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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [230v] (463/1814)
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.
272 • PERSIA
which cover so large a portion of the centre of Persia, and about
which I shall require to particularise later on. The white
patches of sand glittered under a thin saline efflorescence, and
at a little distance might have been mistaken for shallow pools.
Mazinan was once a place of considerable size, and was itself the
centre of a cluster of fortified villages and towns, but was destroyed
by Abbas Mirza in 1831, in punishment of a rebel chief. It is
now a most miserable spot, full of tumble-down or abandoned
houses. A relic of bygone days exists in the shape of a big
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
on the outskirts of the village, built by Shah Abbas.
A once far finer structure, the work of Mamun, the son of Harun-
er-Rashid and murderer of the Imam Reza, is now in paitial ruin.
All around are the remains of other towns or villages not less
dismal or deserted. As I rode out of Mazinan at 5.30 a.m. on an
icy morning, the caravans of pilgrims in the two big caravanserais
were already astir; and some loud-lunged seyid or haji would be
heard to chant the note of invocation to Allah, which the whole
body would forthwith take up in a responsive volume of sound that
rang far through the crisp chill air. From the other side of the
village came a chorus of similar cries ; and with plentiful shouting
and discord, another day for the holy wanderers began.
The mention of the pilgrims, or zawars, of whom I saw so
much on each day’s journey, and who all but monopolise the
tv, • Meshed road, tempts me to vary the dull recital of my
kafilahs progress by a slight description of the human surroundings
in which it was framed. The stream of progress appeared in the
main to be in the opposite direction to that which I was pursuing.
Sometimes for miles in the distance could be seen the hafilah, or
caravan, slowly crawling at a foot-pace across the vast expanse.
Then, as it came nearer, would be heard the melancholy monotone
of some devout or musical member of the band, droning out in
quavering tones a verse from the Koran ; sometimes, in less solemn
companies, a more jovial wayfarer trolling some distich from the
Persian classics. As the long cavalcade approached, it would be
seen to consist of every kind of animal and of every species of man.
Horses would carry the more affluent, who would be smoking their
Italians as they paced along; some would affect camels ; mules were
very common, and would frequently support hajavehs, 1 & sort of
1 The kajaveh, which is very small and rocks disagreeably, is a most uncom
fortable and almost impossible vehicle for Europeans, whose nether limbs are not
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 [230v] (463/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000046> [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