![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎157r] (316/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0327.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎157r] (316/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [157r] (316/1814)
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.
kalat-i-nAdiri
167
the Karazu water in pipes for four miles to Gugumaz. Secondly, in
Gugumaz itself is the Makbara-i-Nadir,* or Nadir’s tomb, built under
Nadir’s orders. Not that Nadir was buried there, although it is pos
sible he may have intended that he should be. No one, I believe,
knows where the peasant boy, who rose to be one of the greatest
Oriental conquerors, lies buried—if, indeed, he was buried at all. In
his latter days he made himself generally hated by his subjects, and
he was assassinated by one or more of his own soldiers near Kuchan.
Naturally his camp broke up at once, and his corpse was not im
probably left to the dogs and vultures. His so-called tomb is a simple
but not inelegant edifice of red sandstone. The central chamber,
which was once domed—this dome has fallen in—is exactly like most
Mohammedan tombs. It is encircled, however, by a number of small
chambers, and below it is a very extensive cellar, which is not the
case in most Mohammedan tombs. It is a semi-ruin now, and will
be a complete ruin ere long. Not far from it stands a small masjid,
completely encased in Kashi, or painted tiles. This is known as the
Bulut-gumbaz. On the red-coloured eminence two or three miles
east of Gugumaz was Nadir’s Nakkara-khana. The Nakkara-khana
is the building in a city, or the spot in a camp from which are sounded
reveille, retreat, last post, etc., on drums and trumpets. Nadir’s
own usual residence was near Khisht, and its site (named Asiabad)
is now indicated by some uninteresting remains of walls, etc. The
water-tanks below Khisht are also due to him, and at a place called
Buikuli, on the outer face of the southern wall, between Arghawan
Shah and Kushtani, are to be seen the remains of a wall and tower
constructed under his orders. Such is the sum total of all that
remains here to remind the world of the once widespread fame of the
great Nadir Shah.
From the height north of Khisht a fine view of the Atak is obtain
able on a fine day. Yesterday it was very misty, and I could with
difficulty make out the following places when indicated by my guide:
North lay Aliabad, with Nurik, Tirmachin, Kahka, and Baward to
the west, and Dushakh to the east of it. The Kalat stream issuing
from the Nafta or north-east gate, flows away to Dushakh. Just
below the eminence from which I viewed the Atak a footpath winds
down the steep cliff and goes away to Aliabad. A guard is always
posted to watch this pass. Between the north wall of Kalat and the
Atak stretches a series of confused rugged spurs for six or seven
miles.
I returned from Kalat to Mashhad by a circuitous route,, to avoid
Dewa Boini and the Zaopirzan Gully, and probably arrived back there
on the 10th. I marched thence with Mr. Finn and Dr. Weir as far
as Kuchan, and there saw the Khan, a famous character, with whom
* MacGregor and Tod give pictures of it.
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 [157r] (316/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00007b> [accessed 7 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
- 151r:157v
- Author
- Yate, Arthur Campbell
- Usage terms
- Public Domain