![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎259r] (520/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0531.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎259r] (520/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [259r] (520/1814)
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.
I, n lilCTi
' lglisl1 Koval V
T oim * ns '«fS
b °ne, rar , . 01 „
a ^ectiouY”
3 e ance i)
" e , 011
three fi nest >
lnc ut ruby eWel!
,, D y) once fc
o^hati!
;"V n ^ ringiwM *
Ah Sha lb and Was
gates of tie capital
all the Daria-i-Nu,
h-i-N ur (Kohinoor)'
| the British Crom’
inuir to Mohammej
lelhi, but whom k
les, including these
Nadir’s death, the
into Afghanistan,
’as taken by Eunjit
ed by conquest into
tria-i-Nur remained
3 sovereigns. Fatli
ne time that he con-
ising to be scratched
of wearing it in one
on State occasions,
so sometimes worn
see this jewel, but
311 the seat of the
e absence either of
Her. it could not be
TEHERAN
317
,f Fatb
th. I fc
my notes, were the chief contents of the Royal Museum. 1 In a
country that is always bewailing its lack of money, and which
cries aloud for the regeneration that might so easily spring from
the construction or repair of roads, bridges, caravanserais, and
other elementary public works, it can excite but one feeling to
see all this impotent wealth piled up, secreting beneath a glass
case that which should serve to populate entire districts and
to enrich great communities. How much worse is it when we
know that the treasures here displayed do not stand alone, but
are supplemented by hoards of specie and bullion stored in the
vaults below, which the lowest estimate values at three millions ster
ling and the highest I will not say at what figure. Patriotism need
not be so very difficult an attribute in royalty, when it is able to
stop short of the treasure-house and the money-bags.
Below the Museum are a number of vaults, known as the Chinee-
Khaneh, or Porcelain Room, where vast quantities of Sevres,
Dresden, old Worcester, and other porcelain are stored, the gifts of
European sovereigns to the present and preceding kings. There is
also an Aslaheh-Khaneh, or Armoury, containing curious arms, and
the Shah’s rifles and fowling-pieces ; and a gallery wherein is hung
a large collection of the paintings of the late esteemed artist, Abul
Hasan Khan Ghaffari, styled the Sani-el-Mulk. These last-named
apartments I did not see.
On the other side of the top of the staircase is a room, some
times called the Council Chamber, in which I was admitted to a
The private audience by the Shah. It was empty on all the
occasions when I saw it, save for an object standing in
the corner by the window. This was the Takht-i-Taous
or celebrated so-called Peacock Throne, said to have been brought
by Nadir Shah from India in 1739-40, and identified by a long
consensus of writers (I know of no divergent opinion) with the
famous Peacock Throne that stood in the Diwan-i-Kh^s at Delhi
(where its site is still shown) and that was the main ornament of
the glittering court of the Great Mogul. From a study of
all the extant authorities bearing upon the question, I had come
to the conclusion that this claim could not be substantiated, and
that the throne at Teheran, exquisite work of art though it be,
1 Sir H. Jones, in 1810, estimated the value of the Persian Crown Jewels at
15,000,000^. {Mission to Persia, vol. i. p. 384) ; Lord Polling-ton, in 1865, at
40,000,OOOZ.-50,000,000Z. ! {Half Round the World, pp. 229-232).
alleged
Peacock
Throne
aBBSSBEtt
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 [259r] (520/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00007f> [accessed 4 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