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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [561r] (1134/1814)
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.
137
PEKSEPOLIS, AND OTHER RUINS
sepulchres of their greater predecessors. These are four in number, and
with the exception of the second from the east, which is the tomb of
2 . Tombs Darius son of Hystaspes, their general features, both struc-
Kings at tural and decoratlv e, are so identical that one description will
Naksh-i- suffice for them all. 1 The Husein Kuh, which at its highest
point has attained an elevation of 800 feet above the plain,
sinks towards its western extremity to a height of from 200 to 100
feet, and finally even less ; and in its sheer front to one half or two-
thirds of the total height, and facing the valley were hewn by the
masons of the Great King the hollow rock-vaults that were to contain
the royal corpses. Outwardly, these present the appearance of a
gigantic cross, of somewhat stunted dimensions, which is cut to a
greater or less depth, according to the slope of the cliff, in the rock.
Each limb of the cross is the same in height, viz. 24 feet, or a total
height of 72 feet ’ but whereas the upper and lower segments are 35
feet in breadth, the central or transverse segment is 591> feet from end
to end. The bottom of the lowermost cutting is as a rule from 25 to
35 feet above the surface of the ground, and is all but inaccessible to
the climber, who requires to be hauled up thither, and still more to the
portal in the transverse limb, by the aid of a rope. It is by these
means, as I shall show, that the royal corpses were originally drawn
up; and that the numerous travellers who in this century have
examined the interiors of the tombs have been enabled to compass
their object.
Externally, the tombs present the following features. The lowest
segment of the cross is a bare cutting, 5 to 6 feet deep at the base.
External vertical at the back, and absolutely unadorned. Next comes
features the main or transverse limb, which contains the entrance to
the sepulchre. This takes the shape of a reproduction in rock-carving
of the facade of an Achsemenian palace. Four semi-detached bull-
headed columns rise from a platform, formed by the deeply recessed
incision into the cliff, and support a massive entablature, adorned with
an elegant moulding or cornice. Between the two central columns is
the doorway, framed in a case, the decorative treatment of the upper
or projecting part of which is an unmistakable loan from Egypt. The
door is divided outwardly into four compartments, the three uppermost
of which were never pierced, but are of the solid rock. The lowest
compartment, about four feet in height, was pierced for the entrance,
but was originally closed by a stone block hung upon a pivot. This
has in every instance now disappeared, and the aperture, which has
in some cases suffered violent mutilation, yawns blackly in the fa 9 ade.
1 For illustrations, ride Texier, vol. ii. pi. 135 ; Flandin and Coste, vol. iv.
pis. 169-73; Stolze, vol. ii. pis. 106, 107, 112.
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 [561r] (1134/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000087> [accessed 7 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