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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [290v] (583/1814)
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.
358
PERSIA
present a spectacle in singular contrast to the cubical parallelo
grams of mud with which Persian urban architecture has hitherto
familiarised us. At Astrabad, too, the walls are often of stone or
burnt brick, mud being unable to resist the abnormal dampness of
the climate. Many of the houses in the neighbourhood are built
on platforms raised by poles to a height of from two to three feet
from the ground, in order to escape the excessive moisture; and
many have pleasant verandahs beneath the eaves.
The streets are stone paved, a still surviving relic of the days
•of the Great Abbas ; and the famous causeway or Sang farsh (lit.
stone carpet), built by him to facilitate communication
Abbas’ through these northern provinces to which he was so much
causeway attached, emerges from the western gate. From here it
ran right through the forest, passing the various palaces and cities
which he created or enlarged in this locality, to a place named
Kiskar in the western part of Gilan. It was composed of big
roughly hewn blocks of stone, sometimes nearly a foot square, and
dwindled from a width of fifteen feet at Astrabad to from eight to
ten feet as it penetrated further into the jungle . 1 None the less it
was once a magnificent work, and worthy of the monarch who
ordered its construction. It has now in parts entirely disappeared;
elsewhere the stones have been broken up, dislodged, or tossed
hither and thither, and the road is a perilous succession of pitfalls
and quagmires. On the other, or south-eastern, side of Astrabad
it reappeared and conducted to the foot of the pass leading to
Shahrud and Bostam. From the summit of this pass began what
may be described as its second section, which ran in an easterly
direction, via Jajarm to a point near Chinaran, about fifty miles
from Meshed. In no part of this extended length has it ever
been repaired; and, where it still exists, the roadway gapes with
a three hundred years’ ruin.
Astrabad is said to contain a population of 8,000 persons, and
the surrounding villages 23,000. The Governor’s palace is in the
Ark or citadel, a considerable but ruined structure m
the south-east angle, built by Agha Mohammed Shah
in J791. The remaining public buildings are of no
importance. There is the proper allowance of one reputable
shrine, viz., the sepulchre of Abdullah, a brother of the Imam
' 1 Hanway, however, 150 years ago, says that ‘in some parts it was over twenty
yards broad.’—vol. i. p. 291.
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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 [290v] (583/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000be> [accessed 6 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