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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [556v] (1125/1814)
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.
1:28
PERSIA
a considerable height from the ground. 1 Flandin and Coste speak of
this supplemental tablet as a discovery on their part, apparently
unconscious that it had been described both by Morier and Ouseley
thirty years before.
By far the best-preserved of the trio, although the faces in it have
been hacked to pieces, is the concluding panel, on the left-hand side of
the recess. 2 Its dimensions are also greater, being 23
tablet : feet in length by 14^ feet in breadth. Shapur I.
Shapurand r ^ es upon the scene, followed by nine of his princi-
bodyguaid ^ bodyguard, whose pose and stature are accommodated to
the configuration of the rock. The perspective is extremely faulty,
and there are the errors of disproportion so universal in the Sassanian
sculptures \ y^t for a certain solemn dignity, and also as a likeness of
contemporary dress and arms, this panel has a peculiar value. The
king wears the globular crown, the curled hair, the tunic fastened with
a clasp on the left breast, the clinging jersey, and the streaming shulwctjrs,
with which we are now so familiar. The charger is lifelike, and its
trappings are carefully executed. His followers, with one exception,
wear high round-topped caps or tiaras, upon which are symbols, supposed
to be indicative of rank. Three are on foot, and stand leaning upon
their long, straight swords ; the rest are mounted. The identity of the
main figure is left in no doubt by an inscription, inPehlevi and Greek,
first deciphered by He Sacy, upon the chest of the kings horse, 0 theie
being another inscription close by, on the smooth rock. It runs as
follows
This is the image of the Ormuzd-worshipper, the god, Shapur, King of kings
Arian and non-Arian, of the race of the gods, son of the Ormuzd-worshipper, the
God, Artakshatr (Ardeshir), King of kings Arian, of the race of the gods, the
offspring of the god, Papak, the king.
Before taking final leave of the Sassanian sculptures of Naksh-i-
Rustam and Naksh-i-Rejeb, let us endeavour to sum up our
impressions upon the phase of art which they represent. Its
Cuticism c | e £ ects 0 f proportion, design, and treatment are on the
surface, and are very apparent. There are a clumsiness and a ponder
ous solidity about the forms and movements, except in the panels of
equestrian combat, that produce a sense of fatigue ; and a want of
that higher imagination that at once idealises and impresses. Yet, for
all that we may observe in the work of the Sassanian artists a decided
originality of conception,. and a consciousness of the dignity of art.
1 Texier, vol. ii. pi. 142 ; Flandin and Coste, vol. iv. pi. 190 ; Stolze, vol. n.
pi 104 * Thomas, Early Sassanian Inscriptions, pp. 30-1.
P ' 2 Texier, vol. ii. pi. 139 ; Flandin and Coste, vol. iv. pi. 191; Stolze, vol. in
pi 102 (very unsuccessful); Dieulafoy, pt. v. pi. 17.
' 3 gtolze, vol. ii. pi. 103 ; Thomas, Early Sassanian Inscriptions.
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 [556v] (1125/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x00007e> [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