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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [303r] (608/1814)
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.
THE NORTHERN PROVINCES
383
ei ^ h centu:
r^ourhoo,
atl1 coni Ca i
'""'orshippe
!f Q ^ th,
16 town
‘ c °llective
' S b f n ^ade t 0
301Kt °f the two
U P a new con,,
speculation has
P the Master 0 f
monopolising the
n by creating a
5 from Amol to
§'bb he obtained
J public under-
debarkation the
"az river, twelve
serai and shops
unoccupied), he
le laid a single
on with a horse
the engineering
ieak in a later
limit myself to
not worse, dwt
of shingle and
requiring to lie
irgoes in light-
;oon quarrelled
ately, however
have found a
fcory iu course
wood-working
labour being
[gable Persian
Sir W. Ouseley*
must at least be conceded the merit of energy, which, in any form
of public undertaking, is so rare in Persia as to deserve encomium
even if ill-judged or misplaced.
A new road from Amol over the main range of the Elburz to
Teheran, was constructed by order of the Shah in 1877-78 by
New road General Gasteiger Khan, an Austrian engineer officer in
to Teheran ^ p ers i an service. The total distance is about 120
miles, and the places passed en route are Parus, Shahzadeh, Raineh
(or Pehna), skirting the Eastern base of Demavend, Imamzadeh
Hashim, Ah, and Jajrud. The scenery is superb, alike amid the lower
elevations and the wooded glens and valleys, and on the rugged
and savage heights. Of the former, Stack (in 1881) wrote the
following description, which I think it only fair to quote as a
set-off to my own occasional jeremiads upon the sullen sterility
of the normal Persian landscape :—
Our march to Amol was the loveliest I made in Persia ; but, indeed,
one could hardly believe that this was Persian scenery, with its forest
paths and meadow glades, and broad river bordered by tall and leafy
growth of oaks. I thought of the leagues of brown or black desert,
the bare sand-ridges, the salt hills, white and crimson and green, the
dry, clear air, and the bold and sharply-defined forms and colours that
I had seen during my wanderings in Persia till now ; but here was an
atmosphere laden with soft, invisible vapour, and all the shapes of
mountain and valley were rounded or clothed with vegetation, hiding
the bare outlines of the rock, and all the colours were the blue and
white of the cloud-flecked sky above, and varied shades of green all
around us.
Between the village of Bund-i-burideh and Baineh, in one of
the narrowest parts of the mountain defile, through which the
road runs, is a great rock sculpture of Nasr-ed-Din Shah on
horseback facing the spectator, with ten ministers in full uniform
standing five on either side of him. The figures are life-size, and
raised in relief about three inches, and the likenesses are un
deniably good. I saw the original full-size cartoon in the Royal
College at Teheran. The tablet is bordered by a metrical inscrip
tion, which sounds the praises of His Majesty and commemorates
the making of the road. The idea is a somewhat belated and
turgid imitation of the Sassanian model; but apart from the
absurdity, the execution is in this case creditable.
Of the towns of Gilan, the only one worthy of mention (with
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 [303r] (608/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00000f> [accessed 5 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