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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎190r] (382/1814)

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. .

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201
POLITICS AND COMMERCE OF KHORASAN
Audi, residing at Nasratabad. In 1889 it contributed to the
total revenue of Khorasan 26,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. (7,429Z.) in cash, and
24,000 Wiarvars (6,957 tons) of grain. Seistan, however, involves
Seistan 80 independent problems, political, commercial, and
strategical, that I propose to postpone its consideration to
a separate chapter, where I shall better be able to render justice
both to its history and to its future. With the south -east corner
of Seistan Khorasan terminates. The melancholy Dasht-i-Lut
succeeds ; and we then come bo the province of Persian Beluchistan,
which will more properly fall within the scope of my second volume.
It is along the belt of border territory which I have been de-
sciibing from the Zulfikar Pass to Seistan—a region, as I have
Russian shown, inhabited by tribes mainly of non-Persian origin,
non-Persian religion, and anti-Persian inclinations—that
Russia has conceived the idea of propagating her political
influence. Claiming to be the champion of Sunni Mohammedanism,
as against the Shiah heresy of the Persians, she appeals to their
fanatical instincts . 1 In their irregular levies she sees a possible
auxiliary of great military value. In their situation, commanding
the flank approach to Herat, and lower down to the Helmund, she
sees an opportunity of threatening Afghanistan and of approaching
nearer to the Indian Beluch frontier. Upon Seistan, lying mid
way between Meshed and the sea, she directs a particularly envious
gaze, knowing that its possession by a rival Power would be the
one step that might checkmate her complete ascendency in
Khorasan. Russian native news-writers are maintained at Turbat-
i-Sheikh-Jam, Khaf and Kain. Russian emissaries have been
heard of prosecuting their explorations in these regions, and a
feverish interest is displayed by the Russian authorities in any in
formation relating to the little-known districts that extend in the
direction of the British border.
In other words, along the entire circumference of Khorasan,
from north-west to south-east, occur a succession of points at which
Russian interference, influence, or intrigue is being actively pushed
forward ; and so the Muscovite toils are steadily and surely being
wound round the body of the intended victim. Astrabad, Bujnurd,
1 In 1882 the Governor of the newly-constituted Transcaspian province
actually issued a proclamation at Ashkabad to the effect that all the Sunni
villages in 1 he Atek belonged to Russia, and should no longer pay tribute to
Persia—an exemption from their financial burdens which was eagerly grasped
by many. The same policy is now being tentatively pushed southwards.

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎190r] (382/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000bd> [accessed 9 June 2026]

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