![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎481v] (973/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0985.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎481v] (973/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [481v] (973/1814)
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.
10
PERSIA
with tiles of China, painted a la Moresca, and overspread with cloth of
gold that hangs down to the ground on every side. It is enclosed with
a gate of massy silver, ten foot high, distant half a foot from the tomb,
and at each corner crowned as it were with large apples of fine gold.
Several breadths of velvet, hung about the inside of the gate, hide it
from the view of the people, so that only favour or money can procure
a sight of it. Over the tomb, about ten foot in height, hang several silver
vessels, which they call candil, being a sort of lamp. But they never
light up any fire therein, which they are not made to hold, nor any
sort of Liquor, as not having any bottom. Upon the grate hang several
inscriptions in Letters of gold upon thick velloms, as large as a large
sheet of paper, which inscriptions contain the elegies of the saint and
her family. 1
It is when he ascends the twelve marble steps that the pilgrim
removes his shoes, and leaves behind his staff or his arms. Then,
as he enters, he kneels and kisses the threshold. Again he kisses
the silver rails, through which he peers at the shrouded sarco
phagus ; he breathes the prescribed prayers; and with further
genuflection and salutations, and fees to the hovering mullahs, he
retires. He is one step nearer to heaven.
Foi its present splendour of golden cupola and tile-encrusted
minars the shrine is indebted to the reigning family. In his
Restora- early life Path Ali Shah registered a vow that should he
evei succeed to the throne, he would enrich Hum, and
lelieve its people of taxation. It is more than doubtful whether he
ever carried out the latter pledge, though he gave the city and
district as a private estate to his mother; but his promise as to the
shrine was amply redeemed. He stripped off the tiles with which
the dome had hitherto been covered, and replaced them with
plates of gilt copper , he erected a neighbouring madresseh or
religious college, with endowments and quarters for 100 students;
he built at Hum a hospital and a mehman-hhaneh or inn ; he was
said to have spent 100,000 tomayis annually upon the shrine; when
he visited it, he always came on foot; and when he died, hard by
ns body was by his orders laid to rest. In more recent times a
second dome has been gilt; a clock was erected by one of the
royal princes, who was Governor of Hamadan; and the glittering
elegance of the large court into which I gazed was due, as I heard,
1 Travels of Sir J. Chardin, p. 394. Fraser, however, in 1821 (Journey into
wT and 7 P 'to 1 Tfeeth'h^ Th ^ enCl ° Sed in a sanda ^ood box, 12 feet
gy 8, and 7 to 8 feet high. The silver grating is still there.
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 [481v] (973/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ae> [accessed 7 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ae
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_100157213846.0x0000ae">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎481v] (973/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000ae"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0985.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