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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [615r] (1244/1814)
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.
FROM SHIRAZ TO BUSHIRE 219
ance. M 7 e then find ourselves in the mouth of a great black orifice
in the rock, 50 feet high, and 140 feet broad. In the middle of the
entrance, at a short distance inside, stands a huge pedestal, four to five
feet high and ten feet in diameter, shaped from the solid mother-rock.
Upon it are still standing the sandalled feet, thirty-nine inches in length,
and the stumps of the legs of the fallen image. The latter, violently
hurled from its site, 1 has tumbled sideways ] its left arm is broken
short, its right arm has been fractured at the shoulder, but the hand
still rests upon the thigh, the face is terribly mutilated, and the upper
part of the head and crown are buried in the soil. Nevertheless, enough
remains to enable us to identify the effigy with the likeness of the first
Shapur. The founder of the city and the designer of the sculptures
below, it is highly likely that he would have set up his own effigy in
the same place, while the claim of divinity which is invariably made
for him and his successors in the inscriptions, tends to fortify the
hypothesis, which tradition (as quoted by Kinneir) confirms, that the
image was subsequently worshipped as that of a god. It would appear
from the evidence of the vaulted roof over the spot where the statue
once stood, that it was originally attached to the rock above as well as
below, and was, in fact, carved out of a solid stone monolith or pillar,
so as to present the semblance of the king. The height of the statue
would appear to have been over twenty feet, that of the surviving
portion being about fifteen feet. Flandin gives the length of the head
as three feet three inches, and breadth of shoulders as eight feet two
inches. Texier has published a restoration of the entire figure, 2 but I
confess I prefer to his too idealistic drawing the illustrations that
have appeared elsewhere of the figure in its existing condition, and
which, though differing from each other in details, give a better idea of
the reality. 3 The dress worn by the monarch does not vary much from
that delineated in the bas-reliefs. He wears the mural crown, above
and below which his hair stood out in abundant curls ; his moustache
and beard are trimly curled ; a necklet is suspended round his throat;
on the upper part of his body he wears a kind of jersey, on the lower
the shulwars, or loose trousers ; his sword, hung at his left side,
1 By what
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
has been discussed, but cannot be determined. The in
filtration of water has been suggested, but is a wholly inadequate explanation.
The local tradition is said to favour the theory of earthquake. I should be dis
posed myself—looking to the character of the statue, which was hewn out of the
virgin rock, and was, therefore, part of the cavern itself, and to the mutilation
which the head has suffered, to attribute the overthrow to intentional violence on
the part of the Mussulman invaders in the seventh century.
2 Vol. ii. pis. 149, 150.
3 Vide Ouseley, Travels, vol. i. p. 292 ; Colonel Johnson, Journey from India,
p. 43 ; Flandin and Coste, vol. i. pi. 54.
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 [615r] (1244/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x00002d> [accessed 14 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