![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎147r] (296/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0307.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎147r] (296/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [147r] (296/1814)
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.
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have not been accessible to the public, what I did not see,
X that my read™ may be able te form aa accurate tdea of .
Kelat-i-Nadiri as it is at the present moment. They
“S. rfl already lave gathered that, though literally translated
a u d commonly called the Fort of Nadir Shah, it is not a fort at all
in the accented sense of the term ; consisting as it does of a mouu-
tain nlateau with a mean elevation of 2,MO feet above the sea
intersected by deep gullies and ravines, some twenty miles m toto
«gt b, from five to seven in breadth; and only so far resembling
a fortress that this vast extent of ground, comprising a probable
f 1 ",0 qnuare miles, is surrounded as with a ring fence by
mighty natural rampart enclosing it from end to end with a cliff-
wall of naked and vertical rock, 700 to 1,000 feet m sheer height
above the valley bottom. From early times the extiaordmaiy
character of the place, which must have resulted from some ab
normal convulsion of nature, impressed itself upon the imagination
of the neighbouring peoples ; and Iranian legend localises here one
of the mythical combats between the hero Kustam and the a ion
forces of Turan under Afrasiab, who, expelled from Kelat by the
victorious hosts of Iran, fell back upon the Oxus, where they sus
tained a final and crushing defeat. Here too according to the
Shah Nameh of Firdusi, settled Ferud, the brother of Kai Khosru,
and h^ hewas attacked and slain by Tu, The -cnpHon o
which I have alluded proves that as a defensible and defended
retreat it was known to the Mongol successors of Jenghiz Khan.
Timur is said to have possessed himself of it by stratagem.
But it was not till the times of Nadir Shah that full use was
made of its invaluable natural gifts. Returning from India, laden
Fortifica- with the spoils of conquered kingdoms and with the rifled
tion by treasures of the Great Mogul, he saw m Kelat, with which
Shah he must have been familiar from childhood, 1 the ideal
storehouse where this vast wealth could be deposited, and also an
invulnerable place of arms. Accordingly, he constructed powerful
fortifications at all the entrances, placed watch-towers on every peak
and point of vantage, artificially scarped the rocky battlements
both within and without, in order to render them still more impos
sible of access, built himself a residence on a plateau in the interior
{which it is said he rarely occupied), and provided for a supply of
1 Nadir Shah was born in a tent near Moharamedabad, the capital of the
neighbouring district of Deregez.
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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 [147r] (296/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000067> [accessed 28 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