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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [67v] (141/1814)
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.
Pill
PERSIA
and cheered as the latest social lion. The public was dimly a^vare that
motives of higher policy were at work, and that the monarch who was
brought in state up the Thames, and feted at the Guildhall, and con
ducted on a business-like progress through the principal manufacturing
centres of the kingdom, was both an ally of the British nation and an
important factor in the determination of our policy in the East. Even
those who knew or cared little for Imperial politics weie conscious that
Persia is a country providing an extensive and profitable market for
English and Anglo-Indian trade, and that on the most mercenary
grounds, if on no other, a good understanding with its ruler is in the
highest degree desirable. At the same time, in spite of the general
recognition of the uncommon significance of the visit and of the
practical expediency of a hearty welcome, there were not wanting
symptoms both in the press and in the House of Commons that there
were many who misunderstood, or could not read, the signs of the
times j and it was more than hinted that there was something ridicu
lous in making such a lively fuss about a monarch who probably de
spised these tokens of interested attachment, and from whom nothing
could be expected in return. The true bearing in its many and
momentous ramifications of the Persian question was but imperfectly
grasped ; and what is in reality a problem of the most abstruse states
manship was discussed as though it were a casual obligation to be
decently discharged and then conveniently forgotten.
It is in the belief that such an impression exists, and with the con
viction that it both is mistaken and may be disastrous, that I propose
„ . to describe, from the evidence of my own eyes in Persia
Meaning • P n i t . pi
of the itself, the character and dimensions of the Persian problem,
question anc ^ ^ n( ^^ cate English readers what is their stake in that
distant country ; why they are compelled to regard its policy
and development with such acute concern ; what is the meaning and
what may be the results of a Persian alliance ; and why it is so inr
possible to treat either the ruler or his people with polite indifference.
There are many questions which in the course of my narrative will, I
hope, come under examination. Such will be the present policy of the
Shah’s Government, the character, quality, virtues, or vices of the
Persian Administration, the likelihood of reforms resulting from the
European tour of the sovereign, the question of the succession to the
throne, the strength and possible utility of the army, the opening for
railroad enterprise in Persia, the political sympathies of the people, the
relative degrees of influence possessed by Russia and Great Britain,
the designs and ambitions of the two Powers, the meaning and signifi
cance of the Khorasan question, and the alleged danger to British
commercial competition in the different provinces of the Shah’s
dominions. The late Sir C. MacGregor, when travelling in Persia in
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 [67v] (141/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x000094> [accessed 23 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