![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎160r] (322/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0333.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎160r] (322/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [160r] (322/1814)
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 KUCHAN TO KELAT-I-NADIRI
145
add tw o oth,
)llntr y- Inti
watersheds a ,
'atiGng of ^
of th e divi dit
i drainage, a t
image—i. e t]
the Heri R u
parallel to t]
ming down t]
)rner where t]
right angles
•r that purpo
art of the roc
h and which <
it must rather
ent of original
don the villages
in an abundant
dtivation. Far
4 the mountains
etached ridges,
^es to catch in
minars of the
hough a silken
els ; and first a
:ance that must
whereabouts of
>t those of the
adreds, perhaps
I did not break
h I did not tear
he nearest hush,
7e t looked with
from afar up 011
utting sp urs t0
my horse, I sped as quickly as I could over the intervening
plain.
Nobad Geldi and I were galloping in front, and the old red
tailed charger was showing the best of his speed, when, ceasing
to hear the clatter of the rest of the party behind me, I
ufthe 6 t turned round to see what had befallen. At a distance
cavalcade o £ 200 yards Gregory’s horse was lying on its back,
furiously kicking its heels in the air. Its load lay scattered in
every direction on the ground. The unhappy Armenian was
slowly extracting himself from under the horse and ruefully
rubbing his knee. Ramzan Ali Khan, also on foot, and covered
with dust, was seen careering over the plain after his horse, which
was disappearing in an opposite direction. It apipeared that
Gregory’s animal, overtired, and unable, with its heavy load, to
keep the pace at which we were going, had stumbled and fallen
on the top of Gregory; and that the Afghan, dismounting in order
to extricate his colleague, had received a kick on the head which
knocked him over. All was soon right again, and, leaving the
slow movers to follow at their own pace, I pushed on. At five
milfis from the town we came to a massive high-backed bridge,
of eleven arches, spanning the slender current of the Keshef Rud. 1
The bridge, which is called Pul-i-Shah (Kings Bridge), looked
ridiculously out of proportion to the attenuated volume of the
stream, which was only about twenty-five feet in width, and was
barely moving. The ramps of the bridge had originally been
paved with big cobbles, but, in common with all good woik in
Persia, these had for the most part disappeared, and the ruined
causeway was better adapted to break legs than to save them.
Continuing for a mile, we reached the enclosure of the tomb
of Khojah (or Khwajah) Rabi, a holy man who is variously reported
as having been the personal friend and the tutoi of Imam
Khofalf Reza, and whose body, in order to be near that of his
i^abi sainted companion, was interred 111 this spot. The
tomb is surrounded by a garden, in which there is abundance of
trees, and which is entered by a lofty gateway containing rooms
1 This river, (Keshef, old Persian Kash = Tortoise) called also Ab-i-Meshed
(Water of Meshed) and sometimes Kara Su (Black Water), rises in the Chashmeh-
i-Gilas, a marsh between Chinaran and Radkan, and, collecting the drainage of
the Meshed Valley, passes by the gorge of Ak Derbend (White Defile) to Pul-i-
Khatun (Lady’s Bridge), on the Russian frontier, where it joins the Heri Rnd,
and in conjunction with the latter forms the Tejend.
VOL. I. L
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 [160r] (322/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000081> [accessed 12 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