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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [221r] (444/1814)
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.
FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN
261
\
221
numerous ditches and banks show that the whole country is under
irrigation. Its return of the grain sown is said to be tenfold; but
the chief local products are now rice, opium, and tobacco. Ferrier,
who passed this way forty-five years ago at a more favourable season
of the year, spoke quite enthusiasticalJy of its charms. ‘Never
had I before seen in Persia such rich and luxuriant vegetation ;
and, as the eye revelled in contemplating it, I could understand
without any difficulty the predilection which ancient sovereigns
had for Nishapur.’
The shattered walls and towers of Nishapur—‘ the Nisaya or
Nisoa blessed by Ormuzd, the birthplace of the Dionysus of Greek
City of legend, and one of the a paradises ” of Iran ’—with the
Nishapur roa j? anc | m j nar Q f a i 0 fty mosque looming above them,
were visible long before we reached the city. Passing through an
extensive cemetery, whose untidy graves were typical of the squalor
that environs death as well as life in Persia, and skirting the town
wall on the southern side, we came to the ckapar-khaneh, imme
diately outside the western gate. The walls of the city, which
had at one time been lofty, were in a more tumbledown condition
even than those of Kuchan. Great gaps occurred every fifty yards,
and whole sections had entirely disappeared. In one place, how
ever, men were at work rebuilding a bastion, lumps of clay being
dug out of a trench at the bottom and tossed from hand to hand
until they reached the top, where they were loosely piled one upon
the other; though what purpose this belated renovation can have
been intended to serve, I am utterly at a loss to imagine. An
enemy could march into Nishapur as easily as he could march
down Brompton Road, and would find about as much to reward
him as if he occupied in force Brompton Cemetery.
The name Nishapur is popularly derived from nei (reed) or
ni — no (new) and Shapur, the tradition being that Shapur built
its history fhe town anew, or built it in what had been a reed-bed.
and fame c ^y was 0 }^ er? fiowever, than Shapur, its legendary
foundation being attributed to Tahmuras, one of the Pishdadian
kings, fourth in descent from Noah ; and its true derivation is from
niw (the modern Persian nik) — good, and Shapur. This town is said
to have been destroyed by Alexander the Great, and subsequently
rebuilt either by Shapur I. or by Shapur Zulaktaf (the two are con
stantly confused in Persian tradition), who is further said to have
erected here a huge statue of himself, which remained standing till
i > <
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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 [221r] (444/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000033> [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