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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [279v] (561/1814)
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.
340
PERSIA
sidering that it is at some distance. I will refrain from reflections
about the ‘ vanished peals of laughter and the songs once warbled
by ruby lips,’ leaving such flights of the fancy to the late American
Minister in Persia, who was well qualified to bear the vacant mantle
of Sir P. K. Porter. 1
Outside the walls the most conspicuous eminences and the
most advantageous sites have likewise been monopolised by the
Kasr-i- palace-building craze of the Kajar dynasty. Of these
Kajar edifices the most prominent in any view of Teheran is
that known as the Kasr-i-Kajar (Castle of the Kajars, irreverently
transliterated by the English sergeants who came to Persia in the
first quarter of the century to instruct the native army, as ‘ Castle
Cadger ’), or Takht-i-Kajar—i.e. Throne of the Kajars. It is
situated upon an elevation about two miles to the north of the
modern walls. From a distance this building has a most imposing
appearance, for it rises from a base of foliage in a number of white
tiers, one above the other, culminating in a sort of castle at the
top. 2 The Persians entertain the most grotesque notions of its
architectural importance, and have been known to assert its supe
riority to Windsor Castle or Versailles. A nearer approach dissi
pates the fond but foolish illusion. It is then seen to merit com
parison with a European palace, whether of sovereign or of subject,
about as appositely as might a harbour bumboat with a man-of-
war ; the successive tiers consisting only of earthen terraces faced
with brick, and once adorned with lakes and fountains, which, like
most such things in Persia, have gone to ruin. The palace at the
top contains a variety of pictures of scenes and persons dating from
the time of Path Ali Shah, and in one of the pavilions in the
grounds is, or was, a portrait of the English ‘ Beau Brummel ’ of
Persia, Istarji, or Strachey, who accompanied Sir John Malcolm’s
Alission, and created such an impression as an Adonis that Path
Ali Shah composed an ode in his honour and had his picture
painted for most of his palaces here and at Isfahan. In the Kasr-
i-Kajar he was framed between the mythic heroes, Zal and
Afrasiab—an apotheosis which I am not aware that any other
Englishman has ever attained. When the King moved with the
1 Persia and the Persians, p. 78.
2 Illustrations of the Kasr-i-Kajar appear in the works of Malcolm, Morier,
Ouseley, etc.; but by far the best are a number of plates in P. Coste’s sumptuous
work, Monuments Modernes de la Perse, PI. Mii., lix., lx.
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 [279v] (561/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a8> [accessed 27 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