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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎245v] (493/1814)

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. .

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298
PERSIA
Gambles), and Aiwan-i-Key (or Eoyal Drinking-liall). Whichever
it be, the place appeared to me to have no attractions foi the modem
votaries of Epicurus. A great many of the houses had no occupants,
and seemed to have been abandoned; and ill-advised would the
monarch be who sought refuge in so squalid a retreat. Between
Aiwan-i-Kaif and Kabud Gumbaz (Blue Dome) the Biver Jajrud
descends from the mountains, and was divided at this season of the
year into at least twenty-five different channels, straggling over a
pebbly bed—in all, quite a quarter of a mile in width. I forded
all these, and at Kabud Gumbaz encountered the first returning
symptoms of proximity to that civilisation to which I had now been
a stranger for nine days, in the shape of a vast pile of letters (the
first I had received since leaving England) and a good hack sent
out for my use by a friend in Teheran. Bight gladly did I speed
over the Plain of Yeramin, whose ruins, presenting in the distance
the appearance of four solitary columns, rose from a mound far
away in the hollow of the plain. From a distance of quite ten
miles the flash, as of a beacon fire, on the horizon showed where the
sun’s rays splintered on the golden dome of Shah Abdul Azinu
Eormerly the caravan route lay past this sanctuary and round the
base of the range which separates the plains of Yeramin and
Teheran. Still is that line followed by the pilgrims, upon whom,
whether starting for or returning from Meshed, it is incumbent to'
call and do reverence at the prophet’s shrine ; but pack animals
and the postal road now both cut off an angle by striking in a due
northerly direction over the ridge itself. Mounting to the summit
of the pass, the new road winds up and down through dusty folds,
until, the northern crest being reached, far down upon the plain
that expands below is seen spread out the belt of verdure, topped
only by a few edifices, that marks the capital of Persia. Beyond,,
again, at a distance of about seven miles from the city, rises the
abrupt ferrugineous face of the Elburz range, like a prodigious
rampart of rusty corrugated iron.
The first appearance of Teheran is agreeable after a long journey,
but in no sense imposing. As I descended the slope and drew
nearer, it was difficult to believe that that green band
could shroud a great city with a population of nearly
200,000 souls. The only buildings that rose to any height above
the level of the tree-tops appeared to be a large mosque, with four
tile-covered minarets, that looked from a distance like painted

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎245v] (493/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000064> [accessed 2 April 2025]

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