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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [567r] (1148/1814)
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.
PERSEPOLIS, AND OTHER RUINS
147
of an older fashion of interment which may have disappeared after
the first rock-tomb had been hewn by order of Darius. M. Perrot,
with whose reasoning I am fortunate in finding myself in harmony,
carries the argument a step further, and infers that, if the Zindan
at Pasargadse was, as suggested by Dieulafoy, the mausoleum of
Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, so its counterpart at Naksh-i-Rustam
may have been that of Hystaspes, the father of Darius.
Before finally leaving the Husein Kuh, there remain to be noticed
a few other relics, two among them far from unimportant, that occur
Fire-altars ^ the western extremity of the ridge. Upon a bluff of the
cliff stands a solitary shaft, hewn out of the solid rock,
without either base or capital, five and a half feet high, and one and a
half feet in diameter. It does not appear to have belonged to any
building, but may have fulfilled some memorial or votive object. Hard
by, on the top of the rock, there are some squared and levelled spaces
ascended by low steps, which are conjectured to have served as dakhmas
or platforms of exposure for the dead. Sixty yards round the corner
of the cliff, where it turns in a northerly direction, two unmistakable
fire-altars, of unequal dimensions, are encountered, situated side by
side upon, or rather hewn out of, a projecting mass of rock, thirteen
feet above the plain . 1 They are respectively five and a half and five feet
high, and four and a half feet square at the base, and taper inwards
towards the summit to a square of three and two-thirds feet. Their sides
are shaped in the form of filled-in arches, with an engaged column at
each corner. A sort of parapet runs round the top, which is excavated
into a hollow for the fuel, one foot in width and eight inches deep
This form of altar does not exactly correspond with, but is, neverthe
less, not materially different from, those with which we have been made
familiar by rock-carvings and coins ; and it is not unlikely that this
interesting pair are the oldest Mazdean relic in Persia. A little further
on, Morier speaks of a number of holes or windows, of various sizes
but of the same pattern, with inscriptions over them, hewn in a recess
of the mountain . 2 I did not see them myself ; but Ker Porter who
did, found no trace of the alleged inscriptions.
We have now completed our examination of the monuments cn the
north side of the Mervdasht plain, and may wend our way towards the
8 . Ruins great palace-platform, which is our present goal, and its
on the everlasting glory, noticing en route a few scattered relics that
plain still exist outside the area of Persepolis itself. These are
three in number. On the plain to the north of the platform, about
half way between it and Naksh-i-Rustam, and nearly opposite Naksh-
1 Flandin and Coste, vol. iv. pi. 180; Stolze, vol. ii. pi, 114 .
2 First Journey, p. 128.
l 2
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 [567r] (1148/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000095> [accessed 4 July 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