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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [705r] (1426/1814)
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.
THE KARUN RIVER
361
niolit, in reaching the half-way point between Ahwaz and Shushter,
I began to be doubtful when, if ever, I should arrive at the latter
place, the more so as the Ab-i-Gerger has a somewhat precarious
channel, and it was not unlikely that the ‘ Susa ’ might ground on
a shoal. The engineer, of course, assured me that if I remained
on the boat he would deposit me at Shushter before noon on the
following day. But my credulity had already been overstrained
by his frequent promises that I should accomplish the whole
journey in less time than had now been consumed upon hall; while
a simple mathematical calculation showed that no engineer in the
world could take the ‘ Susa ’ up to Shushter in the specified time.
I therefore decided to leave the boat and ride the remaining distance,
instructing the c Susa ; to follow as best she could.
Selby’s report contains the amazing statement that the banks
of the canal at Bund-i-Kir ‘ tower perpendicularly overhead to a
height of 130 feet,’ 1 an error which has been faithfully
Bund-i^ reproduced by Mr. Ainsworth. 2 It was up a bank of
^ considerably less than 30 feet in height that I scrambled,
and made my way to the nearest hovels. The villagers at first
said that all their animals were out ploughing, and that they
could let me have neither horses nor mules. But the magic name
of the Nizam-es-Sultaneh, brought to bear upon the Sheikh a
benign old gentleman with well-dyed red beard produced a
startling revulsion of attitude, and I was promised the use of one
horse and two mules for the morrow at the exorbitant late of
12 brans each (7 shillings), the normal charge diem being
3 or 4 brans. However, beggars cannot afford to be choosers; the
bargain was concluded ; the c Susa ’ puffed off into the night, and
I settled down as best I could in a mud hut, placed at my disposal
by the Sheikh. A fire was lit on the floor in the middle of the
room, which was sufficiently large to accommodate a good deal of
smoke, as well as the Sheikh and his attendants, who, until requested
to retire, seemed anxious to give me their company throughout the
night.
I was called at 4 a.m. the next day and started at 5. The
sun did not rise for two hours, but there was a good moon, and
Boutes to happily the air was not cold. I rom Bund-i-Kir. to
Shushter Shushter there are three tracks by land, following
respectively the left, the centre, and the right of the island foimed
1 Journal of the B. G. S., vol. xiv. p. 241. 2 The Biver Karun, p. 40.
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 [705r] (1426/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x00001b> [accessed 18 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