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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [717v] (1451/1814)
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.
380
PERSIA
Governor, and intimated my desire to pay an early call. The
customary civilities passed in the interim, consisting of presents
The citadel ca ^ es ’ ^ ru ^) an( ^ sweetmeats from the Nizam, and tips
of corresponding or superior value to his servants from
myself. In the afternoon I rode to the citadel at the hour fixed
for the interview. This building, to which are annexed barracks
and an arsenal, is situated on the summit and at the extremity of the
rock, where it rises with a precipitous face of over one hundred
feet from the river-bed. Nature has designated this locality as the
obvious site for a citadel, and from the days of Shapur downwards
it has been occupied by a Izaleh, or fort, which at the time of the
Arab conquest was known by the name of Selasil. 1 The present
edifice is a modem structure, containing no remains of the ancient
castle, while it has been further altered and modernised by the
reigning Governor, who has rebuilt the habitable portion in the
shape of a lofty two-storeyed tower, from whose summit a mag
nificent panorama is enjoyed of the river scenery and town. The
entire space occupied by the buildings is said to be three or four
acres, and the walls of the barracks are loopholed towards the
city, from which they are separated by an open plot—a very
necessary precaution in a place of such unstable quietude as
Shushter, where Governor and people have often been engaged in
bloody conflict. The Tzaleli is entered by a gateway glittering with
the showy tiles that represent the debauched taste of modern Persian
art, and its interior contains some pretty garden-terraces and points
of outlook. Nothing, indeed, could be fairer than the landscape
from the large open window at which I sat with the Nizam. The
river, emerging from the rugged mountain range, sunned itself
placidly m the broad sweep below the cliff, while on its further
bank stretched a park-like expanse of ground, dotted with venerable
trees. One of the rooms in the castle contained a large tank of
running water in the centre, above which was placed a wooden
platform or lounge, for purposes of slumber or repose. It breathed
a coolness beyond expression.
. The then Governor of Arabistan, whose official title was the
Nizam-es-Sultaneh, had only within the last two years been
appointed to that office, but during this time he seemed to have
acquired a fair reputation for justice as well as energy of adminis-
1 Identified by some with the Sele of Ptolemy and Ammianus Marcellinus, who
mention it as one of the four great towns of Susiana.
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 [717v] (1451/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000034> [accessed 28 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