![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎178v] (359/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0370.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎178v] (359/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [178v] (359/1814)
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.
182
PERSIA
pOL^
above all in the juxtaposition of their extended borders with
those of two foreign Powers, neither of whom can be considered
as other than hostile—namely, Russia and Afghanistan
that the Khorasan Question finds its birth ; and it is upon
Origin
of the
Que~ a ^consideration o/these manifold elements that any at
tempt either to comprehend or to solve it must piimaiily he based.
The greater part of the western and southern limits of Khorasan,,
not being border districts, but abutting upon other Persian pro-
Astrabad vinCeS > and bein g either inliabited ^ PersianS 0r n0t
province inhabited at all, play no part in the pioblem of fiontiei
policy. This may he said to commence with the Astrabad province,
occupying the neck of land between the Astrabad Ba), in the
south-east corner of the Caspian, and the district of Shahrud,
and also a stretch of fertile soil between the Gurgan and Atrek
rivers as far east as the 56 th parallel of longitude. 1 Its capital and
only city is Astrabad, with a population of 8 , 000 , which is the resi
dence of the Governor. Its port is Bunder-i-Gez, thirty miles distant,
on the hay before named. The Governor was till recently Amir Khan
Serdar, the Saif-el-Mulk, a young man, who is the brother of one of
the Shah’s wives. He was said to possess every quality that should
disqualify him for the discharge of such an office, and to have been
merely sent to Astrabad in order to get rid of him at Teheran. He
has since either been superseded or has resigned. The forces of the
Astrabad province are nominally 3 , 800 , of whom a garrison of 300
is stationed at the fortified post of Ak Kaleh (White Fortress), eight
miles from the capital, on the Gurgan ; 2,900 were lately in camp
at the same place ; and the rest are scattered in different directions,
or are not under arms at all; one-fourth of the total nominal
strength being a very moderate deduction for absentees. The pim nice
of Astrabad, though distinct from Khorasan and not responsible to
the Governor-General, cannot he omitted from any discussion o
the politics of the larger area, for the reason that it commands the
western approaches thereto from the rest of Persia and Teheian,
and that it is directly concerned in the solution of three distinct
questions, each affecting Khorasan in the closest degree, thong
only touching it from without. These are the questions of the
1 Something more will be said of the Astrabad province, its character, ies0U1 ^ C . c ^
climate, and capital, in a chapter on the Northern Provinces of Persia, to w ^ ^
I refer my readers. Here it is only treated in its hearing upon the pohtica
frontier problem.
Bussiah^;
sea to Shah
between the
A glancf
tion
of
The Rus
sians at
Ashurada
or lagoon;
length by
north hy
thirty mi
channel
conne
shores
judgi
utilis
very
her 1
thal
the
th(
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 [178v] (359/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000a6> [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