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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [605r] (1224/1814)
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.
FROM SHIRAZ TO BUSHIRE
i
203
otherwise than dismount and descend on foot, albeit the Persian
mules are generally surefooted and reliable. The same could not
be said of my little horse or yabu, which came down repeatedly.
Rather more than half-way down the Old Woman, on a peak or
platform of rock, is situated the
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
of Mian Kotal (or
Mid-Pass), which has afforded rest and shelter to many a weary
mule and cursing muleteer since travelling days began. From
here can be seen outspread below' a valley, five miles in length by
from one to two in width, thickly sown with dwarf oaks, and known
as the Dasht-i-Barm. The descent to the level occupies another two
miles, and an hour is then spent in traversing the valley from end
to end. I had read in previous books of the sylvan delights of
this grove of oaks, and had pictured to myself a joyous ride over
soft sward, under the shade, and between the gnarled boles of the
noblest of trees. The oaks, it is true, are there ; but sward and
shade there are none. The road is a desolate track of stones, and
the trees stand far too wide apart to afford any overhead canopy . 1
At the end of the valley the track turns sharply to the left, makes a
slight ascent, and then, at the crest of the ridge, where a further
valley and a new landscape simultaneously open, discloses a steep
and hideous descent, known to fame, or infamy, as the Kotal-i-
Dokhter, or Pass of the Maiden.
I do not know if the dolMer in question (the same word as the
English daughter) is supposed to have been allied by the filial tie
Pass of the to the Old Woman whom I have already described; but
Maiden from the strong family likeness between the pair, I feel
justified in assuming the relationship. As I descended the
Daughter, and alternately compared and contrasted her features with
those of the Old Woman, I fear that I irreverently paraphrased a
well-known line,
O matre keda filia Isedior !
The Kotal-i-Dokhter is shorter than the Kotal-i-Pir-i-zan, but its
steepest part is undeniably steeper, there being a sharp zigzag
descent of 700 feet in the perpendicular, and a further drop of the
same extent before the plain of Kazerun is reached. Furthermore,
as though the paving of nature was not bad enough, man has
stepped in to make it worse. In many places the road has
1 The acorn of this oak (called belut), which is very long and large, is pounded
by the natives into a flour, kneaded up with barley meal, and baked into thin
cakes of bread.
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 [605r] (1224/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000019> [accessed 5 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