![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎119r] (244/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0255.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎119r] (244/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [119r] (244/1814)
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.
,Vl 'iters.
r newe(J
aker i u
3 gor i n
’f the ge
overing
- wine,
^5 9illcl
ho was
obeleff,
ies fop
ians in
of the
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nought
ties of
ie the
led in
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iselves
Amir,
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, vol.
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FROM ASHKABAD TO KUCITAN 103
But on another occasion :—
To carry on business with him was more than difficult. One had
to drink with him, to listen to his drunken speeches, to be present at
his orgies, and still to be on one’s guard not to show signs of disgust,
which would at once have called forth the anger of the barbarian.
Truly the world has produced few such brutes, as Colonel Grodekoff
expressed himself in a telegram to General Skobeleffi.
It would appear, however, that the Khan has only perpetuated
himself, and bequeathed to the estimable son whom I have before
named, a taste which he had himself inherited from his father;
for when Fraser was the guest of Reza Kuli Khan in 1822 he
relates that he saw ‘ the Khan and the whole court dead drunk. 7
There is a certain fine continuity, therefore, in the family pro
ceedings.
It may be imagined that, knowing as much as I did about
Amir Husein Khan, my familiarity with whose antecedents would
Two inter- pt’obably have caused a severe shock to the old gentleman
Views had he been aware of it, I looked forward with some
anxiety to my interview. Donning my frock coat, which I confess
looked somewhat incongruous beneath a Terai hat, and my goloshes,
and attended by as large a retinue of my own servants as I could
muster, 1 I followed the escort of six persons who had been sent by
the Khan to conduct me to his palace hard by. The facade over
the entrance gateway was in the form of a triple arch filled with
elegant bas-reliefs in white plaster, made after the fashion of an
Italian villa, behind which a neat little kiosque rose above the
roof. Passing through the gateway, which was filled with guards,
I was conducted to the left into a large open court, about twice as
long as it was broad, the lower end of which was divided into
flower-beds, while above the middle was a hauz, one of those large
tanks common to every Persian house of any pretensions, and so
cunningly constructed that the water just laps over the stone brim
and trickles down into a channel outside. On the pavement
beyond were standing some thirty individuals with their backs
turned to the tank and their faces towards the upper end, where I
could see into an elevated aiwan or reception chamber, separated
1 It is a cardinal point of Persian etiquette when you go out visiting to take
as many of your own establishment with you as possible, whether riding or walk
ing on foot; the number of such retinue being accepted as an indication of the
rank of the master.
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 [119r] (244/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000033> [accessed 7 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