Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [505r] (1022/1814)
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.
? ^ le enti re
,ntral Piers,
8 Panted i a
‘ transverse
la m arches,
* s Pan, and
• There i s
the vaulted
’ ve , and the
1 upper part
ie . When I
lithe arches;
j were com-
which m®
i the shallow
/h f nJU. X*Grf 2 £j
FROM TEHERAN TO ISFAHAN
47
neaily 2-2 miles. This avenue was laid out in the same style as
the Chehar Bagli, being* planted with rows of trees and adorned
by channels filled with water, that fell from tier to tier and at
regular intervals expanded into larger basins or pools. On either
side also weie situated the palaces and mansions of the princes or
grandees 5 whilst at the upper end was a royal enclosure, known as
the Hazar Jerib or Thousand Acres . 2 This great pleasaunce was
laid out in teiraces, built on stone walls one above the other, and
adorned with alleys and canals. It was Crown property, but was
apparently open to the public. The surrounding enclosure was
utilised as a game preserve, and we read in Olearius of wild asses
being hunted there by the king. Of the Hazar Jerib not a trace
now remains; whilst the southern avenue is far more ruined even
than the Chehar Bagh, and speaks only in choked and faltering
accents of its vanished glory.
Three hundred yards below the Bridge of Julfa, and at about
the same distance above the Pul-i-Khaju, the river is crossed by
Pul-i- the Pul-i-Jhubi , 3 a plain brick bridge of fourteen uni
form arches, which was constructed as an aqueduct to
convey water to the Palace of Haft Best on the southern bank.
Hence the origin of the name jui, vulgo, jub, signifying a water
course. In the company of its splendid neighbours it excites no
attention.
The suburb upon the southern bank at this spot was originally
known as Guebristan, from being inhabited by the Zoroastrians;
nut Best ground was cleared by Abbas II., and converted
and Aineh- into a royal residence, which he designated Sadetabad, or
Abode of Felicity, and where he kept his seraglio. The
bank of the river from the Pul-i-Khaju upwards was lined with
gardens, and by means of the sluice-gates at the lower bridge the
king was in the habit of damming up the river, till it formed a
great lake before the talar known as the Aineh-Khaneh, upon
which he disported himself in boats with his ladies, and which at
1 Le Bran’s measurements were not broadly different—1,751 + 540 + 2,015 =
4,336 yards.
The jerib was a land measurement, amounting to 1,000 to 1,066 Persian square
yards (of 41*34 inches). The total of 1,000 was, however, a numerical title, and
must not be taken to indicate the actual area.
3 The name is spelt Pul-i-Choop by Price, Pul-i-Joole by Binning. Most writers
have ignored the existence of the bridge, which has also been called the Bridge
of Sadetabad, because it led from that quarter.
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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- 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