![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎584r] (1182/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1196.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎584r] (1182/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [584r] (1182/1814)
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.
PEKSEPOLIS, ANP OTHER RUINS
]69
@
angle-pier, twenty-two feet high (immediately at the summit of the
two main flights of steps), the incised grooves in the summit of one
of which betray to this day the manner in which the beams of the roof
rested upon them. On the outer side of the portico, as also on either
side of the central hall, and again behind the latter—i.e. on the north
are the somewhat obscure traces of what appear to have been apart-
ments of greater or less dimensions.
I he Palace of Darius is unusually rich in inscriptions. First may
be mentioned those which are responsible for its name. They run in
Inscrip- narrow lines round the borders of the window-frames and
t.ons niches, or are chiselled in triple tablets above the bas-reliefs
on the inner sides of the doors. The great angle-pier in the south-west
corner has also been a favourite field for the sculptor. Here is a
cuneiform inscription which tells us that Darius did not finish this
palace, but that it was completed by his son Xerxes. Here, also is
a Ivufic inscription, and a Persian ghazel, or ode, that was inscribed by
bu tan Ibrahim, the son of Shah Itukh, and grandson of Timur
Hard by, as if to mark a more emphatic anti-climax, a patriotij
citizen of Shiraz, thirty years ago, cut two long inscriptions in honour
0 - asr-ed Din Shah. It is on the south doorway of the same
building that were engraved the Pehlevi inscriptions of Shapur II.
and III., which I have previously noticed. Hor have the moderns been
behindhand in their meaner but withal not meaningless epigraphs.
There are several names dating from about the year 1760. On the
main north doorway is a long list of the English company that passed
with Colonel J. Macdonald (Sir J. M. Kinneir) in 1820 ; and on one
of the western niches I observed, from his signature, that my friend
Professor Vambe'ry had also succumbed to the temptation of the sur-
roundings.
As I have said, the main entrance to the Palace of Darius was on
the south ; and here the excavations of Flandin and Coste, fifty years
South ago, laid bare the sculptures and inscriptions which had been
staircase only imperfectly seen and described by the earlier travellers.
As m the Great Hall of Xerxes, so here, the front of the stylobate or
platform was richly carved. Two processions of armed warriors, with
gigantic lances and with quivers on their backs, march towards a
central panel, which, like two others at the outer extremities, contain
a cuneiform repetition of the joint authorship of Darius and Xerxes.
At either end a flight of steps ascends the platform, the lion and bull
appearing on the outer triangle formed by the slope, while on the
innei wall a row of admirably carved figures mounts the staircase
along with the visitor.
Like its predecessor, this structure suggests two questions, the
solution of one of which relates to itself alone ; while the other con-
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [584r] (1182/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000b7> [accessed 12 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000b7
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000b7">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎584r] (1182/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000b7"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1196.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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