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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [400v] (803/1814)
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.
562
PERSIA
to the Persian king of his bride, the beautiful Sira or Shirin 1
and his crown. On this supposition, Chosroes is standing in Pig
robes of inauguration between the imperial pair, the princess on
the one side holding a diadem, and the emperor on the other
presenting the new king with the crown, to which the arms of the
Romans had restored him. At the same time it is doubtful
whether either of the supporters is a female figure, or whether the
tradition itself is true ; and the figures are more probably sym
bolical representations. The lower space is almost wholly occu
pied by a colossal equestrian figure of the same monarch, both
horse and rider being covered with a coat of mail. The sculpture
has been much damaged by the Arabs, and there are no intelligible
remains of the inscriptions once engraven upon it.
The sides of the arch are covered with representations of the
sports of the field, wild-boar and stag hunts. In the panel repre-
Paneis of senting the former boats appear, indicating a marshy
the chase country intersected by lakes ; while ponderous elephants,
with their riders, plunge through the reeds in order to drive the
pigs towards the king in the middle. Two of the boats are filled
with harpers, thought by some to be women ; in a third are men who
appear to be clapping their hands. In the centre of the scene are
two boats, in one of which stands the king, of gigantic stature, with
bow full-bent, wkile in the other he appears to be again depicted,
with a halo round his head, receiving an arrow from one of his
attendants, while a musician sits near him in the same boat,
playing on the harp. Above the boar-hunt Mohammed Ali Mirza,
son of Fath Ali Shah, and Governor of Kermanshah, had sculped
a pompous image of himself in the early part of this century. On
the opposite side of the arch is another relief, representing the
chase of the deer. On this the same king Chosroes II. appears
1 With the name of Shirin and the rock of Behistun the Persians have
associated one of those poetic romances so dear to the national genius. Ferhad,
the most famous sculptor of his time, who was very likely employed by Chosroes
II. to execute these bas-reliefs, is said in the legend to have fallen madly in love
with Shirin, and to have received a promise of her from the king, if he would cut
through the rock of Behistun, and divert a stream to the Kermanshah plain.
The lover set to work and had all but completed his gigantic enterprise (of which
the remains, however interpreted, are still to be seen), when he was falsely in
formed by an emissary from the king of his lady’s death. In despair he leaped
from the rock and was dashed to pieces. The legend of the unhappy lover is
familiar throughout the East, and is used to explain many traces of rock-cutting
or excavation as far east as Beluchistan.
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 [400v] (803/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x00000a> [accessed 24 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