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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [285v] (573/1814)
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.
350 PERSIA
plain. This was, no doubt, the arx, or acropolis, and its outline can
still be satisfactorily determined. Below this was a lower fortified
enceinte, or citadel; and encircling this, upon the plain, was a vast
space surrounded by fortified walls, with its entrances masked by
three great square towers, the whole forming a triangle with the
arx as its apex. Such, briefly stated, appears to have been the
form of the fortified part of ancient Rhey. At present the line of
walls has resolved itself into prodigious mounds of broken brick
and clay, from which coins have constantly been recovered, and to
which visitors to Teheran are in the habit of going out with a
spade or shovel for an afternoon’s private excavation. They seldom
return without some fragment of exquisite tile-work, still gleam
ing with that flame-like iridescence which is a perished secret of
the past, but which is indescribably beautiful even upon the minute
chips and splinters that are, as a rule, the sole reward of the spade.
I am not aware that any scientific or systematic excavation has ever
taken place in the mounds of Rhey, and it is one of the tasks which
I should consequently recommend to the labours of archgeologists.
There are, however, other and more substantial relics of the
ancient city. The most conspicuous of these is a great circular
Tower of tower, locally known as the Nakkara-Khaneh (or Drum-
Vezid tower) of Yezid, which too ardent writers, with no ap
parent justification, have identified with the sepulchre of Togrul
Beg, and with the mausoleum of the lovers Khalil Sultan and
Shad-el-Mulk. It is a great fabric, built of brick, entirely hollow
inside, and roofless, from sixty to sevent}^ feet in height and one
hundred and twenty feet in exterior circumference, the outer surface
being broken into a series of projecting angles, similar to the towers
which I have previously noticed at Jorjan and Bostam. Around
the summit is, or, rather, was, a cornice decorated with a Kufic in
scription. This structure has unfortunately been subjected in the
last few years to a restoration so complete that it now presents the
appearance of a brand-new fabric. The surrounding ground has
been converted into a garden, with tanks and trees, and a stairway,
constructed in the wall, leads to the summit. From this point some
idea may be gained of the outline of the ancient city. At a little
distance to the east, and at the foot of the mountain, stands a
second ruined tower with Kufic cincture, of which, as it has not
been restored, I present a photograph. Above this are the
remains of a stone citadel, on the rock.
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 [285v] (573/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000b4> [accessed 28 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