Bangladesh eyes end to treasure trove puzzle

For more than a century, the fate of the dazzling Darya-e-Noor diamond has been sealed inside a bank vault — a mystery that haunts Khawaja Naim Murad, descendant of the former princes, or nawabs, of Dhaka.

- SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

Locked away in 1908, were the family's heirlooms lost during the violence at the end of British rule in 1947?

Did they survive Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971 and the string of coups that followed, or are they still safe, dusty but untouched?

Many suspect the jewels are long gone, and officials at the state-run bank hesitate to simply open the vault, fearing they'd carry the cost if it is empty.

But the cash-strapped South Asian government have now ordered a committee to unseal the vault — and Mr Murad clings to hope.

“This is not a fairytale,” said Mr Murad, 55, recounting a story passed down from his father about the giant diamond dubbed the “River of Light’, the centrepiece rock of a glittering armband.

“The diamond was rectangular in shape and surrounded by more than half a dozen smaller diamonds,’ Mr Murad told AFP.

It was part of a trove of 108 treasures. According to original court documents, they include a gold-and-silver sword encrusted with diamonds, a bejew-elled fez with cascading pearls, and a fabulous star brooch once owned by a French empress.

HISTORY OR MYTH?