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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [554r] (1120/1814)
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.
123
i
PEBSEPOLIS, AND OTHER RUINS
surmounted by a sort of crest or knob. 1 His victorious antagonist, who
advances at full gallop from the left-hand of the panel, has lost his
features by mutilation, but wears a three-pointed diadem surmounted
by a crest or knob. On his shoulders and on the head of his horse are
tufts or ornaments similar to those before noticed. A gigantic quiver
hangs at his side. Both the king and his steed appear in parts to be
clad with coats of mail • behind the quarters of the latter the two
customary tassels fly in the air, and beneath its belly hangs a row of
metal discs or medallions. Behind the king appears his ensign, also on
horseback, carrying in this case a new variety of standard. It consists
of a staff, terminating in a cross-bar, crowned by three projections, 2
and with two tufts or tassels depending below. There is no prostrate
figure in this bas-relief. The spirit and reality of the combat are well
sustained, although it is curious that in this case, inverting the ordinary
error of proportion, the horsemen are too small for their steeds.
Proceeding westward, we come to another smoothed surface on the
rock, evidently prepared for a bas-relief which it has never received.
Sixth Hear the end of the bluff, and beneath the solitary pillar that
Varah- rises from its summit > tlie sixth panel is then reached. 3 Its
ran II. and dimensions are 17 feet by 8 feet, and it differs entirely, both
courtiers j n su l)ject and treatment, from any other of the Sassanian
sculptures. Chiselled on a convex, or projecting, surface of rock, it
follows the contour of the cliff. Nine figures stand in a row, of whom
five on the left-hand side and three on the right, facing respectively
towards the central figure, have their entire stature below the chest
concealed behind a species of barrier or pew. Those on the right wear
lofty caps or tiaras, are bearded and curled, and have the raised right
hand and forefinger. Of those on the left, two wear the pointed head
dress previously noticed as terminating in the head of an animal,
variously interpreted by writers as a lion, horse, or dog. One is bare
headed, but has thick curls. The two outermost are sculped round a
retreating angle of the rock. In the centre, in a gap or division
between the side-pews, 4 stands the king, fronting the spectator, although
his head is turned in profile over the right shoulder. He wears the
winged crown of Varahran II. (which also appears on one of the
1 Morier called it a Grecian helmet, and twisted it out of all verisimilitude
in his drawing.
2 Ker Porter foolishly sees in these a planetary reference.
3 Texier, vol. ii. pi. 134. (This is a very incorrect plate, inasmuch as the contour
of the sculpture is made concave, instead of convex.) Ker Porter committed a
different error by cutting off the king at the knees. Flandin and Coste, vol. iv.
pi. 188 ; Stolze, vol. ii. pi. 117.
4 I am by no means clear that this apparent barricade is not merely the pre
pared, but unsculped, surface of the rock, the lower part of the figures having
never been completed.
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 [554r] (1120/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000079> [accessed 2 April 2025]
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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