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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [188v] (379/1814)
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.
198
PERSIA
MacGregor upon the strategical significance of the position at
Sarakhs, as commanding the approach up the valley of the Heri
Strategical Rucl to Herat . 1 This advantage has now passed entirely
value f rom the Persians’ into the Russians’ hands. The Persian
Eastern
frontier
garrison of Sarakhs, which consists of one wing of infantry—about
300 men—and a small detachment of artillery, is practically isolated
in the big overgrown fort which it could in no case defend. The
telegraph wire from Meshed is usually interrupted or broken ;
and the Russians have probably only to appear upon the other side
of the river and fire a volley of blank cartridge, to ensure a
precipitate stampede.
Sarakhs is the extreme north-east point of the Persian frontier,
and in fact occupies an angle sharply pushed out into the desert.
Here we turn south, following the valley through which
flows the Heri Rud, the river supplying the boundary
first between Persia and Russia as far as the Zulfikar Pass, and
afterwards between Persia and Afghanistan. Here also we touch
the northern skirts of a belt of country lying upon or near the
border lines, and inhabited by various tribes of mixed origin and
alien religion, who, though subjects of Persia, profess a somewhat
reluctant allegiance to her rule, and constitute a critical item in
the politics of the frontier.
It is in the Meshed district which extends to the Heri Rud that
we first encounter these foreign elements. Round the capital the
Meshed Iranian element is in the ascendant; but as we approach
district the frontier we come across colonies or detachments who be
long in race and religion to the Chehar Aimak (lit. Four Settlements),
or wandering tribes of the Afghan border . 2 These are the Jamshidis
and Hazaras. The former are of Persian origin, but the greater
part of the tribe long ago left Persian territory and settled in
Afghanistan. The remnant were brought back after the siege of
Herat in 1857, established at Kanegosha, near Meshed, and required
1 Russia in Central Asia, p. 121.
‘ 2 The Chehar Aimak were originally, as their name implies, four tribes, viz.
the Jamshidi, Firazkuhi, Timuri, and Taimuni. Later on twb other tribes, the
Hazara and Kipckak, were included in the designation. The Firuzkuhis, Taimunis
and Kipchaks, the two hist of whom are said to be of Persian origin are now not
found in Persia. Members of the other four branches are. Dr Bellew’s classifi
cation is different. He gnes the original Chehar Aimak as the Timuri, Taimun ,
Dahi, and Suri; the Jamshidi and Firuzkuhi as subdivisions of Timuri, and the
Hazaras as synonymous with the Dahi.
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 [188v] (379/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000ba> [accessed 7 April 2025]
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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