![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎589r] (1192/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1206.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎589r] (1192/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [589r] (1192/1814)
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.
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pek^epolis, and other ruins
mtenor dimensions of which are a square of 225 feet, and whose roof
was sustained by 100 columns, in ten rows of ten each, preceded on the
nor i by a portico, of sixteen columns, in two rows of eight each ; or a
n'r»Q T'i rl 4-/-V+0 I ^4- 11/? i . c ^ ^
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grand total of 116 columns in the entire building. On either side of
the portico, whose dimensions are 180 feet by fifty-one, were gigantic
guies of bulls, facing northwards, which Ker Porter took to have been
statues and not bas-reliefs, but which there is no reason to suppose
were different from the surviving remains of similar colossi, ie
projections m bold relief from the front and sides of stone piers, Is in / ,. V
1 ' | f" 1C ,i r ° m thlS P ortlco two doorways, of superior (jO Jd'
height and width to the remainder, conduct into the interior or Hall of ^ '
a Hundred Columns. The latter is surrounded by forty-four stone ^
doorways, windows , 1 or niches similar to those already observed in the
palaces of Darius and Xerxes-once united to each other by a wall Y.
of sun-dried bricks, overten feet thick^ ng ago completely perished. ^> r 0
The interior, which was excavated by the workmen of Ferhad Mirza, the
then IhHsham-ed-Dowleh, and Governor-General of Fars,' under the
superintendence of Dr. Andreas in 1878, presents a wilderness of
pi ar bases, with fragments of cornices, capitals, and drums, piled in
inextricable rum. Enough remains to show that the columns were
o le composite or triple-headed Achiememan order, with lotus-shaped
bases and demi-bull capitals. Hot a single pillar survives ; but recon
structing them from the dimensions of the plinth on the same scale as
m the Hall of Xerxes, we ascertain that they were thirty-seven feet
high, and twenty feet apart from axis to axis.
The bas-reliefs on the doorways of this hall are on an even more
grandiose scale than the majority of those hitherto inspected. In the
Sculptures ' west entiances the combat between the king and a
nondescript monster is again shown forth. On the south
doorways he is seated on a throne, which is supported on a threefold
terrace, upheld by the arms of subject nationalities, who are disposed in
parallel rows of five. An exquisite canopy with tasselled fringe is out
stretched over his head, and still higher the winged and protectino-
rmuzd hovers in the sky. This scene we have already witnessecf.
' My own notes record 9 windows on the north wall Bnfy, divided into groups
o ,» by the two entrance doors. Flandin and Coste give 3 windows only, and
niches ; Ker Porter and Texier, 7 windows and 2 niches. The ground plans of
hese travellers seem to require a maximum of 7 windows only, because of the
Fw ?°u' WallS outslde ' But 1 hardly think I can have been mistaken, and I find
tnat I have the support of Niebuhr.
“ Mr. Cecil Smith informs me that on the upper surface of several of these
ases he observed masons’ marks, similar to those previously mentioned on the
palace-platform at Pasargadm, some of which appear to be characters from the
t*reek alphabet—a curious testimony to the theory of Greek collaboration
vol. ir.
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 [589r] (1192/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000c1> [accessed 8 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