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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [491v] (993/1814)
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.
26
PERSIA
the Palace enclosure, and abutting on the western side upon the
Great Meidan, a parallelogram, whose length is from north to south
and width from east to west. South-east of the Meidan is the Ark
or Citadel. From the western flank of the palace enclosure runs
the Chehar Bagh, or principal avenue to the great bridge of Ali
Verdi Khan, conducting to Julfa. Further to the east, a similar
avenue leads down to the second storeyed bridge, known as Pul-i-
Khaju. Older bridges exist at some little distance both to the
east and west of these two structures, while between them a fifth
conducts to the palace of Haft Best.
The centre of Isfahan is the Meidan-i-Shah, or Boyal Square,
which is undoubtedly one of the most imposing piazzas in the
Meidan-i- world. It was laid out and surrounded with buildings
Shal1 by Shah Abbas ; the king’s palace, the principal mosque,
and the Great Bazaar opened on to it; and it was both the scene
of the principal royal pageants, and the nucleus of city life. This
Meidan is 560 yards in length by 174 in width. 1 It is sur
rounded by a long low range of brick buildings, divided into two
storevs of recessed arches, one above the other. Originally the
lower of these were shops, opening on to the Meidan, and com
municating at the back with the big Bazaar, while the upper
storey consisted of chambers with balconies, that were thronged
on festival occasions. They have since been used as barracks, and
now present a blank and deserted appearance. A row of trees was
planted all round in front of these arcades, and in front of the
trees was a stone-edged canal filled with water. In 1809 Morier
reported that there was not a single tree in the Meidan and that
the canal was empty. A scanty row of chenars and poplars has
1 Nowhere have I been so bewildered at the confusing and contradictory
accounts of previous travellers as in their descriptions of the sights of Isfahan..
They differ irreconcilably in their orientation of buildings, in their figures of dimen
sions, in the number of avenues, pillars, bridges, arches, &c. To correct or even
to notice these countless inaccuracies would be a futile task. But as an illustra
tion of them I may here give the dimensions in yards or paces of the Meidan-i-Shah
as recorded by the principal historians of Isfahan, from which it will be seen how
absurd is the divergence between two independent visions. Della Valle 690-230,
Olearius 700-250, Tavernier 700-250, Chardin 440-160, Sanson 600-300, D. Des-
landes 600-400, Kaempfei 660-212, Struys 700-250, Le Brun 710-210, Olivier
700-230, Johnson 500-200, Porter 860-230, Binning 800-200, Ussher 880-250,
Pollington 600-200, Stack 300-180, Wills 440-220, Rawlinson 660-230. Here there
is a maximum divergence of 580 yards in length, and 240 yards in width, or a
cumulative error of over 125 per cent.
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 [491v] (993/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000c2> [accessed 28 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