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'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [383] (436/714)
The record is made up of 1 volume (351 folios). It was created in 1892. It was written in English. 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.
THE NORTHERN PROVINCES
383
must at least be conceded the merit of energy, which, in any form
of public undertaking, is so rare in Persia as to deserve encomium
even if ill-judged or misplaced.
A new road from Amol over the main range of the Elburz to
Teheran, was constructed by order of the Shah in 1877-78 by
New road General G asteiger Khan, an Austrian engineer officer in
to Teheran t i ie p ers i an serv i ce . The total distance is about 120
miles, and the places passed en route are Parus, Shahzadeh. Raineh
(or Rehna), skirting the Eastern base of Demavend, Imamzadeh
Hashim, Ah, and Jajrud. The scenery is superb, alike amid the lower
elevations and the wooded glens and valleys, and on the rugged
and savage heights. Of the former, Stack (in 1881) wrote^he
following description, which I think it only fair to quote as a
set-off to my own occasional jeremiads upon the sullen sterility
of the normal Persian landscape :—
Our march to Amol was the loveliest I made in Persia ; but, indeed,
one could Hardly believe that this was Persian scenery, with its forest
paths and meadow glades, and broad river bordered by tall and leafy
growth of oaks. I thought of the leagues of brown or black desert,
the bare sand-ridges, the salt hills, white and crimson and green, the
dry, clear air, and the bold and sharply-defined forms and colours that
I had seen during my wanderings in Persia till now ; but here was an
atmosphere laden with soft, invisible vapour, and all the shapes of
mountain and valley were rounded or clothed with vegetation, hiding
the bare outlines of the rock, and all the colours were the blue and
white of the cloud-flecked sky above, and varied shades of green all
around us.
Between the village of Bund-i-burideh and Raineh, in one of
the narrowest parts of the mountain defile, through which the
road runs, is a great rock sculpture of Nasr-ed-Din Shah on
horseback facing the spectator, with ten ministers in full uniform
standing five on either side of him. The figures are life-size, and
raised in relief about three inches, and the likenesses are un
deniably good. I saw the original full-size cartoon in the Royal
College at Teheran. The tablet is bordered by a metrical inscrip
tion, which sounds the praises of His Majesty and commemorates
the making of the road. The idea is a somewhat belated and
turgid ^ imitation of the Sassanian model; but apart from the
absurdity, the execution is in this case creditable.
Of the towns of Gilan, the only one worthy of mention (with
About this item
- Content
The volume is Volume I of George Nathaniel Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question , 2 vols (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1892).
The volume contains illustrations and four maps, including a map of Persia, Afghanistan and Beluchistan [Baluchistan].
The chapter headings are as follows:
- I Introductory
- II Ways and Means
- III From London to Ashkabad
- IV Transcaspia
- V From Ashkabad to Kuchan
- VI From Kuchan to Kelat-i-Nadiri
- VII Meshed
- VIII Politics and Commerce of Khorasan
- IX The Seistan Question
- X From Meshed to Teheran
- XI Teheran
- XII The Northern Provinces
- XIII The Shah - Royal Family - Ministers
- XIV The Government
- XV Institutions and Reforms
- XVI The North-West and Western Provinces
- XVII The Army
- XVIII Railways.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (351 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is divided into chapters. There is a list of contents between ff. 7-10, followed by a list of illustrations, f. 11. There is an index to this volume and Volume II between ff. 707-716 of IOR/L/PS/C43/2.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the first folio bearing text and terminates at 349 (the large map contained in a polyester sleeve loosely inserted between the last folio and the back cover). The numbers are written in pencil, are enclosed in a circle and appear in the top right-hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. Foliation anomaly: ff. 151, 151A. Folio 349 needs to be folded out to be read. There is also an original printed pagination sequence. This runs from viii-xxiv (ff. 3-11) and 2-639 (ff. 12-347).
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C43/1
- Title
- 'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1:24, 1:86, 86a:86b, 87:104, 104a:104b, 105:244, 244a:244d, 245:272, 272a:272b, 273:304, 304a:304b, 305:306, 306a:306b, 307:326, 326a:326b, 327:338, 338a:338b, 339:344, 344a:344b, 345:354, 354a:354b, 355:394, 394a:394b, 395:416, 416a:416b, 417:420, 420a:420b, 421:520, 520a:520d, 521:562, 562a:562b, 563:564, 564a:564b, 565:606, 606a:606b, 607:642, i-r:i-v, back-i
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Usage terms
- Public Domain