![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎237r] (476/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0487.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎237r] (476/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [237r] (476/1814)
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
from three large abambars, or subterranean reservoirs, to which
access is gained by steep flights of steps.
Beyond Miandasht occurs wliat was formerly the most perilous
part of the journey. The road winds in and out of low passes
Dahaneh-i- between rounded knolls, where every turn discloses a
zSdar 611 Ridden hollow, and where every elevation might hide an
ambuscade. The hills are bare and stony, or clad only with a
diminutive scrub. They are alive with partridges, m pairs or m
small coveys of five or six, which were so tame that they ran
along the road and crouched till one was within a dozen yards. 1
Here is the peculiarly noted Dahaneh-i-Zaidar, the gully by which
the Turkomans usually descended to make their attack, and at
its mouth was the small, now dismantled, fort of Zaidar, where was
a garrison of fifty regulars. On emerging from the hills we see
before us the twin-peaked mountain 2 above Maiomai, and, skirting
its northern base, reach the village of that name, where is a fine
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
, built by Shah Abbas II., and some superb old
chenars. It was in the bala-khaneh of the posthouse at Maiomai,
which I occupied, that O’Donovan was besieged by an infuriated
band of Arab hajis, and had rather a narrow escape ; and it was
in the
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
that Dr. John Cormick, for many yeais chief
physician to Abbas Mirza, died of typhus in 1833.
The next march, from Alaiomai to Shahrud, forty-one miles,
used to be the longest in Persia, and has been bewailed by many
victims. But, for postal purposes, it has now been
Armian divided by the station and chapar-khaneh of Armian.
The first part of the road, along the base of the same mountain-
range, is very stony. Two small villages are passed, each dependent
upon a single small rill, whose passage from the mountains can
be traced by a thin line of poplars. Armian is picturesquely
situated on a hill-side, with an abundant stream flowing down the
road just outside the posthouse door, and subsequently fertilising
a series of well-kept terrace-plots below the village. The hist
1 This is the liablt, or ordinary red-legged partridge. There are also in Persia
the Jiabh-i-darah (varionsly explained as ‘ royal partridge,’ or ‘ partridge of the
defiles ’) ; the durroj, the black partridge of India, commonly called the fran-
colin ; the tilm, or sand partridge, which, as Fraser said, ‘ runs like the very devil; ’
the jirufti, or hush partridge ; the hablt-i-cMl, or grey partridge; and the bakhri-
bara, or baMr-ghirreh, the sand-gronse.
2 Fraser climbed this mountain in 1834, and found two very ancieni ruined
forts on the highest peaks.— Winter's Journey, vol. ii, pp. 154-164.
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 [237r] (476/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000053> [accessed 4 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000053
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_100157213844.0x000053">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎237r] (476/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000053"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0487.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