![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎168v] (339/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0350.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎168v] (339/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [168v] (339/1814)
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.
162
PERSIA
superb The dome, which is larger and loftier than that of Imam
Eeza, is covered with tiles of blue, green, and orange patterns,
which have peeled off in places.
Entrance is found by one of the archways m the principal
Sahn to a madresseh, or religious college, which was erected by
the munificence of one Mirza Jafir, a wealthy Persian
buildings merchant who had made a fortune m India ; and it is the
in the
Bast
(Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location.
ft nes t building in Meshed, resembling the mosques
in structural features and decoration. It was further endowed by
its founder with large revenues, which supported fifty or sixty
mullahs. Also included in the parallelogram are other madressehs,
courts lodging-houses, and baths, as well as a great refectory,
where’the pilgrims are fed at the expense of His Highness (each
new-comer being entitled to three days’ gratuitous board), at the
rate of 30 mans or 195 lbs. of rice a day. Here it is said that
500 or 600 meals are served daily to the hungry guests of the
Imam.
We are indebted to Khanikoff, who was a most scholarly and
accurate inquirer, for the following information about the library
of the Imam. He says that the date of its foundation
the Imam ca nnot be placed earlier than the time of Shah Rukh,the
oldest volume being a Koran that was deposited in his reign. The
next donations occurred in the reigns of Shah Abbas and Shah Sultan
Husein. A catalogue had been drawn up shortly before Khanikoff s
visit in 1858 , from which he learnt that the library contained
2,997 works in 3,654 volumes, of which 1,041 were Korans (189
printed, and 852 manuscripts, some of the latter of great dimen
sions and rare beauty), 299 prayer-books and guides to pilgrims, 246
works on general ecclesiastical law, and 221 on that of the Shiai
persuasion alone. It is curious to learn that the greatest benefactoi
of the library was the unlettered Nadir Shah, who presented it
with as many as 400 manuscripts.
The revenues of the shrine in money and in kind are very large.
Fraser says that under Shah Sultan Husein, the last of the Sefavi
dynasty, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, they
of the were 15,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
', but in 1821 he gives the figures as
sin me 2,000 to 2,500
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(can this be a misprint for 20,
to 25,000 ?). Bassett, in 1878 , gave the total a,s 40,000
which were then equivalent to 16 , 000 ?. According to the informa
tion supplied to me, they now stand at 60,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(equivalent a
• ^ The 1
gl 1 tl
Persia, and m
houses,
servants
retinue c<
oftl
ijtafwd 8 )
has been
The en
( 45 , 000 )
Population
of Meshed
pilgrims
to be fou
and from
vast and
astical p
Meshed.
pivot
sacred
hiddei
whe
of
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 [168v] (339/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000092> [accessed 29 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000092
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_100157213843.0x000092">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎168v] (339/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000092"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0350.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