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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [533v] (1079/1814)
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.
90
PERSIA
the Pasargadse of Cyrus, in life and in death, was the city whose fiag-
mentary ruins I have described in the valley of the PoP ar, I am
inclined strongly to believe ; and therefore it is that in face of the
recent attacks that have been made upon it by men of science, I have
ventured to refurbish the armoury of its defence. 1
Soon after leaving the Musjid-i-Mader-i-Suleiman, the walls
of which gleam like a white patch on the sombre landscape, we
bid farewell to the plain of Murghab, and enter a lofty
kTperse- range of mountains by a fine gorge, along the base of
polis which rushes the river Polvar. When the water is low,
the bed of the stream, or its banks, provide a roadway; for seasons
when the channel is full, a path, called Sangbur, has been hewn
many centuries ago, for a distance of oyer fifty yards m the
side of the lofty limestone cliff. 2 Twice this dark ravine expands
into open valleys, and twice again contracts into narrow defiles,
admitting little beyond the track and the noisy river. So we
continue for several miles, until, at the far end of one of the
valley-windings, we espy the miserable post-house and imposing
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
of Kawamabad. This place takes its name from
its founder, the Haji Kawam, who was minister at Shiraz fifty
years ago. Turning to the left, and pursuing the same ravine,
I came, after thirty-five minutes’ sharp riding to the village and
Telegraph-station of Sivend. The village, which is said to be
inhabited by Lurs, is built in ascending tiers on the mountain
side, while the valley bottom is thickly planted with vines. From
here the track continues in a south-easterly direction, skhting
the river, and arrives at the Lur village of Saidan, to which point
there is also a shorter track from Murghab than that followed
by the postal and telegraph route, running over the hills via Kamin.
An abrupt turn to the right, or west, then brings us into a valley,
bordered on either side by mountains and cut up by water
courses and irrigation channels, which, in the darkness, the sun
1 Since writing the above lengthy-bnt not, I hope, gratuitous-argument, I
have seen the new volume of MM.Perrot and Chipiez’ magnificent work, entitled
Histoire de VArt dans VAntiquite, tome v., Perse (1890) ; and I am delighted o
find that limiting his own discussion to the identity of the tomb, without em-
barking upon the larger question of Pasargacte, M. Ferret has arrived by arguments
very sfmilar to m/otvn at precisely the sanre conclusion; although he has
hardly realised the full measure of M. Dieulafoys peccadilloes, and has based
his identification upon structural, rather than topographical, resemblances.
2 Vide Stolze, vol. ii. pi. 127.
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 [533v] (1079/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000050> [accessed 9 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