![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎174r] (350/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0361.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎174r] (350/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [174r] (350/1814)
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.
MESHED
173
The staff of the British Consulate, when fully organised (it is
still in a state of embryo), will consist of the Consul-General, his
Staff and assistant, and a Vice-Consul. A private guard is pro
men°ts nt ” vided by tw0 ser ^ eants and tliree privates of the Indian
Corps of Guides, whose picturesque uniform and smart
appearance create a favourable impression, while a native guard of
one sergeant and six men is furnished by the Persian Government.
Attached to the British Consulate is also a body of twenty-two
Turkoman sowars, mainly Sariks of Penjdeh, who from the earlier
stages of the Afghan boundary dispute allied themselves to the
British side, and who are now employed upon a private postal
service between Meshed and Herat, where their post enters into
correspondence with that of the Amir of Afghanistan. Should
the latter be in the northern parts of his domains, it sometimes
occurs that a message from the Viceroy of India is most easily
and expeditiously transmitted to him by this circuitous route.
When a proper house with becoming surroundings has been built,
the British Consul-General, who is also Agent to the Governor-
General of India, thus attended and assisted, will be able to
maintain an appearance worthy of the twofold Power which he
represents, and positively essential in a country and amid a people
where etiquette and display are credited with a virtue amounting
almost to salvation.
So much for the outward political position at present occupied
by the two Powers in Meshed. An immense amount of consular
Consular business devolves upon the shoulders of either represen-
busmess tutive, for both the Russian and British Governments
have several hundred subjects residing in or passing through
Meshed for trading purposes. In the case of the British Govern
ment these will be in the main Hindus and a few Kashmiris
trading, via Bunder Abbas, from Bombay, or occasional descen
dants of Afghan and Persian families who became British subjects
in the earlier years of this century. The Afghans who come to
Meshed are willing enough to claim the shelter of British citizen
ship, a recognition that is in sharp contrast with the haughty
exclusiveness maintained in his own dominions by the Amir. The
Russian subjects in Khorasan are Armenians, Caucasian Mussul
mans, Turkomans, inhabitants of Transcaspia, Sarts, and Bok-
hariots. In the registration of these subjects and in the prompt
attention to their business the Russians possess an indubitable
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 [174r] (350/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00009d> [accessed 13 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