![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎547r] (1106/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1120.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎547r] (1106/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [547r] (1106/1814)
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.
FKOM ISFAHAN TO SHIRAZ
111
enjoycd a good day s snipe-shooting, there being a great number of
biids. This marsh lies at the upper end of a valley, the lower
Salt lakes extremit y of is filled by the salt-lake of Maharlu,
some twenty miles in length, into which flows the stream
that irrigates the plain of Shiraz. Along its southern shore runs
the caravan-track to Sarvistan, Fasa, and Darab. 1 Further to the
north-east is the second largest lake in Persia, known as the
Daria-i-Nhiz, or Bakhtegan, which possesses a very indented and
fantastic outline, being almost divided into two lakes by a big
projecting promontory or island. Though the chief confluent of
this lake is the Bund-Amir, or Ivur river, which I have previouslv
traced from Persepolis, its waters, which are frequented by
flamingoes and wild fowl, are extremely salt, and, in dry seasons,
the desiccated bed is found to be covered with a thick saline
inciustation. It is doubtful, indeed, whether we ought to describe
this expanse of water as a lake, seeing that it is, in reality, only
an area under more or less permanent inundation. There is no
depth of water, Captain TFells having walked in for a quarter of
a mile without getting above his knees. It would appear from the
negative evidence of history that the lake cannot be of very ancient
origin * seeing that it is never mentioned by the ancient writers,
and that El Istakhri, in the tenth century, is the first to allude to
1 This route has been described by Dupre, Ouseley, Flandin, Keith Abbott,
Stolze, Dieulafoy, and Preece, whose works will be cited in the Table of Routes
at the end of this chapter. At ten miles from Sarvistan are the ruins of a great
building, whose central hall is covered by a dome, and which shows traces of
spacious side-galleries and courts. This is commonly supposed to have been a
Sassanian palace, but is credited by some with an Achsemenian origin. (Vide
Flandin and Coste, vol. i. pis. 28-9, Canon G. Rawlinson’s Seventh Great Oriental
Monarchy, cap. xxvii., and M. Dieulafoy, IJArt Antique de la Verse, pt. iv.
pis. 1-8). At Fasa there are no/remains of antiquity, with the exception of a
big mound, apparently artificial, styled Tell-i-Zohak (Flandin and Coste, pi. 30).
At Darab, or Darabjird, in addition to the ruined rampart or Kaleh-i-Darab before
mentioned, there is a great Sassanian bas-relief, like those of Naksh-i-Rustam and
Shapur, representing the monarch on horseback above a prostrate figure, conferring
the crown of Valerian upon the obscure Cyriadis (ibid. pi. 31). There is also
a vast underground hall hewn in the mountain, and divided into aisles by solid
pillars. This is now known as the
Caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
Dub, but is supposed to have been
originally a rock-temple. It contains neither sculptures nor inscription. (Ibid.
pis. 31-3.)
2 Vide Sir W. Ouseley (1811), Travels, vol. ii. cap. viii. ; Keith Abbott (1850),
Journal of the B,. G.S., vol. xxvii.; and Capt. H. L. Wells (1881), Ibid. Proceedings,
(new series), vol. v. pp. 138-144.
a .j , L A&o ^ - 07 ^ - ,
W ; U y d~T^L f /f /~ "<1
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 [547r] (1106/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00006b> [accessed 7 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00006b
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_100157213847.0x00006b">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎547r] (1106/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00006b"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1120.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