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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎161v] (325/1814)

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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148
PERSIA
CHAPTER VII
MESHED
_ Some reverence is surely due to the fame of heroes and the religion if
nations.—G ibbon, Beeline and Fall of the Homan Empire.
Meshed has in the course of the past half-century been visited
and described at greater or less length by several Europeans, among
Previous wll0m En g lisii men have been in the ascendant, in merit
of'Meshed ^ Wel1 aS in numbers - 1 append a catalogue of their
names and publications, 1 so that the reader may know
whither to refer for such information as he may desire about
particular periods or individual men. If X add one more to the
list of these chroniclers, it is because I aspire not to replace, but
to supplement their labours. I shall, as far as possible, avoid the
repetition of what has been better said by them, believing implicitly
in reference to the original source where that is feasible. But it
will be within my power both to correct certain errors into which
they have fallen, and to impart greater verisimilitude to the picture
J. B. Fraser Jouimey into Khorasan, cap. xvii.; Lieut, A. Conolly
(1830), Overland Journey to India, vol. i. cap. x.; Dr. J. Wolff (1831 and 1844),
Travels and Adventures and Narrative of a Mission to BoTthara ; (Sir) A. Burnes
(1832), Travels into Bokhara, vol. iii. cap. xiv.; J. P. Ferrier (1845), Caravan
Journeys, cap. ix., N. de Khanikoff (1858), Memoire sur la Partie mendionale de
sie Cent rale, pp. 9/—108 ; Meslvid, la Citta santa e il suo Territorio \ E. B. Bast (Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location. -
wick (1862), Journal of a Biplomate, vol. ii. pp. 200-233 ; A. Vambery (1863),
Life and Adventures, cap. xxvii.; Meine Wanderungen und Erlelnisse in Persien)
Captain H. C. Marsh (1872), Bide through Islam,, pp. 98-112; Seistan Boundary
Commission (1872)—(i.) Col. Euan Smith, Eastern Persia, vol. i. pp. 357 - 366 ;
(ii.) Dr. H. W. Bellew, From the Indus to the Tigris, pp. 360-368; Colonel V.
aker (1873), Clouds in the East, cap. x.; (Sir) C. MacGregor ( 1875 ),
V0L 1 Pp - 277 - en <h with a plan of the city, p. 284; J. Bassett
( 878), Persia, the Land of the Imams, pp. 221-235 ; E. O’Donovan (1880-1881),
The Merv Oasis, vol. i. cap. xxviii.-xxix., vol. ii. cap. xxx.; P. Lessar (1882),
etermanns Mittheilungen, 1884, viii.; Lieut. A. C. Yate (1885), Travels with
the Afghan Boundary Commission, cap. x. Prior to this century the descriptions
ot Meshed are short and scattered. But an interesting account of the city in 1741
is to be found in Voyage de VInde a MeJcke, by Abdul Kerim, pp. 48, 70-74, trans-
lated into French by M. Bangles.

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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎161v] (325/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000084> [accessed 6 April 2025]

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