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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [316v] (635/1814)
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.
408 PERSIA
preter. He looked extraordinarily hale and well, and was ’
the best of tempers. Hearing that I had entered Persia ^
Ashkabad and Kuchan, his curiosity was at once excited and fo
ten minutes I sustained a cross-examination conducted in short
jerky sentences, which fairly elicited from me all that I p ne ’
about the position of the Russians, the road that they had undo
and the unfinished works on the Persian side of the frontier'
c What was Ashkabad like? How many streets, houses, inhabi*
tants, barracks, soldiers, did it contain ? What of the water
supply ? ’ Next about the Kuchan road : 4 Was the Russian sec
tion finished? Was it well engineered? How many men were
at work on the Persian section ? How broad was it ? Were the
gradients easy and the work good ? ’ It was fortunate that I had
made a special study of this question while passing over the road
and was therefore able to give His Majesty a more unvarnished
account than he probably receives from his own officers.
The domestic life of the Shah is shrouded in the mystery
common to Mussulman countries. No glimpse of the Harem is
Harem of caught by males, either Persian or European, with the
exception of doctors of both nationalities) save what may
be derived from the passage of a closed litter with silken curtains,
or of an ancient coach containing undistinguish able masses of
drapery. European ladies have, however, frequently been admitted
to the royal anderun, and its features and occujDants are tolerably
w ell known. The actual number of the Shah’s wives and concu
bines cannot accurately be determined, but is believed to be about
sixty. This is exclusive of those wdio have died, been sent away,
oi otherwise parted with. All these ladies live in the palace, and
most of them have separate establishments, with equipages, servants,
and jewels of their own, and an allowance varying from 2001 . to
2,000h a year, which is often doubled in value by the presents
which beauty or complaisance knows how to extract from an
uxorious lord. The Shah is reported to be a kind master in his
harem, for on so extended a scale of matrimony it is scarcely
possible to apply the European nomenclature of a good husband.
the lav r of the Koran every Mohammedan is allowed four regular
wives or alcdis, and as many sighehs or concubines as means or
inclination permit. Three only of the Shah’s wives belong to
the foimer category. Tw r o of them were his cousins, both princesses
of roj al blood. The elder of the two, known as the Shukuh-es-
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 [316v] (635/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00002a> [accessed 7 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