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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [517r] (1046/1814)
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.
FKOM ISFAHAN TO SHIRAZ
61
the wide plain, are the cupolas and minars, the pigeon-towers and
terraced bridges, the long avenues and straggling suburbs of the
fallen capital. From this distance the pitiless handiwork of decay
is blurred and imperceptible, and a certain majesty seems still to
hover over the wreck of departed grandeur. I know of no city in
the world that has ever struck me with a greater pathos, or whose
figure is wrapped in so melancholy a garb of woe. The road
descends to the post-station of Marg in a small desolate valley, in
which, with the exception of a ruined
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
, it is the solitary
building. After leaving Marg, the track climbs a steep acclivity,
known as the Kotal-i-Urchin, or Pass of the Stairway, from the
fact that steps have in places been hewn in the rock. This pass,
however, although to the timid vision of Sir R. Ker Porter it seemed
c literally a ladder hewn in the mountain for the surer footing of the
horses and beasts of burthen, who, as we viewed them indistinctly
from below, appeared hanging from the rock in the air/ is in no
sense remarkable, and is child's play compared with the famous
totals of the Shiraz-Bushire route that will be encountered later on.
Having crossed the ridge, I cantered gaily along the level plain to
Mayar, passing on the way a band of six Russians, who had excited
great interest in Julfa by their mysterious movements and by the
unexplained character of their mission in these parts. No one knew
whether they were traders or Government agents. I entered into
conversation with them ; their leader told me that they were private
travellers, journeying for their own amusement to Bushire, a state
ment which was belied by their obscure appearance, and was sub
sequently invalidated by the discovery that they were engaged on
a sort of roving expedition to Abyssinia, for which place thev ulti
mately embarked from Bombay. The character and quality of the
men whom Russia employs on these semi-political undertakings,
disguised under a mask of colonisation, are among the puzzles of
the East.
Mayar was once a flourishing and agreeable place, and, in
Tavernier’s day, 4 consisted of above 1,000 houses.’ Its walls and
towers are now in ruins, and almost the sole relic of the
iviayar -it i • t
good days gone by is the
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
, originally built by
the mother of Shah Abbas and afterwards restored by Shah Suleiman.
This structure, which is built of brick upon a massive stone founda
tion, is now in a state of dilapidation, but in the early years of the
century it was described by travellers as the finest erection of the
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 [517r] (1046/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00002f> [accessed 15 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