![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎158v] (319/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0330.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎158v] (319/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [158v] (319/1814)
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.
PERSIA
so amazing a succession of natural phenomena, each one of which
would attract a stream of pilgrims in any better-known land
At this point we finally left the mountains and debouched on
to the eastern continuation of the same plain from which I had
Scenery of diverged a week before at Radkan. The moment there
eastern fore ’ is an opportune one for casting an eye in swift
Khorasan retrospect over the country and surroundings in which I
had been travelling since I entered Persia, and which embrace the
least known and yet most typical characteristics of North-eastern
Khorasan. I summed up my impressions, without, however
describing my journeys, in the ‘ Times ? in these words :
‘ After leaving Kuchan, I struck eastwards through the moun
tains, and spent eight days in wandering about amid the mountain
valleys of this rugged and almost inaccessible corner of Khorasan.
Being hampered by a camp and mules, I was limited to about
twenty-five miles a day, but even so succeeded in traversing about
200 miles of this interesting and rarely visited country. The
names of most of the villages are not upon any English map, and'
only a few larger or more notable localities, such as the famous
stronghold of Kelat-i-Nadiri, are known to European ears. It is
astonishing how difficult it is in these parts to procure reliable
information about anything, most of all about that which should
be best known namely, the distance between adjoining places.
A farsakh, nominally about four miles, is the sole unit of measure
ment, but, judging by my own experience, it may mean anything
from two to five. The commonest thing is to be told that a place
is half a favscikK distant—a term which, being used to imply any
fraction less than the whole farsakh, may describe a distance of
either one mile or three miles and a half. The scenerv through
which I travelled, and which may be said to extend over the whole
of North-eastern Khorasan, is singularly uniform in its character
istics. A series of lofty mountain ridges, with an axis inclined
from north-west to south-east, run parallel to each other at varying
distances, the intervening hollows being in the more northern
parts deep gorges admitting little more than a torrent bed at their
bottom, while further south they widen into valleys watered by
mountain streams and dotted with villages, and eventually into
broad, rich plains, such as that of Kuchan to the north and
Nishapur to the south of the Binalucl Kuh mountains. Transverse
ravines cut these ridges, often at right angles, and provide a way
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [158v] (319/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00007e> [accessed 4 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00007e
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00007e">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎158v] (319/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00007e"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0330.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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