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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [483r] (976/1814)
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.
FROM TEHERAN TO ISFAHAN
11
to a restoration by the late Amin-es-Sultan. In one of the
sanctuaries is an inscription to Ali, the refreshing originality of
which entitles it to be quoted. It runs thus : ‘ Oh, inexpressible
man ! By thee, in truth, is Nature enriched and adorned ! Had not
thy perfect self been in the Creator’s thought, Eve had remained
for ever a virgin, and Adam a bachelor.’
Kum is indeed the possessor of a situation that might appear,
at first sight, to recommend it for the capital city of Persia. It
stands upon a river ; it occupies a very central position ;
and it is the meeting-point of many important roads,
from Teheran, from Kazvin, from Sultanabad and Burujird, from
Yezd, and from Isfahan. It contains one of the two only inns or
hotels in Persia that are worthy of the name,—a fine building
standing in close proximity to the mosque. On the other hand,
although there is a river, the water-supply is inadequate for a great
city ; and the heat in summer is excruciating. The city has been
famous in past and present times chiefly for its melons and
cucumbers, its armourers, its shoemakers, and its long-necked
earthenware jars for cooling water. Of the last-named Chardin
observed:—
This is peculiar to the white ware which is thence transported, that
in the summer it cools the water wonderfully and very suddenly by
reason of continual transpiration. So that they who desire to drink
cool and deliciously never drink in the same pot above five or six days
at most. They wash it with rose water the first time, to take away
the ill smell of the Earth ; and they hang it in the air full of water,
wrapt up in a moist linen cloth. A fourth part of the water transpires
in six hours the first time, after that, still less from day to day, till at
last the pores are closed up by the thick matter contained in the water
which stops in the pores. But so soon as the pores are stopped, the
water stinks in the pots, and you must take new ones.
As might be expected from so holy a place, the population
contains a large number of seyids —fanatics inured to long
impunity of conduct—and is much addicted to bigotry
1 1 and superstition. No Jews or Parsis live here; and
English ladies, resident in the Telegraph offices, have usually found
it prudent to veil in public. These superstitions are now dying
fast throughout the East; but Kum is one of the places where an
accidental spark might still be fanned into a disagreeable flame.
Its title of Ear-el-Am an or Seat of Safety is an indication that its
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 [483r] (976/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000b1> [accessed 11 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