Yesterdate: This day from Kolkata's past, November 9, 1809

John Spencer Login, a Scottish surgeon who was appointed guardian of Maharajah Duleep Singh and also of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, was born on this day.

Login arrived in Calcutta in 1832 and worked in several high administrative positions in north India for the British East India Company.

After the Treaty of Lahore and the annexation of Punjab, Login was put in charge of the 10-year-old Duleep Singh, the last Sikh Maharaja, and the Koh-i-Noor. Under Login’s influence, Duleep Singh turned into a “Christian gentleman”, whom Login and his wife would escort to Britain. Koh-i-Noor was handed to Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1849.

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