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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [131v] (269/1814)
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.
126
PERSIA
Realising that my mules, which I had left far behind
be unlikely to arrive for ‘hours, if indeed they succeeded U
. coming at all before it was dark, I made un rmr • ^
tor a night m a Persian hovel. The inhabitants of
Issurcha, however, were by no means glad to see a stranger and
at first declared that they could provide me neither with for o’
nor with accommodation. After a little delay a villager was found
who placed at my disposal an empty mud apartment, in which with
nothing but what I had on me, I made myself as comfortable
as I could. Fortunately, about 10.30 p.m. the mules appeared
having found a guide who brought them safely down the mountain'
During the last two days I had, from such natives as we met
and interrogated, heard the most conflicting reports of the
Possibility P° ssibilit y of entering Kelat. Some declared that any
of entering one could go in or come out as he pleased ; 1 others that
a strict guard was kept at the entrance, and no strangers
permitted to pass. The question accordingly presented itself how
and in what guise I was to make the attempt, I did not want,
after all this trouble, to be turned back. On the other hand. I was
reluctant to do anything that, if discovered, might arouse
suspicion, or bring discredit upon the English name. I imagine
from what I saw later that it would have been possible to ride in
at night, though I cannot be sure. I resolved, however, as I had
no motive in concealing my intentions, and as they were of the
most innocent description, to ride down to the gate, if g’ate there
was, at daylight, and either enter uninterrupted or not at all. My
presence, moreover, was likely so soon to become known in the
neighbourhood, that disguise or concealment, even if temporarily
successful, would be liable to detection in the end.
October 18 . I was called at 4.30 a.m., and started at five in the
moonlight, having a rough ride of nearly ten miles before me.
Approach Descending the valley of Issurcha to the point where we
had entered it on the previous day, we followed the course
of the stream, which here turned northwards and plunged into a
black and rocky gorge called Derbend-i-Jaur, where we threaded
our way between sombre walls in and out of the river bed. The
General Annenkoff at Uzun Ada had asked me why, instead of going to
Meshed via Kuchan, I did not take the more interesting route by Kaahka and
Kelat-i-Nadiri. ‘ Russian officers,’ he said, ‘ were forbidden by their own Govern
ment to enter ; but no one would stop an Englishman.’
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 [131v] (269/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00004c> [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