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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [280v] (563/1814)
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
in the lives of Englishmen; 1 Eshretabad, a very pretty place, of
which I give an illustration, where the main pavilion is occupied by
the Shah, and seventeen smaller pavilions, situated round a lake,
by the ladies who accompany him (a creditable reduction from the
standards of his great grandfather), and where also is to be seen a
painting of hath Ali seated in
durbar
A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family).
with the foreign ambassadors
before him; Niaveran, orNioberan; Agdasieh, near Maveran;
Nejefabad ; and Suleimanieh, of which I have spoken in Chapter II.
These are all in the immediate neighbourhood of Teheran, and the
majority of them are situated on the hill-slope known as Shimran 2
a cultivated belt extending for a length of about twenty miles
along the base of the great scarp of the Elburz, that towers like
a prodigious natural rampart above the plain of Teheran on the
north. Eath Ali Shah set the example of retreat to this cooler,
because more elevated, site; and the large number of trees and
gardens which have been planted in consequence of its since
universal adoption is said to have had a very appreciable effect in
lowering the temperature and increasing the rainfall of the
capital.
One result of the royal partiality for suburban residences has been
the construction or the improvement of the roads that lead thereto
Doshan- from the city. A very passable road, planted for the
Tep e most part with trees, leads to Gulahek on the north; and
another such road, affording the solitary carriage-di;ive of Teheran,
conducts between stiff rows of poplars in a straight line north-east,
towards yet another villa, known, from the rocky eminence on
which it is placed, as Doshan-Tepe (or the Rabbit Hill). The rock
is an ugly excrescence from the plain at the distance of three miles
E \J- , fr° m fh e city ? and the palace is from the outside a yet uglier ex-
K ^ ^ orescence upon the rock. It is, however, a favourite hunting-lodge
^ - ( 0 y qf the Shah s when he goes shooting in the neighbouring mountains,
iS l/ V'' \jf w bich are kept as a royal preserve. At the foot of the rock is a large
k g hady garden, where, in a long row of cages or dens, are kept
v the wild beasts of the Shah’s menagerie. The animals themselves
struck me as fine specimens, but they were badly housed, and
P their number was small. The popularity of the place, however, as
Excellent descriptions of this palace are given by Stack (Six Months in
Persia, vol. ii. pp. 155-157), and Orsolle (Le Caucase et la Perse, pp. 283-5).
The popular etymology-—Shem-i-Iran, i.e. Light of Iran—is again absurd.
Shimran is an old Persian word, the origin and meaning of which are unknown.
_ (f t 0 lyP
1 11
L ’
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 [280v] (563/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000aa> [accessed 18 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