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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [70v] (147/1814)
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.
8
PERSIA
The memorials of many of these ages, the handiwork of some
of these men, will come under notice in the narrative to which I
shall presently turn. My journey was divided into four
divTsfon^of portions, each of which will be found to possess a historic
journey ca j interest or a political importance, as well as physical
idiosyncrasies, of its own. They will deal respectively with the
north-east, the central, and the south-west provinces of Persia, and
with the maritime highway on the south, the thread upon which
will be strung whatever of information I have been able to collect,
either with regard to the regions actually traversed or to those
bordering thereupon, being supplied by the description of my own
travels, which consisted of (1) a ride of 850 miles through the
frontier province of Khorasan and thence to the capital, Teheran;
(2) the more familiar journey of 800 miles, also on horseback,
from Teheran to Bushire; (3) the ascent of the Shat-el-Arab and
the Karun River; and (4) the navigation of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
.
In the first case I shall conduct my readers to the last remain
ing possession of the once mighty principality of Khorasan—a
i. Khora- dominion that embraced Merv, extended to Khiva, in
cluded Herat and Kandahar, and was laved by the Oxus.
Though shorn of its high estate, this province, fortified by savage
mountains and inaccessible ravines, interspersed with plains that
sustain the relics of famous capitals, and possessing one city at
least of world-wide renown, will be found to present many pro
blems of undiminished and imperial interest. For hundreds of years
it has been the battle-ground of races and the prey of a rapine less
merciful than sustained war. More persons have probably died a
violent death in Khorasan than in any other territory of equal
size in Asia. There, moreover, at this moment, on the north and
east, the eagles are again gathered together, and in the barracks
of Transcaspia and the council-tents of Turkestan is being de
bated the destiny of Meshed.
While treating of this portion of my journey it will be both
natmal and necessary to the scope of these volumes that I should
c on _ give the latest information about the adjacent provinces
tiguous or districts; information the bulk of which was derived
provinces r* ...
from inquiries made by myself while in the neighbour
hood, and the whole of which has been supervised by the most
competent authorities. This will apply to the Perso-Afghan
border and Seistan question on the east, where a political crisis is
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 [70v] (147/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x00009a> [accessed 4 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