![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎163r] (328/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0339.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎163r] (328/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [163r] (328/1814)
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.
i
'“‘y, at tte
ad now f or
de renown.
^f 1 ’ it w as
, ,^ e t^one
Pngrimage
>f the enti re
611 ca lves at
§iiiiis from
lo aded the
vi sited and
3 ever since
not indeed
-law of the
hiah canon,
Husein, are
bs at Nejef
S ci superior
^erbela are
aotic would
creel spots,
its prayers
ngs of the
3 near the
md attack,
: has had a
bbas (a.d.
It suffered
it revived
>, although
ideavoured
iety, to have
3 d, while the
L the total as
daces of the
s follows
ir Baghdad,
Shiah would
title Htyh
r\
MESHED
151
forcibly to expunge the Shiah faith, 1 yet often held his court at
Meshed, restored and beautified the sacred shrine, and built in the
city a tomb both for himself and for the son whom he had blinded
in a fit of jealous passion. After his death, Meshed remained in
the possession of his blind grandson, Shah Kukh, under whose
infirm rule its population, harried by almost yearly invasions of
the Uzbegs, sank from 60,000 to 20,000, until at the end of the
century he was deposed and tortured to death by the brutal eunuch
Agha Mohammed Khan Kajar, the founder of the reigning family
of Persia. During the present century Meshed has several times
been in rebellion against the sovereign power, having inherited a
detestation of the Kajars, recurrent outbreaks of which have
necessitated more than one punitive expedition; but along with
the rest of the kingdom it has now passed in peaceful subjection
into the hands of Nasr-ed-Din.
Meshed is surrounded, as are all Oriental towns of any size, by
a mad wall wdth small towers at regular distances, and projecting
bartizans at the anodes. The wall was oriodnally nine feet
Size and & Q J
plan of thick at the bottom and four feet thick at the top, besides
the city having a parapet one foot in thickness, but is now in a
state of utter disrepair. There was formerly a small ditch or
fausse-braye below the rampart, with a low parapet on the crest of
the counterscarp, and a broader ditch beyond. But the process
of decay has merged these structural features in a common ruin,
and in most parts they are not to be distinguished from each other.
The circumference of the walls has been variously calculated at
four, four and a half, and six miles ; but any calculation is difficult,
owing to the irregularity of the plan. 2 They are pierced by five
gates: the Bala Khiaban, or Upper Avenue, and the Pain Khiaban,
or Lower Avenue Gate, at the two ends of the main street; the
Naugan, Idgah, and Sarah. The ark or citadel, my visit to which
I shall presently relate, is situated on the south-west wall. 3
1 The attempted restoration of the Snnni creed by Nadir Shah was an act of
policy, intended to reunite the Mussulman world from Tabriz to Delhi under the
sceptre of a single monarch.
2 MacGregor’s plan (vol. i. p. 284), which was made by Col. Dolmage, is the
only one that I know, but is not thoroughly accurate. Eastwick, in riding round
the walls and describing the plan of the city, seems, by some strange error, to
have reversed the points of the compass, turning north into south and east into
west.
3 For the geographical position of Meshed, vide a paper by Major T. H. Holdich
in the Proceedings of the R.G.S. (New Series), vol. vii. (1885) pp. 735-738.
ri'vx*-
► U
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 [163r] (328/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000087> [accessed 2 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000087
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_100157213843.0x000087">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎163r] (328/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000087"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0339.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