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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [665v] (1347/1814)
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.
308
PERSIA
Less than a century and a half later the second Shushan sprang
into existence under the magnificent hand of Lai ins, son of H\s-
taspes. There, ‘ at Shushan, in the palace, which is in the province
of Elam,’ 1 Daniel saw the vision of the ram with the two horns.
Thence ran the Royal Road to Sardis, by which Xerxes started
forth for Greece. There the beauty of Esther the Jewess shone
upon the vision of Ahasuerus (Xerxes 01 Aitaxeixes). Theie
were received the ambassadors and refugees from Greece, in whose
eyes Susa was, far more than Persepolis or Ecbatana, the true capital
of the Empire. There /Eschylus laid the scene of his tragedy of
the Per see. Shushan was in fact the winter palace of the Achas-
menian sovereigns. About it stretched a great city, whose walls
were compared by Strabo to those of Babylon. It was bisected by
the river Choaspes (Kerkhah) the water of which was borne in silver
vessels to the table of the King of Kings. It was upon this
splendid structure of royal pride and opulence that Alexander de
scended in triumph, and found there a treasure in bullion of neaily
ten millions sterling. After the Macedonian epoch the city fell
into ruin, but was rebuilt by Shapur II. under the title Iranshahr
Shapur. 2 At the time of the Arab invasion its fortifications were
dismantled; but the town continued to exist, and in the Middle
Ages was, along with Ahwaz, a centre of the sugar-cultivation of
Khuzistan. 3 Its pillars and stones were rifled to build the Cities
of the Sassanian kings; and no vestige remained of the ancient
glory except the stupendous mounds, overgrown with scrub and
low bushes, that reared their heads from the plain between the
rivers Kerkhah and Ab-i-Diz, until, in the middle of this century,
Loftus and Williams appeared upon the scene with the excavators
spade. . .
The results of Loftus’ explorations, which are contained m ms
work, 4 were at once satisfactory and meagre; satisfactory in so far
as, by discovering the remains of a palace begun, accord-
Dieulafoy ' m g to cuneiform inscriptions that were laid bare ar me
same time, by Darius, son of Hystaspes, and completed by Arta-
xerxes, he conclusively established the identity of the tumuli ot
Shush with the classical Susa and the Scriptural Shushan; meagre,
because his trenches and tunnels, which are still visible m the
i D an iel viii. 2. 2 Th. Noldeke, Gesch. d. Perser aus Tabari, p. 58.
3 Mukadessi, Descriptio Imperii Moslemici, p. 307.
4 Travels and Researches in Chaldea and Susiana, 1857.
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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 [665v] (1347/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000094> [accessed 27 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