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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [130v] (267/1814)
The record is made up of 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios). It was created in 1892-1924. It was written in English, Urdu and German. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
PERSIA
slopes with mountain juniper. At one point of this valley wli
an elevation is crossed, a most superb view unrolled itself t 0 6
east. In tier after tier the mountain ridges descended towards
basin of the Tejend River (formed by the junction of the Keshef
Rud and Heri Rud) and the Turkoman plains ; while like a yelk
scarf against the sky hung the dim outline of the desert After
pursuing this valley for an hour and a half, we turned sharply to
the left and scaled the ridge by a path known as the Dewah Bohf
or Camels Neck, so steep, and alternately so rough and so slipper '
that, although on foot ourselves, it was with much difficulty that
we could prevail upon our horses to ascend. At the crest we gazed
down upon a second valley parallel with that which we had just left
—i.e. running from north-west to south-east, in the bottom of which
appeared a little hamlet with a ruined fort perched upon a knoll
and beyond this again the larger red-coloured village of Varcleh
Leaving these villages on our left hand, we struck eastwards,
following the telegraph poles in the direction of Kelat, the
Baghkhan ^ lor ^ zon ^ a ^ ramparts of which we thought we could now
discern against the distant sky. At noon, having been
in the saddle for over five hours, I stopped for lunch by a rivulet
running at the valley bottom, which here deepens into a rocky
ravine. At this juncture one of the Turkomans, whom I had left
behind to point out our direction to the muleteers, arrived with
the news that in scaling the Camel’s Neck one of the mules had
slipped and rolled down for fifty feet, maiming or breaking its leg.
I was not in the least surprised at this intelligence, as there are
certain places which even Persian mules cannot attack with
impunity, and of which this horrible natural ladder was most
assuredly one. We left the poor brute behind to be looked after
till oui return, and followed the gully down for two miles till at
its eastern end we came to the small village and crumbling fort of
Baghkhan.
Here the wire turned sharply to the north-east, and an hour was
occupied in crossing a rolling hump of hills, at whose further edge
Mountain a deep ravine disclosed itself below, and a second
magnificent panorama burst upon our view. Now we
could distinctly see the corrugated battlements of the southern
outer wall of Kelat, dipping at the point where is the solitary rift
in this portion of their circumference. Beyond to the north fold
succeeded fold of lower undulations, until like a sea upon the
About this item
- Content
These two volumes are George Curzon's own personal annotated copies of both volumes of his book Persia and the Persian Question , which was published in 1892. Alongside the volumes are various loose papers relating to Persia [Iran], consisting of the following: received correspondence; newspaper cuttings; publishers' press releases; cuttings from various booksellers' catalogues; various journal and magazine articles; two items of printed official British correspondence; several prints of photographs and sketches; and a few handwritten notes by Curzon.
In most cases these papers, which range in date from 1892 to 1924, relate to the chapters in the book where they were originally inserted, suggesting that they were kept by Curzon with the intention of using them to inform a revised edition of the book.
Of particular note among the small amount of correspondence are two letters received by Curzon in 1914 and 1915 from retired schoolmaster and Islamic scholar Sayyid Mazhar Hasan Musawi of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India (ff 5-9 and ff 44-53). These letters, which are written in Urdu and are accompanied by English translations, discuss in detail several inaccuracies found in the Urdu version of Persia and the Persian Question .
The various prints of photographs and sketches, which were originally inserted into volume two, are of different locations in the Gulf region. Several of these appear to have been produced in preparation for the publication of the second volume of John Gordon Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Oman and Central Arabia (i.e. the 'Geographical and Statistical' section) in 1908, as they are identical to the versions found in that volume.
Also of note among the loose papers are an illustrated article from Country Life dated 5 June 1920, entitled 'The People of Persia' (ff 36-37), and a printed family tree of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shah Qājār], produced in preparation of his visit to Britain in 1919 (f 233).
Volume one of Persia and the Persian Question contains a map of Persia, Afghanistan and Beluchistan [Balochistan], which is folded inside the front cover (f 1).
The German language material consists of a publisher's press release for two books authored by German archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld (ff 29-30).
- Extent and format
- 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this shelfmark consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the first folio of volume one (1-463), and terminates at the last folio of volume two (ff 464-898); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Each volume contains a large number of loose leaves, which have been foliated in the order that they were inserted into the volume; for conservation reasons, these loose folios have been removed from the volume and stored separately. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers of the two volumes.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English, Urdu and German in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [130v] (267/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00004a> [accessed 5 June 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/33
- Title
- Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Questionby George Curzon, with Inserted Papers
- Pages
- 54r:135v, 147r:149v, 158r:180v, 183r:221v, 224r:224v, 227r:246v, 248r:257v, 259r:260v, 268r:362v, 364r:364v, 367r:388v, 390r:400v, 402r:416v, 419r:432v, 434r:444v, 448r:462v, 464r:471v, 475r:481v, 483r:513v, 516r:525v, 527r:544v, 546r:563v, 566r:598v, 600r:622v, 624r:656v, 658r:665v, 667r:675v, 678r:684v, 687r:688v, 691r:691v, 693r:693v, 695r:708v, 711r:721v, 724r:726v, 728r:729v, 731r:736v, 742r:742v, 746r:757v, 759r:761v, 763r:763v, 765r:765v, 772r:777v, 780r:789v, 793r:794v, 797r:809v, 811r:821v, 825r:840v, 843r:898v
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Usage terms
- Public Domain