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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [587v] (1189/1814)
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
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176 PERSIA
inscription remains to enable us to identify the monarch. Fergusson,
indeed, assumes that this is the earliest structure on the platform,
because it has ‘ a monolithic character of solidity and a massiveness of
proportion greater than that possessed by any other edifice , and he
conjectures that it may have been the work of Cyrus or Cambyses.
But it must be remembered, both that Fergusson never saw Persepolis
himself, and also that there is not anywhere the slightest trace of any
edifice or fabric on the platform prior to Darius. Indeed, it seems to
me certain that Cyrus and Cambyses were both in their graves before
the first stone of Persepolis was laid.
Returning towards the north, we arrive, immediately behind the
big mound that flanks the Palace of Darius on the east, at a build-
Central in g wMdp in the absence of any distinguishing mark or
Edifice inscription, has generally been called the Central Edifice. It
is of peculiar plan, and has afforded a welcome scope to the theorists.
It consists of three great doorways, on the inner surface or jambs of
which are chiselled the monarch, seated or standing under the royal
umbrella, with the image of the god Ormuzd floating in a winged halo
overhead. In the east doorway we meet with the first specimen that
we have hitherto encountered of a type that is very familiar on the
next ensuing building, viz. the king seated on a triple-staged throne,
supported by three rows of nine figures each, with uplifted arms a
variation of the scene already depicted on the tombs at ISTaksh-i-Rustam.
In the centre, between the north and south doorways, are the bases of
four columns. What may have been the object of this small but
remarkable structure it is impossible to say. Ker Porter, anxious to
do a good turn to the Holy Place school of thought, supposed it to be
the private oratory of the king, and the four plinths to be the bases of
a fire-altar. For this suggestion there is no support. Fergusson
thinks it was a second Propylsea, in front of the Palace of Xerxes.
It does not, however, resemble any of the other remains of porches ; and
does not either confront or lead to any other building, least of all the
Palace of Xerxes. I prefer therefore to classify it with the other
Persepolitan halls or palaces, and not to spin cobwebs in hypothetical
identification. . n
Finally we come to the last—and if we speak ot a hall itsell,
without adjuncts—the largest of the Persepolitan structures. This is the
building which, ever since its ground plan was ascertained
foo 1 ° f in the middle of the century, and with even greater precision
Columns gince t p e excaV ations of 1877-8, has been known as the
Hall of a Hundred Columns. It is situated on a lower level (identical
with that of the Porch of Xerxes) than the edifices recently described,
and is nearest of all the ruins to the mountain, from whose base it is
removed but a short distance. It consists of a single great hall, the
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 [587v] (1189/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000be> [accessed 12 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