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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [259v] (521/1814)
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.
318 PERSIA
was a fraudulent pretender to tire honour of having supported the
maj esty of the Great Mogul. Let me deploy the chain of reasoning
by which I had arrived at this conclusion. The standard reference
to the original Peacock Throne at Delhi is contained in the well-
known description of the French jeweller Tavernier, who visited
that capital in the year 1665 in the splendid reign of Aurungzebe.
He wrote as follows :—
The largest throne, which is set up in the hall of the first court,,
is in form like one of our field beds, six feet long and four broad.
The cushion at the base is round like a bolster ; the cushions on the
sides are flat. The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with
pearls and diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the
top of the canopy, which is made like an arch with four panes, stands
a peacock with his tail spread, consisting all of saphirs and other
proper coloured stones. The body is of beaten gold enchas d with
several jewels, and a great ruby upon his breast, at which hangs a
pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each side of the peacock stand two
nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of several sorts of floweis, all
of beaten gold enamelled. WTen the king seats himself upon the
throne there is a transparent jewel with a diamond appendant of eighty
or ninety carats, encompass’d with rubies and emeralds, so hung that
it is always in his eye. The twelve pillars also that uphold the canopy
are set with rows of fair pearl, round, and of an excellent water, that
weigh from six to ten carats apiece. This is the famous throne which
Tamerlane began and Cha Jehan finish’d, which is really reported to
have cost 160 million and 500,000 livres of our money. 1
Now contrast this with the Persian claimant to the title. I have
purposely caused to be reproduced an engraving of the Takhtu-
Taous at Teheran, in order to accompany and elucidate my
argument. It is certainly a platform, or, as Tavernier calls it, a
Field-bed Throne; as were the majority of those employed by the
sovereigns of the East. It is further a sumptuous and a beautiful
work of art. The entire fabric is overlaid with a plating of gold,
which is exquisitely chiselled and enamelled, and is absolutely
encrusted with precious stones, among which rubies and emeralds
are the most prominent. Seven bejewelled legs sustain the plat-
1 Travels in India (edit. 1678), book ii. cap. viii. p. 122. Han way (vol. h.
cap. x.) says that the Peacock Throne and nine other thrones, as well as several
jewelled weapons and utensils, were valued at nine crores of
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
, or 11,250,000/.
The Nadir-Navieh (History of Nadir) valued the Peacock Throne at 2,000,000/.
Scott at 1,000,000/.
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 [259v] (521/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000080> [accessed 7 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