![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎243r] (488/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0499.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎243r] (488/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [243r] (488/1814)
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 MESHED TO TEHERAN ^
specimens of abandoned, though not, as at Lasgird, re-inhabited,
citadels on the top of great artificial clay mounds. When origin
ally raised, and crowned with battlements and towers, these kcdeh*
must have been imposing structures. They are now in a sort of
intermediate stage between the recognisable fort and the indurated
bare mound which I have discussed and explained in a preceding
paragraph. Beyond Aradan an abundant stream descends from
the mountains and separates into many channels, of which I must
have crossed twenty in the space of half a mile. Cultivation im
proves in the same ratio, and at Kishlak (lit. winter quarters), which
is idialisah, or Crown property, is responsible for the grain and fodder
with which the royal stables are supplied at Teheran. This is the
district of Khar, so often mentioned in earlier history and tiavel,
and renowned as one of the granaries of North Persia. Here the
route turns towards the north-west, and, at a distance of eight miles
from Kishlak, enters a range of hills by a path which is commonly
identified with, and which therefore raises the question of, the
famous Pylse Caspise (or Caspian Gates).
I do not here propose, and I have not the space at my command,
to discuss that question at full length. Its essential points may be
^ said to have been argued, if not determined, by the labours
Caspian of previous writers; and I will, accordingly, refer my
readers to the pages of Pennell, 1 Ouseley, 2 Morier, 3 Fraser, 4
Ferrier, 5 Eastwick, 6 and Goldsmid. 7 The Pylae Caspias were the pass
through which Darius fled towards Bactria after the defeat of Arbela,
and through which he was pursued by the army of Alexander.
Information that may help us to identify it is to be found principally
in the pages of Arrian and Pliny. The latter says that the pass itself
was eight miles in length, and that no fresh water is encountered in
a tract of twenty-eight miles; 8 the former reports that Alexander
reached it in one day’s rapid march from Phages (Phey). 9 Now
1 The Geographical System of Herodotus, p. 174.
2 Travels in the East, vol. iii. appendix iii.
3 Second Journey (1814), pp. 364, 365.
4 Journey into Khorasan (1821), pp. 291-293.
5 Caravan Journeys (1845), pp. 59, 60.
6 Journal of a Diplomate (1862), vol. ii. p. 140.
7 Journal of the R.G.S., vol. xliv. p. 167 (1874).
8 Nat. Hist., lib. vi. cap. xiv.
9 De Exped. Alex., lib. iii. cap. xx. I say ‘rapid,’ because Arrian, when
he describes the distance as b'&bv rigepas fuas iXavvovn NxQavfipos tfye , i.e. ‘ one
day’s journey to a man marching as Alexander did,’ clearly predicates exceptional
speed.
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 [243r] (488/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00005f> [accessed 22 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