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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [523v] (1059/1814)
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.
72
PERSIA
The first of these that are encountered by a traveller coming from
the north are the remains of a great terrace 01 platform, built out from
the summit of a hill on the left-hand side ot the road, at about 300
yards distance. This is known as the Takht-i-Suleiman, or Thione of
Solomon, that potentate being the Persians synonym for any great un
known monarch of the past.” The terrace consists of a parallelogram,
two of the sides of which have recessed centres and projecting wings,
their dimensions being as follows : left wing 72 feet long, retiring
angle 54 feet, central recess 168 feet, corresponding returning angle 54
feet, right wing 48 feet, or about 290 feet in total length. The length
of the main front, facing towards the north-west, is about the same. Its
height is 381 f e et, and is composed of fourteen layers of stone. The
whole is built of great blocks of a whitish stone resembling marble, the
outer surface of which is rusticated—i.e. chiselled in low relief—at a
slight distance from the edge, exactly like the great blocks that are said
to have formed part of the substructure of the Temple at Jerusalem,
and that are kissed by the Jews in the Friday observance at the ‘Place
of Wailing. 5 So beautifully are the stones (of which Rich measured
one over fourteen feet in length 1 ) adjusted, that no mortar was used
between them. At most of the angles of junction deep holes have been
wantonly scooped in the blocks, in order to extract the metal clamps
(probably of iron and lead) by which they were originally held together.
These interstices are now the homes of crowds of pigeons. Many of
the blocks contain on their outer surface curious workmen’s signs ; and
it appears probable from the evidence of the upper part of the platform
and from the absence of any staircase, that it was never completed.
The outer facing has peeled or been stripped off from much of the
surface, and the character of the interior masonry, which is composed
of the blue limestone of the mountain, can clearly be seen. It seems to be
generally admitted that this platform must have been intended to support
and of the work of the various artists above mentioned, I append a table that may
be useful to the student:—
■
Subject of Plate
Texier (1840),
vol. ii.
PI. & Coste
(1841),
vol. iv.
Stolze (1878),
yol. ii.
Dieulafoy
(1881),
Part I.
Takht-i-Suleiman .
201-2
136
3, 4
Zindan, or Tomb .
85
200
135
5
General remains .
—
197
131
12-14
Inscriptions ....
—
199
133, 134
—
Bas-reliefs
—
—
137
—
Figure of Cyrus
84
198
132
17
Tomb of Cyrus
81-3
194-6
128. 129
18-20
1 Flandin said that some of the stones are fifteen to seventeen metres long;
but no one else has observed these.
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 [523v] (1059/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00003c> [accessed 4 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