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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [506v] (1025/1814)
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.
50
PERSIA
roadway of the bridge, twenty-four feet broad, is also flanked by a
covered nailery on either side, leading to the hexagonal pavilions, and
opening by a succession of arches on to the outer air. Finally, there
is a terrace-walk at the top, which was originally protected by a
double parapet and screens. The pavilions were once adorned with
rich paintings and gilding, and with panels containing inscriptions.
The decoration is now more jejune and vulgar ; and the spandrels of
the arches are mostly filled in with modern tiles. In olden days this
bridge was a favourite resort in the evening, where the young gallants
of Isfahan marched up and down, or sat and smoked in the embayed
archways overlooking the stream. Now it is well-nigh deserted
save in spring time, when the snows melt in the mountains, and in
a few hours theZendeh Rud is converted from a petty stream into a
foaming torrent. Then the good folk of Isfahan crowd the galleries
and arcades of the bridge, and shout with delight as the water first
rushes through the narrow sluices, then mounts to the level of the
causeway and spills in a noisy cascade down each successive stair
way or weir, and finally pours through the main arches, still split
ting into a series of cataracts, as it leaps the broken edges of the
dam. This is one of the annual holidays of Isfahan. Upon either
side of the Pul-i-Khaju are planted avenues, as in the case of the
approaches to the larger bridge ; but they have fared no better at
the hands of Time.
Lowest of the bridges of Isfahan, and at the distance of some
miles from th^ modern city, the Rul-i-Shehristan conducts to a
f village of that name which contains a very tall minaret,
Shelfr- but is otherwise in ruins ; although it was originally one
istan - ^ ^ t wo quarters of the earliest city and was the resi
dence of the nobles. The superstructure of the bridge is of brick,
and is apparently of later date than the foundations and piers, which
are of stone.
South of the Zendeh Rud, and a little to the west of the Pul-i-
Chehar Bagh, extends the once populous and still interesting
suburb of Julfa ; interesting because it is inhabited by a
J ui f a Christian colony nearly three hundred years old, because
it is the abode of all such Europeans as reside for business or other
purposes in Isfahan, and because it is the theatre of a missionary
effort directed by our own countrymen. After crossing the big
bridge we turn to the right, and are presently involved in a wilder
ness of intricate alleys, many of them closed at the end by wooden
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 [506v] (1025/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00001a> [accessed 10 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