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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [308v] (619/1814)
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
394
sherbet, sugar candy, and tea, presented by servants who knelt. The
ablutions of the Walee Ahud were carefully performed after he had
drunk his tea. He wiped his little chin, where, Inshallah, his beard
will be, with most dignified gravity . 1
And again in 1836 :—
The little prince is grown since we last saw him. He has a beauti
ful but mournful cast of countenance, and was terribly bored most
likely, poor child.
As a fact, the Vali-Ahd was very much neglected by his father
over whom the young prince’s mother had ceased to exercise any
charm. He lived in very difficult circumstances, often being com
pelled to borrow money in order to pay his daily expenses. Mo
hammed Shah favoured his younger son, Abbas Mirza, then styled
Naib-es-Sultaneh, who retired from the country soon after his elder
brother ascended the throne, and only returned to Persia in later
years after a long exile at Baghdad.
So much for the Shah in his early years. Soon after reaching
man s estate, his appearance was described by Mr. Binnino* in
terms which hardly ratify the promise of his childhood :
The Shall is now (1851) in his twenty-second year, but looks older.
His complexion is very sallow, and his countenance, though not disagree
able, cannot be pronounced handsome. He wears moustaches, with but
the rudiments of a beard . 2
In middle life, the Shah s appearance is so familiar throughout
Europe as to need no lengthened description, and may be judged
of from the illustration which accompanies this text. The Kajars
aie a handsome lace, and if Nasr-ed-Din cannot equal the majestic
appearance of his great-grandfather, Path Ali Shah, or even of his
grandfathei, Abbas Mirza, both of whom were famous for their
long-bearded beauty, his mien and deportment are, at any rate,
kingly and pleasing. He, and his sons after him, have abandoned
the fashion of the beard that was set by his Kajar predecessors,
and ha\ e reveited to the shaven cheeks and chin which we see in the
portraits of most of the Sefavi sovereigns. Though sixty years of
ag’e, the Shah is erect, active, and robust, making* the most of a
middle stature, and walking with a slow step and a peculiar jaunty
movement of the hips, which has a certain air of distinction.
1 Journal of a Residence in N. Persia, p. 136.
2 Journal of Two Years’ Travel in Persia, vol. ii. p. 236.
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 [308v] (619/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00001a> [accessed 5 April 2025]
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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