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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎712r] (1440/1814)

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. .

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f
THE KARUN RIVER 371
from which these unruly tribesmen can be most effectively con
trolled, and the natural channel through which trade must pass to
and fro between the rich inland districts of Burujird, Kermanshah,
and Ramadan, and the Southern seas. To these advantages no
inconsiderable strategical strength has been added by the happy
natural juxtaposition of river and rock, as well as by artificial
works which I shall now proceed to describe.
It has already been indicated that the town is situated on an
eminence at the northern extremity of an island formed by two
Water- branches of the Karun, the one the original river-bed,
the other a canal partly cut by man, which reunite some
twenty-five miles in a straight line further down at Bund-i-Kir.
About 600 yards above the town, the Ab-i-Gerger canal diverges
from the left bank of the main stream, and pursues a straight
southerly course, intersected by two dams of which I shall speak,
through a gorge artificially hewn for its reception in the rock upon
which the city stands, thereby constituting an important military
defence upon its eastern flank. Meanwhile the main body of the
river, which. from the point of bifurcation to that of reunion at
Bund-i-Kir is popularly called the Ab-i-Shuteit, after parting with
some of its waters in the manner described, makes a broad sweep
to the west, laves the base of the rock upon which the kaleh or
citadel, and behind it the city, stand, and then turns southwards,
its channel being barred at this point by the celebrated bund and
bridge of Valerian. While skirting the castle rock it sacrifices a
urther portion of its waters, which pass into a subterranean tunnel
pierced beneath the citadel, and opening on to a further artificial
canal on. the western side of the town, manifestly designed in
order to irrigate the suburbs, which are situated at too great an
elevation above the Karun itself to get their requisite water supply
t erefrom. These three features, the Ab-i-Gerger, the Ab-i-
Shuteit,. and the Minau Canal, are the determining characteristics
o the situation, and it is to their history, nature, and purpose, as
we as to the elucidation of the problem in hydraulics which thev
present, and which Rawlinson described as £ one of the most in
tricate and contradictory objects of research upon which he was
ever engaged,’ 1 that I now turn. If my explanation or description
does not exactly coincide with that of previous writers, it is not in
either case given without careful study of all that has been written
1 Journal of the R. G.S., vol. ix. p. 75.
B B 2

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎712r] (1440/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000029> [accessed 2 April 2025]

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