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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [270v] (543/1814)
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.
326 PERSIA
or private apartments). Among tlie many apartments which I
saw, and to which my previous general description will apply, I
Shems-el- 0l ^J bere notice tlie ^aranj-khaneh or Orangery;
Imaret a particularly pretty building, with water flowing down
a blue-tiled channel in the middle between double rows of orange
trees. It was from here that a passage led into the old anderun ; the
new ladies quarter being on the other side of the palace enclosure. 1
At the further end of the Gulistan, on the eastern side, rises the great
twin-towered pavilion called the Shems-el-Imaret, or Sun of the
Palace, which is such a conspicuous object from the exterior of the
palace on the side of the bazaars. This remarkable structure, which
is, in my opinion, a triumph of fanciful architecture, is built in the
form of two towers, sloping inwards towards the top, and terminating
in two elegant kiosques. A slender clock-tower, with a European
clock, rises from the roof between the two. On the outer or street
side—for it is built upon the exterior wall of the Ark—its surface,
which is entirely covered with brilliantly painted tiles, is unrelieved
by a single window, lattices of pierced brickwork answering that
purpose. On the inner or garden side it possesses a number of
balconies and stained-glass windows, while a large Italian portico
in the centre opens on to a flight of steps leading down to the edge
of an extensive lake. This beautiful pavilion was begun by the
Shah twenty-five years ago, and is certainly a very creditable
specimen of the fanciful ingenuity that still lingers in modern
Persian art. I had thought from the blank outer walls and from
the air of mystery that surrounds this building that it must at
least contain the royal harem ; but this was not the case. Strangers
are sometimes admitted to the interior, in some of the chambers of
which are to be seen yet other among the many costly presents
that have been sent to the Shah and his predecessors by European
sovereigns. Here, for instance, are the Gobelin tapestries, repre
senting the Crowning of the Faun and the Triumph of Venus, that
were given by Louis Philippe to Mohammed Shah ; and here is
the great mechanical clock, with moving figures and peacocks, that
was intended as a present from the Queen to the Emperor of China,
fifty years ago : but, either having been rejected by him or never
having got as far, was bestowed upon the Persian monarch.
1 There stands in the court of the Royal anderun a great plane-tree, called
the Cltenar of Abbas Ali (origin of name unknown), which is held in great venera
tion as an object of pilgrimage.
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 [270v] (543/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000096> [accessed 17 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