![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎168r] (338/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0349.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎168r] (338/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [168r] (338/1814)
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.
looked through into the great quadrangle. 1 This is an achievement
I r? ^ might ’ 1 t]imk > be effected without risk at the present time.
A European who found his way into the
Bast
(Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location.
, particularly by some
other than one of the two main entries, might without'' much
i cu ty succeed m reaching the gates of the Sahn. He might be
stared at or followed or mobbed, but he would probably not be
attacked. It would be a different thing were he to enter the
sacred precincts themselves; though I am one of those who
incline to the opinion that in these respects the fanaticism of
Orientals is apt to be exaggerated. In the interests, however, not
mere y of personal safety, but of the reputation of his nationality
which might suffer from detection, it would be foolhardy in a
oreigner to make the attempt. I was myself conducted over the
roofs of the bazaars to a spot, I believe, within the
Bast
(Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location.
, where I could
see the sacred buildings very well, and was from eighty to a hundred
yards distant from the mosque of Gowher Shad, which adjoins
that of Imam Reza, and to which 1 next turn. If I must claim
for myself any special distinction, it is the modest one of being
the first English Member of Parliament who has entered the walls
of Meshed, so far as my knowledge extends.
The second mosque is behind that of Imam Reza, but is situated
obliquely to it. Like the other, it has a large court, with two
4. Mosque " b)re } ,s rece ssed compartments all round, with soaring
Shad Wher tlle_covered aiwans, and with two great ungilt but tile
encircled minarets. On the main fapade is an inscription
saying that it was erected in the reign of Shah Rukh in a.h. 821 .
A similar panel on the southern aiwan records its reconstruction by
Shah Sultan Husein in a.h. 1087 . Eraser, who visited it, thought
this mosque ‘ by far the most beautiful and magnificent that he had
seen in Persia; ’ and Vambery, speaking of its main archway, said :
It was long before I could determine whether I should award the
palm to this gate or to those two in Samarkand and Herat which are
of the same style ; for it is certain that they all date from the reign of
Shah Rukh, if indeed they were not the work of the same architect. It
is possible that the Madrasseh Khanym in Samarkand, as also the
Musallah in Herat, were more luxurious and magnificent, but I can
hardly believe that they were ever more beautiful.
this
Gowher Shad’s mosque hardly, at the present day, sustains
reputation from the outside, though evidently its hashi is
1 The Mew Oasis, vol. i. cap. xxix.
VOL. I.
M
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 [168r] (338/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000091> [accessed 5 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