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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [493v] (997/1814)
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.
28
PERSIA
Isfahan ; for here, in the hanking galleries, is dispensed the appalling
music at sundown which indicates the residence of royalty, and of
which I have already spoken at Teheran. 1 In the lower galleries,
looking out into the square, the people used to smoke and drink their
morning coffee; and here the paternally-minded Shah Abbas
deputed mullahs to entertain them with serious discourse. Above
the main arch, in a space still visible, but filled with modern tile-
work, was fixed a great clock (Tavernier alone calls it a sun-dial)
which, according to Olearius, was made by an Englishman named
Festy for Shah Abbas; but, the maker having been killed by a
Persian, it remained out of order ever afterwards. Above
the clock was a big bronze bell, which contained an inscription
round the edge: ‘ Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis mulieribus, 5 and
had, in fact, been wrested from a Portuguese nunnery at Ormuz.
It was never sounded, and nearly a hundred years ago was taken
down and melted for cannon. The clock survived till the begin
ning of this century, and was seen by Olivier in 1796 ; but in 1808
it was removed by Haji Mohammed Husein, Amin-ed-Dowleh, and
Beglerbeg of Isfahan under Path Ali Shah, on the pretext of re
pairing the fresco in the archway.
On the eastern side of the square stood, and still stands, the
Mosque of Sheikh Lutfullah, frequently called the Mosque of the
Mosque of Grand Pontiff, i.e. the Sadr or Chief Priest (Chardin
Lutfuiiaii. wrote it Cedre) of Isfahan. In modern times it seems to
have been less frequented than was once the case; but its dome is
still covered by the ancient enamelled tiles, with a flowing, almost
Florentine, pattern. A little beyond, or to the south of this,
formerly existed a tower, which the French writers called Pavilion
des Horloges, or des Machines, and which was built for the amuse
ment of Shah Abbas II. by some of his European artificers. It
contained a mechanical clock with marion^ettes and figures of
animals that moved. Not a trace of it now remains.
1 Chardin says it sounded at sunset and midnight; Sanson at noon, sunset,
and two hours after midnight; and on fete days almost all the day and night. A
passage in the Ghazaliat of Sadi seems to suggest a morning performance also :
‘ Till you hear in early morning from the Friday mosque, or from the door of the
Atabeg s palace, the noise of the big drum. Le Brun names the instruments
employed, and they have changed but little: ‘tambours, trumpets, tymbals,
clavecins, hautbois, drums, flutes, harps, cymbals.’ Thevenot says the trumpets
were over 8 feet long. The custom is referred by Persian MSS. to as far back
as the time of Alexander.
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 [493v] (997/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x0000c6> [accessed 5 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