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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [575v] (1165/1814)
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.
158
PERSIA
column has fallen, and parts of its segments lie embedded in the soil.
The capital and small pieces of the shaft of the corresponding left-
hand column are similarly buried. In Chardin’s time all four were
standing. Stolze thinks that the topmost capitals of these pillars were
shaped in the form of a horse ; but I see no reason for supposing that
they terminated in anything else than the familiar bull-headed capital
of the composite Achsemenian column, like their counterparts in other
contemporary fabrics.
This hall leads to a second or corresponding gateway on the eastern
face, where, similarly projecting from the side and fronts of two massive
Second stone piers, another pair of colossal monsters look towards
gateway the mountain. Their character and physiognomy, however,
differ from their pendants on the western face, and indicate a closer
adherence to the Assyrian prototype. The bodies and the legs are
a o-ain those of bulls, massive, masculine, majestic ; but above their
backs rise lofty wings, sweeping upwards into the air (instead of being
laid back, as in the case of the Assyrian colossi), with the plumes
exquisitely carved in high and seemingly imperishable relief. A second
and more striking difference is that these colossi are or were human-faced.
The pickaxe of the destroyer has mutilated their features out of all mas
culine appearance ; but the great ringleted beards still depend intact
upon the stalwart chests ; earrings hang from their ears ; bunches of
hair frame heavily the vanished faces ; and the heads are crowned by
lofty tiaras, terminating at the summit in a fringe or coronet of
feathers, while circular bands, curling upwards m the shape of horns,
adorn the front. The bewilderment and obfuscation which appear m
equal decree to have been excited in ancient travellers by these
remarkable monsters are well illustrated in the description of the
excellent Dr. Fryer, two centuries ago
Being entred the Pomaarium of Cambyses Hall, at the Hall Gates we en-
countred two horrid Shapes both for Grandeur and Unwontedness, being a 1 in
Armour of Coat of Mail, striking a Terror on those about to intrude; then
Countenances were of the fiercest Lions, and might pass for such had not huge
Wings made them flying Gryffons, and their Bulk and Hinder Parts exceeded the
largest Elephants. 1
Why the bull-headed colossi should have been turned towards the
nlain or the main front of the platform, and the winged and man-
headed bulls, which are infinitely more imposing, towards the mountain,
is a problem which, so far as I know, no one has discussed, and which
o one is likely to solve. Similar panels of cuneiform inscription
, „ m. - “s*
M Scyt'emWems of the mythical Kaiomurs. Of course, the truth is simply
that the artist had been in Babylon or in Assyria.
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 [575v] (1165/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000a6> [accessed 10 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