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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [216v] (435/1814)
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.
252
PEE SI A
sometimes a surprise to me that persuasion, however extreme
could extract from them anything more than a hobble.
But supposing the traveller to have reached the end of his
day’s journey and to have arrived at the post-house where he pro-
The bala- P oses f° P ass night, what then ? The answer to the
khaneh question is contained in the projecting square tower
above the entrance gateway. Access thereto is gained by stair
ways of almost Alpine steepness, fashioned in the mud at the
angles of the court inside. Clambering up these with difficulty,
we reach the flat roof that runs right round the building, and find
that the tower consists of a single chamber, which invariably has
two, sometimes three, doors (that are never known to shut), and
usually a couple of open window spaces in the walls, so that it may
literally be said to stand
Four-square to all the winds that blow.
This is the bala-khaneh, or upper chamber, specially reserved for
the comfort of foreign guests, and within this forlorn and wintry
abode, which is not much less draughty than the rigging of a ship,
the wayfarer must spend the night. The interior has at one time
been plastered and whitewashed. Its only decorative features are
a number of shallow niches in the walls, in which Persian visitors
have sometimes scrawled the most fearful illustrations, and occa
sionally, but not always, a fireplace. Of furniture it is absolutely
destitute. lo have the floor swept clean of vermin, to spread a felt
or carpet in the corner and one’s sack of straw upon it, to buy fire
wood and light a fire, to stuff up the open windows and nail
curtains ovei the ramshackle doors—all these are necessary and
preliminary operations, without which the dingy tenement would
be simply uninhabitable, but which it is sometimes hard work to
undertake in a state of extreme stiffness and exhaustion after a
long day’s ride upon a freezing winter’s night. Even so, this
aerial roost is sometimes too chill for endurance, and one is com
pelled to descend and seek refuge in the dank and cellar-like
apartments below. In half an hour’s time, however, when the
work has been done, as the genial warmth begins to relax stiff joints
and weary limbs, and as the samovar puffs out its cheery steam, a
feeling of wonderful contentment ensues, and the outstretched
traveller would piobably not exchange his quarters for a sheeted
e m Windsor Castle. But it is upon the following morning.
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 [216v] (435/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00002a> [accessed 27 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