![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎277v] (557/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0568.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎277v] (557/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [277v] (557/1814)
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
into unarrested decay. Of these Persian palaces the one that is
best known in history is the Negaristan (or Picture-gallery) built
by Path Ali Shah , 1 and the favourite country resort of himself and
his colossal seraglio. In those days the Negaristan was more than half
a mile outside the walls of the contracted Teheran, whose history
and disappearance I have chronicled 5 but the moie ambitious
projection
Any method by which the earth’s curved surface may be transposed (or projected) on to a flat surface.
of Isasr-ed-Oin Shah has biought it well within the
limits of the modern city ; whilst his mercantile instincts have
lately induced him to sell the grounds in plots for building sites.
In the early part of the - century it was described as a lovely
retreat, with umbrageous gardens, interspersed with imarets
(pavilions), Mali Feringhis (octagonal kiosques, so called because
their shape was supposed to resemble a Feringhi’s, or European’s,
hat), cascades, and tanks. Sir R, K. Porter, who visited and
described it in 1818, went into positive raptures over its beauty. It
was a ‘ Hortus Adonidis,’ a c bower of fairy-land, ‘ the very garden
of u Beauty and the Beast,” ’ whilst the palace itself was ( an
earthly imitation of the houris’ abodes.’ And when the suscep
tible baronet came to the bath-room, his poetical transports could
scarcely find words in which to depict the image of the sporting
naiads and the uxorious monarch looking on. The place is never
occupied by the present Shah, and is now fast falling to ruin. The
name was given to it in consequence of the contemporary oil-
paintings by which it was, and still is, adorned. Fath Ali Shah
never built or occupied a palace anywhere without immortalising
himself, and his regiment of sons, and his crown and jewels and
throne, and, above all, his wasp-like waist and ambrosial beard, in
canvas, upon the walls. There are two such paintings in the
Negaristan. One is a somewhat undistinguished picture of the
Shah and some of his sons, but the more widely known is an
illustration of the monarch surrounded by his sons and chief
ministers of State, seated upon the Takht-i-Taous, and receiving
in solemn audience the plenipotentiaries of European Powers. The
Shah and his sons occupy the end of the apartment, and upon
either wall advance to his presence two long lines of life-size
figures—fifty in all; those in the place of honour, nearest the
sovereign, being the rival representatives of Great Britain and
France. An historical anachronism appears to have been perpe-
1 Tancoigne says that the original building was built for Abbas Mirza by his
minister Mirza Buzurg.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [277v] (557/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a4> [accessed 6 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a4
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a4">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎277v] (557/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a4"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0568.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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