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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [617ar] (1250/1814)
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
225
strata—a feeble parody of a ~kotal —alone remains; and we are
presently on the plain, where, skirting the mountain base, we
arrive in the course of a mile or two at the village of Daliki. The
last stage, which is called four farsakhs, and is a good fifteen miles,
had taken me five and a quarter hours to accomplish, for the most
part on foot.
Around the village of Daliki, which is small and wholly un
distinguished, grow a number of plants, known as gharh, which
also occur, and are called kalablab, between Shushter and
Dizful. The shrub grows to a height of seven to ten feet,
has large greyish leaves, and a flower which I did not see, but
which is said to be white and purple in colour. From the fibres
surrounding the seeds silk fabrics used to be made ; but the mate
rial is now used for stuffing cushions. Soon after leaving the
village, the road crosses a stream whose waters run an emerald
green from the sulphur with which they are impregnated; while
on the stagnant pools floats a bituminous scum. Sulphuretted
fumes also fill the air and invade the nostrils. The Rev. H. Martyn
described the place in 1810 as £ one of Nature’s ulcers ; 5 but the
acerbity of the metaphor may be attributed to the fact that when
the excellent missionary employed it his thermometer was standing
at 126°. A little below in the plain is a bitumen pit, from which
the natives have long been in the habit of collecting that substance,
principally as a prescription for the sore backs of camels, and for
the smearing of boat and roof timbers. It was for the working
of the petroleum springs suspected to exist here that a concession
was procured from the Persian Government, in 1884, by Messrs.
Hotz, of Bush ire. Their boring was unsuccessful ; but the ex
periment has since been renewed by the Persian Mining Rights
Corporation, whose engineers have sunk a bore to a depth of
over eight hundred feet, so far without much result, but who are
not likely to leave the region until its oleiferous capacities, be they
great or small, have been thoroughly tested. Several other
streams also flow here from the mountains; and the largest of
them meanders down to the plain, and is there lost in a feverish-
looking swamp. Bevond, a noble belt of date-palms supplies
relief to the eye, and a living to the villagers of Daliki.
The road presently strikes southwards towards a low swell of
hilly ground that still separates us from the sea-level; climbs this,
alternately rises and sinks in its undulations, and finally emerges
VOL. II. Q
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 [617ar] (1250/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/mirador/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000033> [accessed 4 April 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/33
- Title
- Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Questionby George Curzon, with Inserted Papers
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 4r:4v, 31r:32v, 433r:433v, 463r:463v, back-i, front-a, back-a, spine-a, edge-a, head-a, tail-a, front-a-i, 499ar:499av, 562ar:562av, 617ar:617av, 694r:694v, 710r:710v, back-a-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence