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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [605v] (1225/1814)
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.
204
PERSIA
5
h
been buttressed up, parapetted, and artificially paved with huge
boulders j 1 but whatever of soil there may once have been between
these having been washed out and having disappeared, the blocks
stand up like isolated reefs in the sea ; and down this hideous
stairway man and beast alike are compelled to scramble at
imminent peril of twisted ankle, if not of broken limb. My horse
jammed his foot between two stones and had a very nasty fall.
The descent of the Maiden on foot took me about an hour and a
half. From the summit of the Jcotal the plain of Kazerun had
unrolled itself to the eye, bounded at the nearer or south-east
extremity by an extensive lake, and stretching westwards to a
distant range of hills. The lake is known as Daria-i-Pirishum, or
Famur (from a village at its eastern end), and is the haunt of
innumerable wild fowl. It terminates in a dense fringe of reeds
and in swampy flats, which the sportsman eyes with enthusiasm,
and which he does not quit without ample return.
At the foot of the pass the track turns sharply round a pro
jecting angle of rock. Here in the recess of the mountain side is
a favourite camping-ground of the Mamasennkf or
nomads, who roam over the adjacent plains. Their black
goats’ hair tents w T ere pitched just under the cliff, and from the
women, who were unveiled, I procured some very acceptable milk.
The Mamasenn^ of whom I shall have more to say in a sub
sequent chapter on the South-west Provinces, were formerly in
veterate robbers, but were cowed into comparative innocence by
the truculent severity of the afore-mentioned
Prince-Governor
A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925).
of
Fars. The nomads of this camp had, I noticed, a peculiar method
of hiving honey. The hives consisted of a number of earthenware
jars or cylinders, in shape like a big drain-pipe, laid side by side,
and covered over with a thatch of thorns. The entrance was through
Nomads
1 From mjr reading I learn that this artificial causeway was first made by
the mother of Imam Kuli Khan, Viceroy of Fars under Shah Abbas, at which
time Thevenot says it was called Kotal-i-Oshanek, or Pass of the wild marjoram,
a name that still survives. At the end of the last century it was reconstructed
by H a ji Mohammed Husein, a wealthy merchant of Bushire, his motive being
variously described as philanthropic, and as strictly mercenary, and having rela
tion only to the losses previously incurred by accidents to his own caravans.
About 1820 it was put in thorough repair by Kelb Ali Khan, Governor of Kazerun,
and impressed Rich so greatly that he called it the Simplon of Persia ! It was
again repaired in 1834 by the mother of Timur Mirza, and in about 1870 by the
Mushir-el-Mulk, Vizier of Fars; since which date I should imagine that not a
penny has been spent upon it.
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 [605v] (1225/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x00001a> [accessed 21 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