![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎539r] (1090/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1104.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎539r] (1090/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [539r] (1090/1814)
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.
FROM ISFAHAN TO SHIRAZ
97
beautiful than the capital of the Mamelukes. With the disappear
ance of local dynasties, and the centralisation of Persia, that fol
lowed upon the accession of the Sefavi line, Shiraz lost much of its
importance; although the rule of Imam Kuli Khan, the celebrated
Governor of Fais under Shah Abbas, invested it with almost the
distinction of a capital; while the subject rivalled his sovereign at
Isfahan in the beautification of his seat of government. The old
walls, seven miles round, were still standing in 1627, when Herbert
passed through the city ; but these had disappeared in the time
of Tavernier and Chardin • and the march of decay, assisted by a
severe inundation in 1668, had made such wholesale inroads that
both writers described Shiraz as little better than a ruin. So the
town remained for nearly a century, the ferocity of the Afghans
and the anarchy that attended the fall of Nadir, accentuating its
decline; until, in the hands of a second powerful and liberal-
minded viceroy, it enjoyed a bright spell of rejuvenescence. This
was Kerim Khan Zend, who, ruling at Shiraz as Yekil or Regent,
on behalf of a Sefavi puppet, from 1751 to 1779, was practically
sovereign of all Persia. He rebuilt the walls of stone, with
bastions, twenty-eight feet high and ten feet thick, dug a deep
fosse outside, and adorned the interior with a citadel and palace,
and with beautiful mosques, madressehs, caravanserais, and bazaars.
Indeed, whatever of stateliness or elegance remains in modern
Shiraz, may almost as certainly be attributed to Kerim Khan, as
in other Persian cities it must be to Shah Abbas; and the two are
among the few monarchs of Iran who have deserved well of their
country. After the death of Kerim Khan, there was a brief
revival of the halcyon days under the ill-fated Lutf Ali Khan, at
which time (1789) Sir Harford Jones, British Resident at Baghdad,
was the guest and friend of that unfortunate prince at Shiraz.
The triumph of the Kajars and their eunuch chieftain, Agha
Mohammed Khan, involved a sure retribution upon the capital of
the Zends. Its stone walls were levelled to the ground and
replaced by the present mean erections of mud; the ditch was
filled up; and Shiraz was degraded from the rank and appearance
of a capital to that of a provincial town. Its government, how
ever, remained an appanage of royalty, and has usually been held
by a member of the reigning family. Path Ali Shah was Governor-
General of Pars during his uncle’s lifetime. When Shah himself,
he deputed more than one of his sons to the post, one of these,
VOL. II. H
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 [539r] (1090/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00005b> [accessed 5 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00005b
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_100157213847.0x00005b">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎539r] (1090/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00005b"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1104.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