![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎481r] (972/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0984.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎481r] (972/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [481r] (972/1814)
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.
/
l
<£i
A ■ f
FROM TEHERA.N TO ISFAHAN
9
tilth-*
dispensed a considerable trade ; and the shrine was added to and
adorned by the devout munificence of successive sovereigns.
Chardin said that in his day the city contained ‘ 15,000 houses,
as the people say; 5 but a measure, both to our own credulity and
to the local hyperbole, is set by the earlier Herbert and the later
Le Brun, who unite in crediting it with only 2,000 houses, albeit
these were ‘ wel-built, sweet, and wel-furnished.’ In 1722 it
found in the Afghans an even more savage enemy than it had
experienced in Timur, and was all but destroyed. A century later
Fraser still described it as ‘ a wretched mass of ruins.’ Its popu
lation was estimated as 4,000 in 1872, and as 7,000 in 1884; and
when later lists have returned it as 20,000 to 30,000 persons, I
imagine that the discrepancy is to be reconciled by regarding the
smaller total as the permanent, and the higher as the fluctuating
population, which is much swollen by pilgrims.
From the seventeenth century onwards Kum has been in high
favour as the sepulchre of many of the Persian kings. Here
Royal repose the bodies of Shah Sefi I., Shah Abbas II., Shah
tombs Suleiman, and Shah Sultan Husein of the Sefavi dynasty ;
and here, among the Kajar monarchs, have been laid the remains
of Fath Ali Shah (with two of his sons) in a separate building in
the outskirts of the town, and of Mohammed Shah. Other
sovereigns must also have been interred in the same spot; for the
Persian records speak of the graves of 444 saints and princes,
and of ten kings. Over their bodies, enshrined in magnificent
sarcophagi of alabaster, of marble and ivory, of ebony, and camphor
wood inlaid, which are covered with rich draperies, mullahs day
and night read passages from the Koran. But of small account, it
may be imagined, in the pilgrim’s eyes, is even the royal dust,
compared with that of the Lady Fatima herself.
Chardin, Tavernier, Le Brun, and others have given minute
descriptions or illustrations of the principal shrine; of which
Shrine of Herbert obscurely remarks that 4 the mesquit is of
Fatima Epirotique form.’ It is preceded by several courts, the
outermost of which is planted with trees. I rom the inner oi
principal quadrangle twelve marble steps lead up to the enclosure
containing the saint’s tomb. Three large doors, one of which is
overlaid with silver plates, open into an octagonal chamber beneath
the gilded dome.
In the midst of that chappel stands the tomb of Fatima, overlaid
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [481r] (972/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ad> [accessed 17 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ad
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ad">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎481r] (972/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ad"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0984.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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