Down-town Rawalpindi is all about serpentine streets, jharokhas opening on these streets from mansions that are more than a century old and intricately carved wooden doors. In every corner, there are echoes of residents who once strolled by these once magnificent roads.

But so is the case with almost all of the walled cities in South Asia. Historical buildings in most of these areas lie abandoned and are in a poor condition. Some are on the brink of collapse. The wooden doors (choobi darwazay) to these buildings, bearing intricate carvings, have either been plucked away or covered with thick layers of dirt and paint. Doors so taken away go through intense make-over to be meticulously installed at some of the newly constructed buildings. The beautiful jharokhas of old mansions have long been bolted, not just because nobody lives in these houses any longer but because most of the down-town area is now a business centre. Most of the deteriorating buildings are being used as warehouses.

City histories and legends typically revolve around important events and personalities. Rawalpindi’s multi-ethnic past is reflected in its architecture, brimming with sites that make for memorable heritage photo walks. The city has long been overlooked by tourists mainly as a less important neighbour to Taxila – home to the Gandhara civilisation architecture and artefacts and a popular tourist attraction – and Islamabad, the federal capital.

Small cities of great historical significance can go unnoticed by local heritage authorities due to greater focus on big cities nearby. Many relatively small cities in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have faced a similar fate and have long been excluded from the official list of principal cities along the Grand Trunk Road.

First-hand accounts of tales from small cities rarely get documented. Whatever literature is available about them therefore is often sparse and there is no way to corroborate it. The history of the city of Rawalpindi, due to the scarcity of primary sources, also appears contrived. Certain events narrated in the city’s poplar legends cannot be found in official records anywhere. One of these relates to the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Contemporary local historians appear to have ignored it.

Many stories about Koh-i-Noor diamond have been in circulation. Many a devout Hindu believes that it’s the gem that once belonged to Lord Krishna Syamantaka, mentioned in Bhagavad Purana manuscripts. During his invasion of Delhi, Nader Shah received a number of invaluable treasures previously owned by the Mughals. These included the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor. The diamond was later presented to Ahmad Shah Durrani after the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747.

In 1809, Shah Shuja, a grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the fifth King of Afghanistan fled from Kabul after losing his kingdom. He joined his brother, Shah Zaman, in Rawalpindi. He had brought the Koh-i-Noor with him. The diamond was kept in the city for nearly two years. This story finds a mention in the accounts of Mountstuart Elphinstone, a diplomat for the East India Company, who stayed in Rawalpindi for a week in July 1809. Shah Shuja was captured by Jahandad Khan in 1811-12 and imprisoned at Attock. He was later taken to Kashmir. When Mahmud Shah’s vizier Fateh Khan invaded Kashmir alongside Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army, Shah Shuja was offerd refuge by Maharaja Ranjit Singh he took him to Lahore. In 1813, he lost the Koh-i-Noor to Ranjit Singh.

Some of the local historians believe that Shah Shuja had lived in the area now called Purana Qila in Rawalpindi. A Persian scholar who once stayed in Rawalpindi during the early 1830s writes that Shah Shuja’s house was not royal but a typical house in an affluent neighbourhood.

In 2016, a book by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, Koh-i-Noor, brought the debate about Koh-i-Noor to the fore again.

Koh-i-Noor’s history in Rawalpindi can unfortunately not be established convincingly from the local sources and official documents from the times. Even so, legends surrounding the diamond’s presence in Rawalpindi are interesting and speak of the city’s importance in the context. More research is required to fill out the gaps in the history of Purana Qila… where Koh-i-Noor was supposedly once hidden.

The writer tweets at @Ammad_Alee