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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [251r] (504/1814)
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.
TEHERAN
305
burakchi Bashi, or Commander of the Camel Battery, which was one
of the favourite military toys of Fath Ali. Upon this individual
his sovereign bestowed that especial mark of confidence for which
Persian monarchs have always been famous, by inviting him, sjoonte
sud, to part with his property, which was forthwith transferred to
the English Elchi. Sir Gore Ouseley built upon it a commodious
house, whose Italian portico and pillars were a perpetual record of
Europe in the heart of Asia. The Bussians originally occupied a
Legation in another part of the town, but, after the assassination
of their Minister, Grebayadoff, in 1828, they moved for greater
security into the precincts of the Ark. Until its disappearance,
or rather expansion, in the years 1870-2, this transitional Teheran
was in every respect an Oriental city—contracted, filthy, shabby,
and what the French so well denominate as morne.
Nasr-ed-Din Shah, among other titles to distinction, may claim
to have made his city a capital in something more than the name.
New After being twenty years upon the throne, it appears
Teheran p aV 0 occurred to him that the c Point of Adoration
(Kiblefi) of the Lbiiverse ’ was framed in a somewhat inadequate
setting. Accordingly, Teheran was suddenly bidden to burst its
bonds and enlarge its quarters. The old walls and towers were
for the most part palled down , 1 the ditch was filled up, a large slice
of surrounding plain was taken in, and, at the distance of a full
mile from the old enclosure, a new rampart was constructed upon
Vauban’s system, copied from the fortifications of Paris before the
German war. A good deal of the money sent out from England
by the Persian Famine Belief Fund in 1871 was spent in the hire
of labour for the excavation of the new ditch, which has a very
steep outer profile, and for the erection of the lofty sloping rampart
beyond. There is no masonry work upon these new fortifications;
they are not defended by a single gun ; they describe an octagonal
figure about eleven miles in circuit; and, I imagine, from the point
of view of the military engineer, are wholly useless for defence.
Their main practical service consists in facilitating the collection of
the town octroi. Nevertheless, Teheran can now boast that it is
eleven miles round, that it has European fortifications, and twelve
gates ; while its interior features have developed in a corresponding
ratio.
1 They are still standing or traceable in parts, particularly along the south
west face of the old town.
VOL. I.
X
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 [251r] (504/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00006f> [accessed 9 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