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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [584v] (1183/1814)
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.
cerns equally all the edifices upon the platform, lirstly, then, what
was the character and object of this building ? It is too small to have
Character been a public hall of audience. On the other hand, the sur-
of building rounding chambers and apartments appear to suggest the
attributes of a residence. Those only who entertain the outworn
fallacy that Persepolis was a collection of sanctuaries or palace-temples,
will aoree with Fergusson that they may have been ‘ devoted to priestly
mysteries, perhaps chapels.’ There is no ground whatsoever for such
a belief. On the other hand, if, as is now generally supposed, this was
the private residence of the king, on the occasion of his annual visits
to Persepolis (and we can well understand the advantages of a southern
outlook in the doubtful warmth of an early Persian spring-tide), I
nevertheless cannot credit, from what I have seen or read of Eastern
modes of life, that anything like sufficient accommodation can have
existed here both for the monarch, for his necessary guards and
attendants, and for the royal harem . 1 I should feel disposed therefore
to think that it must have been the official residence of the sovereign,
where he transacted his private business, ate his meals, or ell joyc<
repose • but that the manifold equipage and accompaniment of the
seraglio the wives, concubines, female slaves, nurses, children and
eunuchs—must have been accommodated in some other and neighbour-
& The second and wider question is that of the nature and material
of the walls, that must unquestionably have united the still surviving
n *' doorways, niches, and windows, not in this palace only, but
ofwalls 1 i n the other edifices on the platform that present simi ar
features. I say unquestionably, not merely on « priori grounds, but
because on the inner sides and surfaces of the stone monoliths just
mentioned are unmistakable traces of their original juncture with walls
: =Tr -
. K nn vpnrq before ‘(He built it) upon four rows of cedar pillars, wit
monarch 500 ye • ( ^ with cedar above upon the
cedar beams upon the row . And there were windows in
beams, that lay three ranks. And all the doors and
three rows, ^^^“e windows And he made a porch of pillars, and the
posts were squa ^ p n fh P r nillars and the thick beam were before
porch was before them, and 1 ^ even the
them. Then he made a to tlm throne, w^ ^ ^ ^ ^ to
porch of judgmen an ano ther court within the porch,
the other, house-here ^on als0j an honse for p harao h's
ShteTwhl he ^ taken to wife, like unto this porch ’ d Kings vii. 1-8).
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 [584v] (1183/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000b8> [accessed 4 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