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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [179v] (361/1814)
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.
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184
PERSIA
which, she defended her intrusion was the necessity of putting down
the Turkoman pirates who infested the southern and eastern shores
of the Caspian, and, after their fashion, lobbed, pillaged, and carried
oh their captives into slavery. The Russians do not appear either
then or since to have formally disputed the Persian ownership of
the island, which is unquestionable \ but to have justified then stay
as the consignees of police powers which the Persians were inca
pable of exercising themselves, and which after a time were tacitly
recognised by the latter. For this purpose a small naval armament
was collected, four or five vessels belonging to which and one gun
boat, under the command of a Russian commodore, still lie off the
"Russian naval station. 1 It is needless to say that the piratical
escapades of the Turkomans have long ago been completely quelled.
The Russians, notwithstanding, have never thought of giving back
their trust, and would now be very much insulted at any suggestion
that Ashurada was not their freehold property.
The island, however, is low, swampy, and most unwholesome.
For the last fifty years it has been reported as being slowly eaten
away by the sea; and the surrounding conditions have
the tU in fact changed so much as to render the descriptions of
island only half that period ago quite obsolete. Eastwick left a
most minute and accurate account of the locality as he found it in
1862. 2 At that date there were two islands, Great and Little
Ashurada. The first of these was severed by a channel about half a
mile in width from the end of the long promontory of Mian Kaleh
(called by the Russians Potemkin), and was about one and one-third
mile long by three-quarters of a mile broad. This was the Russian
naval and military station. Then came shoal water for half a mile,
1866. Russia prepares to garrison Gez, bat is forestalled by Persia.
1869. Russian occupation of Krasnovodsk.
1870. Russia claims the coast down to the Atrek.
1871. Russian occupation of Chikishliar.
For an interesting incident that occurred in 1851, but is not mentioned by
Rawlinson, vide Lady Sheiks Glimjises of Life in Persia, pp. 215-212. The
Turkomans descended upon the island one night, and, catching the Russians c run
or napping, slew some of their number. The Russian Government insisted on e
recall of the
Prince Governor
A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925).
of Mazanderan, the Shah’s own brother, althoug i
he could not be credited with the most remote responsibility in the mattei.
Otherwise, the Czar threatened to withdraw the Russian Legation.
1 These were reported by a visitor in 1890 to have shrunk into two despatc i
boats and two or three hulks.
2 Journal of a Diplomate, vol. ii. pp. 26-13.
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 [179v] (361/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000a8> [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