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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎114v] (235/1814)

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. .

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upon a sandy floor. The limits of the highly cultivated ground
some giant, stepping over the earth, had planted one big foot i n
south the valley was confined by rolling ranges which stretched away
towards Shirwan in the west and eastwards in the direction of
Meshed. Within about two miles of the town, and at the last
swell of the hill before descending into the plain, I struck the main
road again, and galloped briskly towards the walls. About a mile-
parapet spanned the then waterless channel of the Atrek. 1 A
flock of goats was standing in the dried-up bed, and sipping the
little remaining moisture in a few stagnant pools. A few dusty
poplars fringed the banks of the vanished stream. On the other
side vegetation was general and even prolific. * Orchards of peaches,
straggling in irregular double rows with broad deep irrigation
tienches for the water between, and presenting an appearance
very unlike the trim precision of the vineyards of Bordeaux. The
industrial energy of Xvuchan seems to be specially devoted to the
manufacture of wine, and in a scarcely less degree to its consump
tion, a genial immunity which the Shiah Mahometans have never
been slow to claim for themselves from the stern asceticism of the
Sunni dogma.
By this time I was much surprised to have met no carriage or
deputation from the Khan, in view of the recognised reception
given to strangers at Persian seats of government, and of the
That this is the main stream of the Atrek I do not think there can be any
doubt. It rises in the defile of Tabarik below the Allah-o-Akbar range, about
twenty miles to the south of Kuchan, and is sometimes called Tabarik as far as
ignored the upper course of the river, because at that time it must have been

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎114v] (235/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00002a> [accessed 4 April 2025]

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