Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [499v] (1009/1814)
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
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36
PERSIA
tambourines and castanets. The last pcture -pr-entsthe bat e
between Nadir Shah and Sultan Mahmud (mounted on a white
elelant) that decided the fate of Delhi. The colours and the
o-ildinff on these pictures retain an extraordinary vividness^
A porfrait of the reigning Shah has been added on the archway of
the roof between two of the ancient panels. The lower portion o
S great hall, as well as the walls of the side rooms, have been
painted an ugly green. There are four fire-places, wo on each of
he longer sides. In the past year (1891) the picture-gallery
his been turned into a species of conservatory, being filled with
flowering plants. Smaller cabinets originally opened out at eithei
end and were adorned with portraits of European ladies ant gen
tlemen of the days of Shah Abbas. All round the Chehel Situn
were, and I dare say still are, hung great curtains of needle-work
and brocade, which were let down against the sun. - ounsey m
1866 and Madame Dieulafoy in 1881, found the loggia employed
as a workshop for the tent-makers of the
Prince-Governor
A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925).
This
particular form of desecration has been abandoned ; ant qm e
recently (1891) I hear of the Zil-es-Sultan as sitting in daily
audience in one of the cabinets to receive the addresses or com
plaints of his astonished subjects. _ .
Among the other pavilions or courts in the palace enclosure,
which I have not the space more minutely to describe, may e
mentioned the Sar Puchideh (of which Coste publishes
pavilionT an engraving), a hall of which the octagonal pillars, en
crusted with glass, rest upon the shoulders of female figures m
marble, themselves holding lions’ heads which spout water into a
basin • the Imaret-i-Ashraf, or pavilion built by the Afghan usurper;
the Imaret-i-Nau, built for Path Ali Shah by the Amin-ed-Dowleh,
and containing many pictures of the king and his family ; 1 and the
Talar-i-Tavileh, or Hall of the Stables, a part of the palace now
used for official business.
On tire extreme western side of tire royal precincts, opening on
to the Ohehar Bagh, are a garden and building that merit a less
curt notice. These are the Hasht Behesht, or Eight
Behesht Paradises, a title which some writers have erroneously
ascribed to the eight gardens bordering on either side upon the
Ohehar Bagh. The name, which appears, like the Chehel Situn,
to be a numerical expression indicating size and splendour, was
1 Tf
.xroii riocnvihpfl bv Morier. First Journey,
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 [499v] (1009/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00000a> [accessed 18 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
![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎499v] (1009/1814) Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎499v] (1009/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1023.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)