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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [486v] (983/1814)
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.
18
PERSIA
down keeps in the water ; but is pull’d up to let out the water over all
the neighbouring lands to the plains of Cachan. 1
When I passed in the early winter the bed of the lake was dry, and
such water as remained in the stream was frozen, for at this eleva
tion, about 7,000 feet, it was very cold. Other travellers have re
ported the reservoir as half-full, or full, with the water spilling over
the bund in a fine cascade. In January and February, after the
deep snows have fallen, the pass, which below Kuhrud has an alti
tude of 7,250, and further on, at its highest point, of 8,750 feet, is
Kuhrud
sometimes impassable.
Above this point the valley widens somewhat, and, about four
miles further on, encloses a succession of charming orchards thickly
planted with walnut, pear, plum, and apple trees, for the
fruit of which Kuhrud is famous. The sight of a little
timber was a welcome relief after the long leagues of bare plain
and brown mountain, and Kuhrud is to be congratulated on its
snug little inheritance, which in summer-time is considered a
terrestrial Paradise by the sentimental sons of Iran. Above the
terraced orchards is situated the village—a typical Persian mountain
hamlet of rude houses built one above the other in ascending tiers
upon the side of the hill, such as I had seen daily in Khorasan, but
not before in Central Persia. 2 The people of Kuhrud and Soh speak
a dialect or patois of their own, containing many archaic words and
idioms, and said by philologists to be closely allied to the Lur
dialect, to the Dari of Yezd, and to that of Sivend near Persepolis. 3
Thence for over twenty miles the track lies amid the spurs
and ramifications of the mountain range, climbing one ridge only
to reveal another beyond, and wearying the tired traveller
with the perpetual new vista of the same mountain maze.
At length the
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
and imposing Telegraph station of Soh
are reached, at a point where the ridge really begins to dip towards
the plain of Isfahan. A farsakh further are the village and post-
house of Bideshk. A descent among the lower undulations carries
us on to the flat, where a canter can be enjoyed for miles, a thin
streak of verdure in the distant hollow of the plain marking the
Hoad to
Isfahan
1 Voyages, lib. i. cap. vi.
2 I have called the place Kuhrud (i.e. Mountain River), vulg. Kohrud, which
appears to be the generally accepted name ; though Kahrud (i.e. Laughing River)
has been suggested, and is, perhaps, supported, by the Carou of Chardin.
3 Vide A. H. Schindler, ‘ Beitrage zum Kurdischen Wortschatze,’ in Zeit.
d. M. G., 1884.
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 [486v] (983/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000b8> [accessed 22 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