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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [255v] (513/1814)
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.
312
PERSIA
by the successive envoys of the British and Indian Governments^
But the major part of the enclosure does not now answer to their
description and has been so much alteied by the leigning Shah
in the reconstruction of the past twenty yeais, as to need a fresh
historian.
Upon entering by a modest and wholly undistinguished gateway
from the Khiaban-i-AImasiehj the visitoi finds himself in a small
irregular courtyard, planted with trees. From this he
The Palace . g conducted i nto another and larger paved court, in the
centre of which is a long raised hauz or tank, the water lapping
noiselessly, in the Persian style, over the level brim. On either
side of this is a paved causeway, beyond which are flower-beds
and rows of poplars, planes, and pines. The entire upper end
of this court is occupied by a handsome building, the centre of
which, when the heavy curtains that shield it are raised, is open
to the public gaze, disclosing the Talar or throne room, and the
famous white marble throne, standing upon a dais in the centre.
Upon this throne on certain public occasions, and particularly at
the festival of No Buz or New Year (March 21), the Shah displays
himself to the people in a fashion not essentially different from
that in which Darius and Xerxes appeared in royal state before
their subjects in the tolars of Persepolis 2,300 years ago. 1
On either side of the throne room, and opening into it, are
apartments sumptuously decorated in the Persian style with mural
Takht i- ornamentation and oil paintings. In these the ministers
Marmor and honoured guests are entertained with coffee and
Italians before and during the royal levees. The Talar itself is a
spacious chamber, whose flat ceiling is set with mirror panels, and
whose walls are embellished with the aineh-kari or mirror work,,
small facets ingeniously and artistically fixed in plaster, so as to
produce a thousand angles and coruscations, in which the Persians
are so undeniably clever; and with oil paintings of the various
princes of the Kajar family. Pound the lower part is a dado or
wainscoting of alabaster carved in relief, and adorned with painted
flowers and birds. In the centre of the room stands the Takht-i-
1 These open throne-rooms are, however, far older than either Darius or
Xerxes, and are one of the most ancient accompaniments of Eastern royalty. We
read of Solomon in 1 Kings, vii. 6, 7, that ‘ He made a porch of pillars, and the
porch was before them ; and the other pillars and the thick beam were before
them. Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the
porch of judgment.’
V
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 [255v] (513/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000078> [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