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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎136r] (278/1814)

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. .

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( 366 )
J[ /y } % l'^.
KALAT-I-NADIRI
Col. J. K. Tod, C.M.G., Indian Army
I N the Journal for December 1906 is an account by the Consul-
General of Khorasan, then Major P. M. Sykes, of a visit which he
paid in September 1905 to Kalat-i-Nadiri. As that account is now
eighteen years old, it is perhaps not too soon for the Journal to find
space for some recent impressions made by the same enchanting journey.
Major Sykes congratulated himself on his good fortune in obtaining
entrance to the “ jealously guarded stronghold, in which no previous
Consul-General had been permitted to set foot.” It was my good
fortune to be in Meshed during 1919 in circumstances that specially
favoured visits to outlying points on the frontier, and I eagerly availed
myself of the opportunity to view so romantic a spot as Kalat-i-Nadiri.
The Governor-General not only granted ready permission, but personally
interested himself, sending on word to the local governor, and detailing
an officer of the Meshed garrison as my guide.
Early in the morning of May 3 three of us set out from Meshed—
Captain Blacker of the Guides, Isa Khan, our Persian guide, and myself.
We rapidly accomplished the 18 miles across the Meshed plain to the
foot of the northern mountains by Ford car. Not without difficulties,
where no real road exists, the car got us almost to Andarukh. There
horses awaited us, and a small escort of “ the Guides.” From this point
to Kalat-i-Nadiri is 44 miles by a rough mountain traxk. The Andarukh
gorge, or “ Darband,” is a fitting portal to the wild region beyond. The
route traverses a succession of defiles between rocky heights of great
grandeur, but the scenery has the charm of contrast, for a clear rapid
stream is followed, which brings verdant beauty to the valley, while the
villages nestle among groves of poplar, willow, mulberry, and plane,
with orchards adjoining. The first of these villages is Kardeh, where the
road forks, one track going due north over the mountains to Kakhka
on the Trans-Caspian railway, while our route branches north-east, and
is marked by the telegraph line.
The next village is Al, a favourite summer resort of Meshed citizens,
and a little further on the valley opens suddenly, from a narrow gorge,
on a grand view of the peak of “ Panj Man ” (“ Five Stun ”). It is
pyramidal, but topped by a stupendous crown of vertical rock. The
name is a survival of an old-time jest about the weight of the huge
cylindrical mass.
Here, too, a little above the left bank of the stream, a flat rock face
bears a finely chiselled inscription which records a victory by a Bokharan
invader, Fateh Muhammad Sheibani, in a.d. 915 .
Continuing, the road passes below the grim heights which Macgregor
named the - c Kuh-i-na-Mumkin,” ascends the Darband-i-Shikasta, ox

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎136r] (278/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000055> [accessed 14 June 2026]

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