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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [662v] (1341/1814)
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.
302
PERSIA
outlawed chieftain. They are still formidable in a country which
does not lend itself to the easy transport of guns. Of these
natural phenomena the most remarkable are two in the neighbour
hood of Shushter and Dizful. The Diz Asad Khan (so called
because it was the winter residence of that chief, and subsequently
of his son, Jafir Kuli Khan), is situated sixteen farsakhs, or two
days’ march, north-east of Shushter. Before belonging to the Haft
Lang, it was the stronghold of the Moguwi tribe, and was known
as Diz Malekan, or Fort of the Angels, from the idea that so
wonderful a place could only have been rendered accessible to man
by favour of the heavenly powers. Layard resided for several
days upon its summit, and described it as a rock, three miles
round, and ascended only by long ladders and holes in the cliff,
conducting to a lower platform, where were natural springs and a
collection of huts, a still higher platform being attained by an
equally precipitous climb. 1 The second Diz, known as Diz Shahi,
or Kaleh-i-Diz, was in Layard’s time the property of Kelb All
Khan, before mentioned, but passed, upon his death, to Husein
Kuli Khan. It is situated fifteen miles north-east of Dizful,
near the Ab-i-Diz, and consists of an elevated tableland, several
miles in circumference, on the summit of a hill, with perpendicular
sides, 150 feet sheer. A single pathway, partly hewn, partly built
out, conducts to the top, where are huts, caves, springs, and good
cultivated soil. Both of these hill-forts now belong to the
Ilkhani
The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran.
of the Bakhtiari tribes. A third and analogous diz is that of
Mungasht, which was the stronghold of the Atabegs in the Middle
Ages, and held out for nine months against the Mongol Hulaku
Khan. In the first half of this century it was the fastness of
Mohammed Taki Khan, and is said never to have been taken.
Like its fellows, it consists of a rock artificially scarped to a depth
of 150 feet, with a summit half a mile round, containing perennial
springs, and natural caves, capable of accommodating 1,000 men.
Similar hill-forts exist more to the south in the Mamasenni
country, notably that of Gul-i-Gulab, south of Behbehan, 2 and the
famous Diz-i-Sefid, which will be mentioned later on. Another
and different sort of diz is encountered in the canon of Arjanak,
in the north-west portion of the Bakhtiari mountains. There the
diz consists of a number of shallow caves piercing the perpendicular
1 Journal of the R.G.S., vol. xvi. pp. 16, 17; Early Adventures, vol. it
pp. 244-6. 2 De Bode, Travels, vol. i. p. 292.
4
A
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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 [662v] (1341/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x00008e> [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