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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [269v] (541/1814)
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.
PERSIA
324
in different corners. Officers in every variety of uniform were
marshalling troops in every variety of disorder. Mirzas (i.e.
government clerks) and accountants were hurrying to the scene of
action The royal executioner, clothed in red, was stalking about,
while some attendants carried the felled a red pole about eight feet
in length with a double loop or noose of cord attached to the
middle into which are fixed the upturned soles of the culprit
condemned to the bastinado. He was the Persian counterpart of
the roman lictor with his axe and rods. The members of the
Royal or Kajar tribe were all congregated together, and wore the
old court costume, which was obligatory on all alike at the begin
ning of the century, and which consists of a lofty and voluminous
Kashmir (more probably Kerman) turban, big, flowing Kashmir
cloaks, and the well-known red leggings, or chakshurs, which the
English ministers and plenipotentiaries were obliged to pull on
over their breeches when attending the audiences of 1 ath Ali Shah,
but of wearing which they were ultimately relieved by treaty.
Here I was met by the Lord Chamberlain, or master of the cere
monies, known as the Zahir-ed-Dowleh (Supporter of the Govern
ment), a young man of magnificent stature and singularly handsome
countenance, who belongs to the Kajar House, and is married to a
favourite daughter of the Shah. This gorgeous individual was
clothed in a resplendent white frock coat and trousers beneath his
Kashmir robe of state ; a jewelled sword hung at his side; a por
trait of the Shah set in diamonds depended from his neck; and he
carried a silver wand or staff of office. I was conducted to a room
next to that in which the Shah was about to appear, the uplifted
sashes of both apartments opening on to the garden, where, on the
broad, paved pathway running in front and down the central alleys
between the tanks and flower beds, were disposed in order the
various participators in the ceremonial. A little to the right of
the middle spot stood the Naib-es-Sultaneh, the third son of the
Shah and Commander-in-Chief of the army, standing at the head of
a long line of field-marshals and generals. His bosom blazed with
decorations, and was crowned by a light-blue ribbon that might
have been mistaken for that of St. Patrick. Next to him, also in
field-marshal’s uniform and with a tiny sword, stood the diminutive
favourite of the Shah, whose features had become so familiar m
Europe during the royal journey of the preceding summer. Next
in order, and accentuating the ludicrous contrast, came a tottering
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 [269v] (541/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000094> [accessed 15 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