![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎495r] (1000/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1014.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎495r] (1000/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [495r] (1000/1814)
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 29
In the centre of the southern or narrow end of the Meidan
stands the Musjid-i-Shah or Royal Mosque of Isfahan. Erected on
Musjid-i- Slte of » melon-garden in 1612-18 by Shah Abbas
si-h. an d originally intended as the Musjid-i-Jama or Friday
Mosque, it cost over 175,000Z., and was from the beginning one of
the noblest fabrics in the city. Shah Sefi I. covered its doors with
silver plates. Inside were preserved the blood-stained shirt of the
martyred Husem, and a Koran written by the Imam Reza It has
been many times restored, notably by Nadir Shah, after the
Afghan usurpation, and again by Ali Murad Khan A lofty
archway framed in a recess, embellished with interior honey
comb groining in enamelled faience, surrounded by tile in
scriptions from the Koran, and flanked by two minarets with
spiral bands of similar ornamentation, leads from the Meidan
through a porch, containing a great vase or font of porphyry, into
the inner court. Here the peculiar construction of the Mosque,
already visible from the exterior, is fully apparent. The axis of
the Meidan being almost due north and south, the architect
lequired to incline the axis of the mosque considerably to the
south-west, in order that the mihrab or prayer-niche might be
turned in the direction of Mecca. This purpose was effected by
architectural means that are at once grandiose and simple. The
ninei couit, maible-paved and containing a great tank for ablutions
in the centre, is surrounded by a two-storeyed arcade, undecorated
save by bands of Kiific inscription in tile-work, white letters upon
a blue ground. The arches are kept for the accommodation of
priests and attendants. On either side rises a lofty tile-faced aiivan,
a mighty arch in which opens access to a space covered by a low
dome. The only Europeans of whom I know as having penetrated
beyond this quadrangle into the mosque itself, were J. S. Bucking
ham in 1816, and E. Plandin in 1840.' Opposite the entrance a
third aiwan, flanked by minarets, conducts into the mosque proper,
which is surmounted by the principal cupola, whose exterior,
covered with exquisite tiles containing patterns in dark blue and
green arabesque on an azure ground, is one of the principal land-
1 Admirable plans, elevations, and restorations of the entire building have
been published by Ch, Texier, L’Arme/ne, la Perse, &c., vol. i. pis. 70-72; and
P. Coste, Monuments Modernes de la Perse. Mme. Dieulafoy borrows from these
works without acknowledgment; but was herself admitted on to the roofs of the
buildings looking down into the great court.
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 [495r] (1000/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000001> [accessed 14 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