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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [98v] (203/1814)
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.
64
PERSIA
even greater consternation than the magic of the Colchian princess
As the line ascends, clinging closely to the bed of the stream
almost to its source in the
watershed
The boundary between adjacent drainage basins.
that separates the Caspian
and Black Sea drainage, the scenery becomes more imposing
The mountains climb to an airier height, and the train creeps
tortuously through solemn gorges and magnificent glens. The
station platforms are crowded with wild Georgian urchins true
sons of the mountains—anxious to exchange for a few kopecks long
strings of chestnuts or bunches of miniature grapes. Stately
bearded figures, close pinched at the waist by the tightly fitting
tcherkess or Circassian pelisse, and wearing a curled lambskin
bonnet, tall leather boots, and a small armoury of damascened
weapons, attend the arrival and departure of the trains with mili
tary regularity, and survey the scene with stalwart composure.
The railroad from Batum to Tiflis, a distance of about 220
miles, or at least from Poti to Tiflis, has now been open for many
Sm-am y ears i but the Russians have for some time been engaged
Tunnel upon extensive alterations upon a section of the line
between the stations of Rion and Michaelovo, where the
existing rails climb the steep and laborious gradients of the Suram
mountain at a height of 3,000 feet above the sea. The alterations
involve not only the piercing of a tunnel three miles long through
the mountain, but the entire realignment, at a more practicable
level, of the railroad for a distance of several miles, an under
taking which necessitates the construction of new bridges and
viaducts, as well as an immense amount of cutting, stonework
and embankment. A large number of workmen were engaged
upon this task when I passed a year before. In the interim a
great advance had been made. The spring of 1890 was named as
the period when the works would be finished, but it was not till
October that the tunnel was opened, after the Russian fashion,
with a religious service ; nor did that mean the completion of the
whole undertaking. The Russian Government is putting itself to
an enormous outlay m this quarter, a fact which illustrates the
importance attached by it not only to secure, but to easy and rapid
jai communication m the Caucasus. 1 The works struck me as
being conducted on a large and worthy scale, and as being marked
by great strength and solidity. The Suram Tunnel is remarkable
It has since been announced. rNovembpr ■,
been authorised, connecting the fortress of Kars with the main line.
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 [98v] (203/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00000a> [accessed 4 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