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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [717r] (1450/1814)
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 KAEUN EIYER
379
0
(into its original bed. At this stage, then, were constructed the
various bunds that obstruct the course of the Gerger, whose
diminished contents naturally receded from the broad channel
which they had hitherto occupied, and in process of time cut for
themselves their present narrow and sinuous track, which has only
to be followed down to Bund-i-Kir to show that it cannot at any
time have been artificially cut by man.
Such is the explanation which I offer of the hydraulic and
engineering works of Shushter. They may be summed up in the
following propositions :—Valerian’s bund was built (the bridge being
raised upon it so as to admit of communication with the opposite
bank, and particularly with Dizful) in order to hold up the waters
of the Karun for irrigation purposes. 1 The Minau Canal was cut
in order to convey the waters thus dammed to the lands behind the
towns, which were otherwise wholly without water-supply. The
Gerger Canal was cut, not for independent purposes of irrigation,
but simply in order to facilitate the above operations, and to carry
off the surplus waters of the main river. 2 In fact, a utilitarian
purpose was behind each of these great undertakings, which, at a
distance of sixteen hundred years, survive to demonstrate the public
spirit and the spacious conception of their illustrious founder.
Upon arriving at Shushter—which, thanks to my just apprecia
tion both of the steam-power of the ‘ Susa ’ and of the mendacity
of her engineer, I succeeded in doing about nine hours in advance
of the passengers by the canal—I forwarded my credentials to the
1 Consequently I reject the theory of Loftus, for which I do not see any
foundation, that the Bund-i-Mizan w T as constructed, partly so as to provide a
foundation for the bridge, partly to accumulate a sheet of water before the castle
for the delectation of its occupant.
2 The irrigation theory, and the recent date of the contraction of the Gerger,
which have both been urged, are negatived by the fact mentioned by Layard, that
‘ the excavations at Shushter, and particularly the steps leading from the town
to the bed of the canal, which are evidently very ancient, are carried to the present
level of the Ab-i-Gerger {Journal of the R. G.S., vol. xvi. p. 60). The origin of
the name Gerger is doubtful. It may be onomatopoeic (from the sound of the
water gurgling through the tunnels of the dam). Compare the origin of the well
Zerazem at Mecca. On the other hand, a native historian says it was so called
from a colony, who came to Shushter from Gerger in Azerbaijan. In the time of
Timur the Gerger was known as Do Dank, and the Shuteit (which is a modern
appellation, diminutive of Shat, i.e. river), or Karun proper, as Chehar Dank, from
the proportions of water—two-sixths and four-sixths—that flowed in the two chan
nels. The name Mashrekan, strictly belonging to the Chehar Dank, was also
commonly applied to both.
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 [717r] (1450/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000033> [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