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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [403v] (809/1814)
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.
564
PERSIA
■<rr; 'T"" " ip * •
--ans^awnja
surface, at a height of 300 feet from the ground, the triumphal
engravings of Darius son of Hystaspes, and the cuneiform record of
his conquering reign, first copied and deciphered nearly fifty years
ao-o by Sir H Rawlinson. The name is various y spe t and pro
nounced as Behistun or Bisitun, and was the Mens Bagistanus or
Baylaravov Spos of the classical writers. Bisitun might mean
either ‘ twenty pillars’ or £ without pillars, but Baghestan has been
supposed by modern scholars to signify ‘ abode of the gods,’ which
would agree with the Am* 6po S or title given to it by Diodorus
Siculus . 1 If his account, cited from Otesias, be credited, the sculp
tures of Semiramis, whom he alleges to have visited the place on
her march from Babylon to Ecbatana, and to have caused her own
image and that of her hundred guards to be graven on the rock,
must have been obliterated by successors or have perished m the lapse
of time Before the secret of the cuneiform alphabet had been
won, the rock and its aerial bas-reliefs had been made known to
Europe by the descriptions of a number of travellers; but how
deeply their ignorance allowed them to plunge, and how wild a
goose chase they were led by a fine imagination, may be seen from
the conjectures of the romantic Ker Porter, that the principal sculp
ture represented Shalmaneser and the ten captive tribes of Israel;
of the Frenchman Gardanne that they were Christ and the twelve
disciples; and of Keppel, that the train of prisoners were the
attendants of Esther, with the queen at their head, supplicating
King Ahasuerus on behalf of her condemned countrymen!
We now know that the bas-reliefs are those of Darius and of the
rebels, tied to each other by the neck, whom he overcame, and
Sculptures ll P on th e prostrate body of one of whom his heel is
of Darius planted. Behind the king stand two warriors armed
with bow and spear. The humiliation of the conquered is typified
by their diminutive size, but the majesty of the king demands a
superhuman stature. That there may be no mistake, tablets witi
the names of those referred to are placed above the monaich an
the prisoners. Over the head of the king himself we read. am
Darius the king, the king of kings, the king of Persia, the giea
king of the provinces, the son of Hystaspes, the grandson o.
Arsames, the Acluemenian. Says Darius the king: My fat
was Hystaspes; of Hystaspes, the father was Arsames; of Aisames
1 I should prefer simply to translate Baghestan as the ‘ place of gardens,
to regard Bisitun and Bostan as versions, or contractions, of the same name.
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 [403v] (809/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000010> [accessed 2 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