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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [256r] (514/1814)
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
313
Marmor, or white marble throne of Kerim Khan Zend, wrought of
marble of Yezd, and brought from Shiraz. 1 This great structure,
which does not in the least degree resemble a throne according to
Western ideas, but might rather be compared to an elevated plat
form surrounded by a pierced marble balustrade, rests upon low
twisted pillars and upon the shoulders of grotesque figures represent
ing jins or divs. Two steps supported by recumbent lions lead up to
it, and the throne itself consists of a two-fold terrace, upon the back
part of which, supported by a pearl-embroidered cushion, sits, or
rather kneels (this being the Persian substitute for sitting), upon
State occasions the King of Kings. In front of the throne is a
place for a fountain, running water being another of the appur
tenances of Eastern royalty. 2 The roof of the front part of the
throne room, where it is open to the garden, is sustained by two
immense columns with deep spiral flutings, also of Yezd marble,
and constructed by order of Kerim Khan for his palace at Shiraz.
A passage from the court of the Talar leads into another and
larger court, where is the main and State entrance into the palace.
T l le It was under a threshold, opening out of the arcade
Museum between the two, that were deposited by Agha
Mohammed Shah the bones of Nadir Shah and Kerim Khan, 3
that he might have the exquisite luxury, as he passed in and out,
of trampling upon the dust of his hereditary foes. Here are a large
doorway, and a broad flight of carpeted steps, leading up between
great bronzes and porcelain vases to the State apartments. As
I mounted them three times during my stay at Teheran, and
became familiar with the rooms to which they conduct, I may
here describe the latter. At the top of the staircase is the Shah’s
library, a small room which has been neatly fitted, after the
1 There is an illustration of it, from a photograph, in Benjamin’s Persia and
the Persians, p. 222, and a superb engraving of the whole Talar in P. Coste’s
Monuments Modernes de la Perse. Some writers have supposed this also to be an
Indian throne, and to have belonged to Nadir’s spoil. Others have declared that
it was wrought of Maragha marble. In Kerim Khan’s day it stood in the talar
of the palace, that is now the office of the Indo-European Telegraph in Shiraz,
from whence, along with the fluted columns, it was removed by Agha Mohammed
Shah to Teheran.
2 The symbolism of this custom is variously interpreted either as signifying
light, and being, therefore, of good omen, or as typifying the main source of
wealth in a thirsty land, and being consequently a mark of luxury.
3 Those of Kerim Khan were said to have been afterwards restored to their
original resting-place.
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 [256r] (514/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000079> [accessed 10 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