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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [399v] (801/1814)
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.
560
PERSIA
charge of a European doctor, he lightly skipped off again, as soon
as he was sufficiently well to emerge from bed, and with the
unconquerable obstinacy of an Oriental resought the advice which
had all but landed him in the grave. His son, Haji Abdur Rahim,
has been trained by him in the same tastes and interests, and will,
it is to be hoped, succeed alike to his position and influence.
More remarkable than Ivermanshahan or its Ivurdish in
habitants, are the famous sculptured remains of antiquity in the
Tak-i- neighbourhood, where, on smoothed surfaces of rock, are
Bostan chiselled the pictorial or written records of the Achee-
menian and Sassanian kings, of Darius son of Hystaspes, and the
Shapurs ; the former of which sculptures will for ever be associated
with the name and discovery of Sir H. Rawlinson. The later of
the two monuments is situated at Tak-i-Bostan, the Arch of the
Garden, at a distance of four miles from Kermanshah. The road
passes, at three miles from the city, the great triple-storeyed, but
now decaying palace of Imadieh, built on the banks of the Kara
Su (Black water) by the Imad-ed-Dowleh, before mentioned, and
conducts to a spur of the same great rocky mass, rising in rugged
grandeur from the plain, that, twenty miles away, presents to the
world the imperishable tablets of Darius. Here, at the base of the
cliff-wall, a stream gushes out from the rock, and is conducted into
two large tanks or reservoirs, planted around with trees, the work of
the same
prince-governor
A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925).
, who also raised the large building
adjoining, lately purchased by the Yekil-ed-Dowleh.
The monuments consist of two deep and lofty arches or grottoes,
excavated with great labour and skill in the face of the mountain;
Sculptures within which are several bas-reliefs, executed with
Sassanian remar kable spirit and excellence ; while a little beyond,
Kings where the mountain recedes, a flight of several hundred
steps is cut on the edge of the nearly precipitous cliffs, finishing
abruptly with an extensive ledge or platform. On the edge of
the river, Sir R. K. Porter noticed the remains of a statue of
colossal size, which he thought must have fallen from the heights
above ; as on the upper ledge was a row of sculptured feet broken
off at the ankles . 1 The largest arch measures in height over
1 Mounsey in 1867 (Journey, p. 297) said : 4 Near lies a torso, so mutilated as
hardly to be recognisable.’ On the other hand, Kiach in 1878 (Ancient Persim
Sculptures') gives an illustration of the statue, which he describes as that of ‘ a
man wearing a turban and a rich garment, and grasping with both hands a long
stick, and which he says was dug up and placed in its present position.
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 [399v] (801/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000008> [accessed 16 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