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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [133r] (272/1814)
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.
FROM KUCHAN TO KELAT-I-NADIRI
129
In the fond belief that all my previous fears had been ground
less, I put my horse into the bed of the stream, and, accompanied
Entrance Ramzan Ali Khan, Gregory, and Shukurullah, also
‘detected on horseback, rode through the central arch. No one
appeared or challenged. I had time upon the other side to note
the inscription of Argawan Shah, and to observe a round tower
at the summit of an eminence commanding the entrance, and had
already advanced about a hundred yards towards the houses of a
village that appeared upon either side of the defile, when suddenly
a terrific shouting was heard from the gate behind us, and a
miserable soldier, still half asleep, and pulling his tattered cotton
tunic about his shoulders, came running out, yelling at the top of
his voice. Answering cries were heard; and presently there
poured out of the wall, which was really a gate-tower and had
easements on the inner side, a motley band of half-clad individuals,
for the most part in rags, though an occasional button with the
Lion and Sun upon it, and one pair of blue trousers with a red
stripe, showed that I was in the presence of some of the serbaz or
regular infantry of the King of Kings.
As I did not want to begin with a fracas, and as the soldiers
were clearly doing their duty, although they had been within an
ace of letting me slip through unobserved, I halted and
withthJ we entered into conversation. At first they were very
guard violent and tried to pull back our horses. But when I
represented that I had no intention of going further without
leave, they became calmer. I inquired for the officer in command.
There did not appear to be such a person. I next asked where
was the Khan of Kelat. The reply was given that he was at his
village, two miles away. Accordingly I despatched Shukurullah
(as a Persian and therefore free from suspicion), with a soldier
mounted on the same horse behind him, to the Khan, to tell him
who I was, and to request permission to pass through Kelat and
out on the other side; or, if this could not be granted on his own
responsibility, then to telegraph to Meshed.
While the Persian was away I remained in the rocky gateway
conversing with the soldiers. It was bitterly cold, for the sun
Attitude of would not strike the chasm for some hours, so I bought
the serbaz gome brushwood and lit a fire. When they heard that I
was an Englishman they seemed disposed to be more friendly ; for
they said that if I had been a Russian they would have shot me
VOL. i. K
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 [133r] (272/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00004f> [accessed 11 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