x27;t worth it for any of the countries, all of whom have bigger issues to deal with, also it can be argued that the Sikh Empire handed it to the UK fairly.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Grimburger</author><text>I was under the impression that most museums around the world are a cost to governments rather than a boon, there&amp;#x27;s probably a few exceptions.&lt;p&gt;People who are travel to see the crown jewels are going whether or not this one is there with it.</text></comment>