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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [160v] (323/1814)
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.
146
PERSIA
in arched recesses. From the surroundings it was evident that
it is a favourite holiday resort of the people of Meshed, bein
indeed the only place of any attractiveness in the environs of the
city. Thinking that the building also contained a mosque, and
was, therefore, of an ecclesiastical character, I did not attempt
to enter it, but merely took a photograph from the outside I
heard afterwards that, as with other tombs, any one can visit it
who will. The present building is not the original mausoleum
but, as the inscription says, was raised by Shah Abbas the Great
on the remains of the earlier structure. A second restoration
was now in course of execution • for the building was enveloped
in a scaffolding, and workmen were replacing the blue tiles on
the exterior of the dome, most of which had peeled off and dis
appeared. MacGregor spoke of the tile-work, in 1875 , as better
than any in Persia. But of this, too, a great deal had vanished;
and what had once been a magnificent circular frieze below the
spring of the dome now existed only in segments and patches.
Hard by is buried the father of Agha Mohammed Shah (the
founder of the reigning dynasty), Path Ali Khan Kajar, who
incurred the hostility of Madir Shah, and was beheaded by his
orders.
Soon the road passed between dusty earthen walls and over
small ditches, the uniform suburbs of the cities of the East. The
Entrance long line of the city wall now appeared, projecting
to Meshed towers connected by a curtain, and defended by a shallow
ditch. Passing through the gateway, where a shabby guard
sprang to his feet and presented arms with an ostentatious rattle
of his musket, we rode for nearly half an hour through the blank and
unlovely alleys that constitute four-fifths even of the proudest
Oriental capital; and after crossing the Khiaban, or central avenue
of Meshed more about which will belong to my next chapter—
pulled up at a low door, over which a large painted shield displayed
the insignia of the British Government and indicated the residence
of Her Majesty s Consul-General and Agent of the Viceroy of
India. In a minute’s time I was shaking hands with Colonel
Charles Stewart.
The march from Kardeh to Meshed is called eight farscikhs,
but is not in reality more than twenty-four miles. Accordingly?
the route from Kelat to Meshed is as follows:
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 [160v] (323/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000082> [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