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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [716r] (1448/1814)
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 KAPOJN RIVER
377
Rave enlisted the engineering skill of a Roman prisoner, who was
captured on the same occasion, to build, or perhaps to rebuild, the
(broken) bund and bridge, the freedom of the captive being the
reward of success. The Roman’s name is given as Baranush, or
Varanus, and with the spoil taken in the Emperor’s camp the cost
may very likely have been defrayed. I cannot, however, ascertain
that there is any other historical basis than this very vicarious
connection for the association of Valerian’s own name with these
works. There is no independent ground for believing that he was
possessed of an aptitude for hydraulics; nor would a captive sovereign
as a rule be of much service if converted into a civil engineer.
Valerian’s name is also attached to the first dam, or Bund-i-Kaisar,
over the Gerger Canal; but upon no superior foundation.
Having described the character and features of the various
masonry and waterworks at Shushter, let me now endeavour to
Expiana- explain the purpose which, severally or in combination,
ancient they were intended to serve. Of such explanations as
hydraulics Rayg been furnished by earlier writers, and of which some
are incorrect and others impossible, that of Rawlinson is based at
once upon the most exhaustive knowledge and the most accurate in
formation. 1 There are, however, I think, sufficient reasons why it
cannot be implicitly accepted. It rests upon the assumption that
Ardeshir, or his son Shapur, before any dam existed upon the
Karun, or the latter had as yet been utilised for irrigation purposes,
cut the artificial canal of the Gerger—a colossal work—for no reason
whatever except possibly the strategical advantage that might
thence be derived, and that the level of the main river being thus
lowered, and the town deprived of water, the bed of the former was
then paved, the big bund built, the Gerger dammed, and the tunnel
pierced in order to supply the city and its suburbs. I venture to
suggest a different order of events, more compatible both with
probability and with the natural features.
Tradition, with probable justice, assigns either to Ardeshir or
to Shapur the construction of the first great public works upon the
Construe- Karun. We may believe that either the father or the
Oerger S0I b recognising the results that might be expected from
a proper fertilisation of the fields outside the town,
ordered the erection of the great bund across the river in order to
1 Journal of the R.G.S., vol.ix. pp. 73-6. I reject M. Dieulafoy’s explanation,
which is as unsatisfactory as his map is erroneous (I?Art antique, pp. 110-111).
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 [716r] (1448/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000031> [accessed 5 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