![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎613v] (1241/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1255.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎613v] (1241/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [613v] (1241/1814)
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.
aie
PERSIA
campaign ^ or his victory over the Syrian king, Sitaiun. I incline to
some such hypothesis, from the resemblance of the head-dress of the
captives to that of the Bedouin tribes of Mesopotamia and Syria . 1
The superior elevation of the next bas-relief has fortunately saved
it from the aqueous disfigurement of the last, the channel in this case
merely cutting into the hocks and pasterns of the horses at
tablet • the base of the tablet. It is about sixteen to eighteen feet
Ormuzd high . 2 Two figures on horseback meet each other, that on
and Narses the presenting the royal circlet with streamers,
which the opposing figure holds out his right hand to receive. A
Pehlevi inscription in the right-hand corner, first deciphered by
M. Longperier , 3 contains these words :—
This is the image of the Ormuzd-worshipper, the God, Narses, King of kings
Arian and non-Arian, of the race of the Gods, the son of the Ormuzd-worshipper,
the God, Shapur, King of kings Arian and non-Arian, of the race of the Gods, the
offspring of the God, Artakshatr, King of kings.
We learn, therefore, that the figure of one of the horsemen is that
of NTarses, who reigned from 292 to 301 a.d., when he abdicated. He
has usually been supposed to be the son or brother of Yarahran II., i.e.
grandson or great-grandson of Shapur I., but here he calls himself the
son’of the latter monarch, and the grandson of Ardeshir or Artaxerxes.
It has been suggested by Thomas that this may possibly have been a
figure of speech on the part of Harses, in the desire to ignore the inter
mediate succession of less renowned monarchs ; but it appears to me
that we shall do well to let Narses speak for himself, and to accept his
own account of his parentage, in which there is no inherent impro
bability. Of the two figures, that on the right is doubtless the young
king. He wears a diadem, or spiked crown, with the conventional
globe rising above it. His hair is elegantly curled, and flows behind
his head in ringlets ; 4 his expression is mild and benign, and his short
beard is tied in a knot. The left hand figure, conferring the cydaris,
is doubtless that of Ormuzd. He wears the mural or turreted crown,
above and behind which emerge his bushy locks. The features are
well preserved, and the beard and hair are those of an older man than
his vis-a-vis. The twisted tail of his horse, the trappings of both
steeds, and the veins and muscles depicted on their forelegs are in
a wonderful state of preservation, and indicate no mean level of
1 Morier is very wide afield when he calls this ‘the commencement of a
hunting piece.’
2 Texier, vol. ii. pi. 148; Flandin and Coste, vol. i. pi. 52; Stolze, vol. ii.
ph 139. 3 Medailles des Sassanides, 1840.
4 It does, not, however, in the least resemble the stiff trim curls depicted by
Flandin and Coste, which are wholly imaginary.
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 [613v] (1241/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x00002a> [accessed 4 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