celebrity.estateAn EGRET.LAW propertyWorld map3D timeline
Home / Heirlooms and treasure / A Tehran mob killed Russia's envoy in 1829, and the Shah paid for it with a diamond carved…
Case file s1198 · Heirlooms and treasure · 1829
See 1829 on the timelineSee it in 3D
1829
The Soviet Union 1971 CPA 4069 stamp (Shah Diamond, 16th Century): USSR stamp: The Shah Diamond, 16th Century. Series: Diamond Fund
The Soviet Union 1971 CPA 4069 stamp (Shah Diamond, 16th Century). USSR Post. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
11 February 1829 (Alexander Griboyedov)
Place
Tehran, Iran; St Petersburg and Moscow, Russia
Field
diamond, diplomacy · Royalty and nobility on the timeline
Legal tradition
Treaty of Turkmenchay indemnity; diplomatic compensation between sovereigns
Historical event
Russo-Persian War of 1826 to 1828 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay
Heirlooms and treasureMurder and sudden deathCrowns and successionIndustry and empireMiddle EastEuropeRussia

A Tehran mob killed Russia's envoy in 1829, and the Shah paid for it with a diamond carved with the names of three kings

The Shah Diamond weighs 88.7 carats. Three rulers had their names cut into its faces: Burhan Nizam Shah II of Ahmadnagar in AH 1000 (1591), the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in AH 1051 (1641), and Fath Ali Shah of Persia in AH 1242 (1826). In 1828 Persia lost a war to Russia and owed a large indemnity. Alexander Griboyedov, the playwright, came to Tehran as Russia's envoy. A eunuch of the Shah's household, Mirza Yakub, took refuge in the Russian mission, and Griboyedov refused to hand him over. On 11 February 1829 a crowd stormed the embassy. The Cossack guards and the diplomats were killed. Only the secretary, Ivan Maltsev, survived. Griboyedov's body was displayed around the city. Fath Ali Shah sent his grandson Khosrow Mirza to St Petersburg with a letter of apology and the diamond. Nicholas I accepted it. He is reported to have said he would let the incident "sink into oblivion." He reduced the reparations and delayed payments by five years. The stone stayed in the Russian crown treasury. In 1914 it entered what became the Kremlin Diamond Fund. It is shown in Moscow as one of the Fund's seven historic gems.

What the law took from it

A family treasure can end up settling a debt the family never meant to owe.

Sources
  1. gemdat.orgPress
  2. gw2ru.comPress
  3. themoscowtimes.comPress
  4. Wikipedia (English)Encyclopedia

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “A Tehran mob killed Russia's envoy in 1829, and the Shah paid for it with a diamond carved with the names of three kings,” story s1198, https://www.celebrity.estate/shah-diamond-1829, updated 30 October 2026.

Related cases

Each one shares a person, a kind of fight, a subject, a period or a place with this case. The line under each headline says which.

Hauser Kreul: Kaspar Hauser1833 · Ansbach, Bavaria, GermanyA rumour said Kaspar Hauser was the stolen heir to the throne of Baden; he was stabbed to death in 1833, and a 2024 DNA study ruled out the Baden lineShared: murder and sudden death; crowns and succession; 4 years apart; also EuropeKaspar Hauser is a claimed lost heir whose claim was never proven. On 26 May 1828 a teenager appeared in Nuremberg carrying two letters, later judged to be in one hand. He said he had grown up in a dungeon.bath.ac.uk and 2 moreArrest of the Queen of Georgia (Geoffroy, 1845)-1: Arrest of Maria, Queen of Georgia, in 1801 (Geoffroy, 1845)1800 · Tbilisi, GeorgiaGeorgia's last king asked Russia for protection, Russia abolished his dynasty, and his heirs were suing each other over the royal name in 2019Shared: murder and sudden death; crowns and succession; 29 years apart; also EuropeIn September 1799 King George XII of Kartli-Kakheti asked Emperor Paul I to take his kingdom under Russian protection. He hoped to keep his royal rank and reign as his ancestors had. George died in 1800.acgs.ug.edu.ge and 5 morePtolemy VIII Physcon: Head of Ptolemy VIII130 BCE · Alexandria, Egypt, and CyprusPtolemy VIII married his sister Cleopatra II and then her daughter, and when his sister held Alexandria against him he sent her their son's head, hands and feetShared: murder and sudden death; crowns and succession; also Middle EastIn 145 BC Ptolemy VIII returned to Alexandria after his brother Ptolemy VI died and married his brother's widow, their sister Cleopatra II.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreArsinoe II: ArsinoeII269 BCE · Cassandreia (Kassandreia, Greece) and Alexandria, EgyptArsinoe II married her half-brother Ptolemy Keraunos to protect her sons, he had two of them killed in her arms, and she then married her full brotherShared: murder and sudden death; crowns and succession; also Middle EastPtolemy I passed over his eldest son, Ptolemy Keraunos, son of Eurydice, and around 285 BC made the younger Ptolemy II, son of Berenice, his heir. Keraunos left Egypt.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 moreChâteau de Chambord LCCN20176597811883 · Château de Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, FranceFrance seized Chambord in 1915 because its owner served Austria, while his half-brothers, who fought for the Allies, sued him for a bigger shareShared: murder and sudden death; crowns and succession; same era, industry and empire; also EuropeIn 1821 a national subscription bought Chambord for the infant Duke of Bordeaux, born months after his father, the Duc de Berry, was assassinated.chambord.org and 6 moreRudolf, Crown Prince of Austria: Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria LOC1889 · Mayerling hunting lodge, Lower AustriaAustria's crown prince shot his 17-year-old lover and himself at Mayerling, and the throne passed to the man killed at SarajevoShared: murder and sudden death; crowns and succession; same era, industry and empire; also EuropeCrown Prince Rudolf, 30, only son of Emperor Franz Joseph, was found dead at his hunting lodge beside Baroness Mary Vetsera, 17. Rudolf had shot her and then himself. The court first announced heart failure.Wikipedia (English) and 1 more

Where this case sits

Heirlooms and treasureMurder and sudden deathCrowns and successionIndustry and empireMiddle EastEuropeRussia