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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [241v] (485/1814)
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.
290
PERSIA
brick serai was built by Shah Suleiman Sefavi; an older one of
stone attributed to the Sassanid Nushirwan, is m ruins. The
name Ahuan, which has apparently much perplexed
Ahuan previous travellers, 1 signifies antelope or gazelle, 2 tra
dition ascribing to this spot one of the astounding miracles by
which the Imam Reza signalised the various stages of his eastward
iourney to Tus. Here he found a captive female antelope, which,
detecting his sacred personality, found speech, and invoked the
assistance of the saint on behalf of her motherless young. The
Imam bade the hunter release the animal, and himself went bail
for her reappearance. The antelope, however, found the joys of
home too much for her plighted word, and failed to keep the tryst;
whereupon the prophet, being appealed to, ‘ willed her back again
to her captor, with whom she remained a prisoner, or a pet, ever
afterwards. Here the mountain range is entered that separates
the plains of Damghan and Semnan. From the highest point of
the dividing crest the latter city was visible, twelve miles away,
lying like a green splash upon a floor of stones. The descent on
the far side, though easy, is very stony, and cantering down was
no pleasure. Meeting a closed carriage drawn by four hoises, witli
two postillions, outriders, and a guard, I had a horrible momentary
dread that I was in for an istikbcil, or official entry , but was re
assured by finding that the occupant was the hakim, or Governor,
who presumably was making a tour through his not very extensive
dominions.
Semnan is held remarkable in Persia for its extensive and well-
irrigated gardens, for its ancient trees, for an old minaret which
enables it to compete with Damghan, for a smart and
well-preserved modern mosque, for its local manufactures
of teacakes and blue cotton pyjamas, for the beauty of its women,
and for the unintelligibility of its speech. Perhaps in none of
these respects does it quite answer to expectation. There is a
great deal of water flowing in rivulets down the smaller streets,
which usually serve as watercourses in Persia as well us roadways,
but the environs of the town did not appear to profit thereby to
the full extent, although a good deal of tobacco is cultivated.
1 Fraser spelt it, Aheaiyoon; Ferrier, Aheeiyon; O’Donovan, Aghivan.
Similarly, Gtiushah has been rendered Gosbek, Goocheh, Kushak, and Koshaw.
2 Ahu = an antelope or gazelle. Hence dhubara (little antelope) is the name
for the elegant Persian bustard.
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 [241v] (485/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00005c> [accessed 14 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