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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎477v] (965/1814)

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. .

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4
PERSIA
European Telegraph, is the so-called carriage-road before spoken
of, that was constructed by the father of the present Amin-es-
2 . Carriage Suit an in 1883-84, and was originally supplied or intended
to be supplied with a service of telegas and tarantasses
comfort, too, a series of magnificent tile-fronted caravanserais
(rented by the present Amin-es-Sultan) were erected at Aliabad
Manzarieh, and Kum, the distances being as follows : Teheran to
Huseinabad (six farsaMis ), Aliabad (eight), Manzarieh (five), Kum
(six) ; total, twenty-five farsakhs, or ninety-one miles. The carriage
service appears to have been a failure, or at least to have been
inadequately patronised from the start; but as this section of the
road has now been purchased from the Amin by the association who
are responsible for the new Teheran-Burujird-Shushter wagon-
road, there is a chance of its being properly organised and worked.
Now, however, occurs the interesting part of the story. Soon
after the construction of the new road, the havir of which I have
The new spoken, and across which ran the old caravan track be-
lolro ^
came covered with a salt lake of considerable size ; a
phenomenon which excited such general interest that it was visited
by the Shah, and received the honour of a description from the
royal pen in the ‘ Iran ’ of May 10 and 19, 1888, which was trans
lated by General Schindler and published with a map in the
Proceedings of the R.G.S. 1 His Majesty discreetly attributed the
formation of the lake to ‘ waters bubbling up in the havir like
fountains from underground; 5 but it must be added that other and
less fortuitous explanations prevail. According to one account, a
clam on the Kara Chai below the Pul-i-Dellak burst in 1883, so
tiat the waters of the river poured through the gap into the
epresbion of the kaiir. But according to another and the more
pio a e veision, the dam did not collapse of its own accord, but
was intentionally cut by the Amin-es-Sultan or his agents, in order
to swamp the old caiavail track, and force traffic and travellers on
to the new road and into the new caravanserais. Anyhow, there
s le a e, and as it now receives the overflow of two rivers,
1 Vol. x. (1889), pp. 624-638.
is evident from Mounsey, Journey through the
Re havir on March 28, 1866, and found it covered
ftei the me! ting of the snows.
the lake, or rather a lake on the spot, is not an
or 120 miles, in circumference This is a
2 /

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎477v] (965/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000a6> [accessed 5 April 2025]

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