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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [221v] (445/1814)
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.
—-^swi
262 PERSIA
the Mussulman invasion. Shapur’s city, however, was not upon the
site of the modern Nishapur, but considerably more to the south
east, where its ruins are still traceable round a blue-domed tomb
to the left of the road. Nishapur, which has certainly been de
stroyed and rebuilt more than any city in the woild, lose again
under the Arabs, and became successively the capital of the
Taheride dynasty, of Mahmud of Ghuzni, when Governor of Khora-
san, and of the powerful Seljuk family, whose first Sultan, Togrul
Beg, resided here, and brought it to the zenith of its splendour.
A long line of eminent travellers testified to its magnificence and
renown. In the -tenth century, the Arab pilgrim El Istakhri
found the city a square, stretching one farsakh in every direction,
with four gates and two extensive suburbs. In the eleventh cen
tury, Nasiri Khosru declared that it was the sole rival to Cairo.
An Arab wit said of its kanats and its people, £ What a fine city it
would be if only its watercourses were above ground and its popu
lation underground ! ’ Another
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
, Abu Ali el Alewi, recorded
that it was larger than Fostat (old Cairo), more populous than
Baghdad, more perfect than Busrah, and more magnificent than
Kairwhan. It had forty-four quarters, fifty main streets, a splendid
mosque, and a world-famed library. It was one of the four Royal
cities of the Empire of Khorasan. 1
But now the cycle of misfortune had come round; and from
the twelfth century downwards it may be said that if Nishapur
Its de- was only destroyed in order that it might be rebuilt, it
structions was n0 SO oner rebuilt than it was again destroyed. No
city ever showed such unconquerable vitality. No city was ever
the sport of such remorseless ruin. Nature herself assisted man
in the savage tenacity of his vengeance, for what a conqueror had
spared an earthquake laid low. Three great earthquakes are re
corded in the twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fifteenth centuries.
The long career of human devastation was inaugurated by the
Turkomans, who in 1153 A.D., in the reign of the great Sultan
Sanjar, ravaged it so completely that the inhabitants on returning
could not discover the sites of their homes. But if the Turkomans
had chastised with whips, the Mongol hordes of Jenghiz Khan
might be trusted to chastise with scorpions. They fell upon the
city with flame and sword in 1220 A.D., under the command of
Tului Khan, son of the conqueror; and the appalling measure of
1 The others were Merv, Balkh, and Herat. i
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 [221v] (445/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000034> [accessed 11 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