'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎8] (39/714)

8
PERSIA
The memorials of many of these ages, the handiwork of some
of these men, will come under notice in the narrative to which 1
shall presently turn. My journey was divided into four
So^of portions, each of which will be found to possess a histori-
journey ca | interest or a political importance, as well as physical
idiosyncrasies, of its own. They will deal respectively with the
north-east, the central, and the south-west provinces of Persia, and
with the maritime highway on the south, the thread upon which
will be strung whatever of information 1 have been able to collect,
either with regard to the regions actually traversed or to those
bordering thereupon, being supplied by the description of my own
travels, which consisted of (1) a ride of 850 miles through the
frontier province of Ivhorasjan and thence to the capital, leheran r
the more familiar journey of 80Q miles, also on horseback,
from Teheran to Bushire; (3) the ascent of the Shat-el-Aiab and
the Karun River; and (4) the navigation ot the 1 ersian Gulf.
In the first case I shall conduct my readers to the last remain-
ing possession of the once mighty principality of Khorasan a
i Khora- dominion that embraced Merv, extended to Khiva, in-
siin eluded Herat and Kandahar, and was laved by the Oxus.
Though shorn of its high estate, this province, fortified by savage
mountains and inaccessible ravines, interspersed with plains that
sustain the relics of famous capitals, and possessing one city at
least of world-wide renown, will be found to present many pro
blems of undiminished and imperial interest. For hundreds of years
it has been the battle-ground of races and the prey of a rapine less
merciful than sustained war. More persons have probably died a
violent death in Khorasan than in any other territory of equal
size in Asia. There, moreover, at this moment, on the north and
east, the eagles are again gathered together, and in the barracks
of Transcaspia and the council-tents of Turkestan is being de
bated the destiny of Meshed.
While treating of this portion of my journey it will be both
natural and necessary to the scope of these volumes that I should
c give the latest information about the adjacent provinces
tiguous or districts ; information the bulk of which was derived
provinces f rom inquiries made by myself while in the neighbour
hood, and the whole of which has been supervised by the most
competent authorities. This will apply to the Perso-Afghan
border and Seistan question on the east, where a political crisis is