![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎531v] (1075/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1089.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎531v] (1075/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [531v] (1075/1814)
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.
86
PERSIA
Bund-Amir, after the Polvar has joined it in the plain of Mervdasht
in front of Persepolis. I think, however, it will be seen that this
mistake is in itself corroborative of our theory, inasmuch as Strabo
has merely transferred to an upper branch of the river the name which
the whole of it bears lower down ; a mistake which is also found in
later writers, who have compounded the Kur-ab with the Pur-ab,
which is the old Persian name for the Polvar. Moreover, Strabo s
classification of the rivers of Central and Southern Persia in geo
graphical sequence, as the Choaspes, Coprates, Pasitigiis, Kuros,
Araxes and Medus, makes it clear that the Kuros is to be sought in
this neighbourhood, and not, as the hostile school would havens believe,
in the south-east, near Darabjird. (3) There is, in the descriptions of
both Strabo and Arrian, every indication that Persepolis and Pasargadse
were situated at no great distance from each other. Arrian relates
that Alexander (in 331 B.C.), marching from Susa and the Pasitigns
(Karun) through the territory of the Uxii, fought and won a great
battle, and then advanced in hot haste to Pasargadse, where he seized
the treasure of Cyrus, continuing from thence to Persepolis. This
exactly tallies with the situations of Murghab and Persepohs. Strabo
says of Alexander that, after burning the palace at Persepolis, etr es
Hao-apydSas rjxe, ‘ then he came to PasargadaC Again Arrian, describ
ing his return march from India, in 324 B.C., depicts him as leaving
Hephsestion and the bulk of his army to march along the coast from
Carmania, while he himself, with a detachment of light-armed troops,
‘came to the borders of Persis and so to Pasargadse,’ and thence to
Persepolis, the two names being bracketed in the same sentence (ws Se
€9 IlacrapydSag re kcu e 9 UeporcTroXiv d^tKero), an almost certain index of
proximity.
It being clear, therefore, to my mind that in the valley of the Polvar
was fought the battle that made Cyrus the master of Persia, and it
being certain that in that valley he built a royal city and palace, and
called it Pasargadse, where he was ultimately buried, and that name
having also been shown to be already connected with the locality, and
the remains of a palace indubitably erected by Cyrus, because inscribed
with his own name, having also been shown to exist there, as. well as
a tomb answering to his sepulchre, I am brought to the conclusion that
the ruins of Murghab are the very Pasargadse which Cyrus built, and
that the Tomb of the Mother of Solomon is the very sepulchre where
his body lay.
What, however, are the counter-propositions that have mnuenced
the vote of the learned authorities before mentioned ? They are of a
two-fold source, being derived partly from discrepancies in the classical
writers, partly from the evidence of the cuneiform inscription at Bisitun.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [531v] (1075/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00004c> [accessed 5 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00004c
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00004c">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎531v] (1075/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00004c"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1089.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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