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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [199v] (401/1814)
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.
220
PERSIA
Bat the reputation acquired by them in Khorasan owing to their
liberation of the slaves at Bokhara and Khiva, most of whom were
Persians from this province , 1 and their deliverance of the border
lands from the devastating scourge of the Turkomans, combined
with the prestige of their numbers and ever forward progress, have
predisposed a naturally craven race to regard their advance with
mingled resignation and respect. Some would be found to think
the change a decided gain. The majority would vote it inevitable.
The sympathy of the few, aided by the apathy of the many, would
disarm opposition and pave the way for an easy conquest. If it be
inquired whether the spirit of religious animosity might not be
invoked, and a jihad, or religious war, preached against the infidels,
the answer must be returned that Russia is not in the least likely
to proceed until she has guarded against such a contingency. The
religious element is in the ascendant at Meshed, and no doubt
exercises a considerable control over the prepossessions of the
people. Any fear of violation, either of the shrine or of the endow
ments by which it is supported, or of the privileges and abuses
by which it is surrounded, would unquestionably awaken a feeling
of the bitterest hostility. But Russia has never shown anything
but a large patience towards the religious scruples and supersti
tions of her Mussulman subjects. Such suspicions would easily be
disarmed ; and it is to be feared thatjfhe holy mullahs and mujtaheds
of Meshed are not more averse than the majority of their fellow-
countrymen to the receipt of bribes. When, therefore, the old
Khan of Kuchan told me that all the people of Khorasan would
rally and fight for Meshed, I believe him to have been talking
nonsense. My impression is that Meshed, if it is destined to fall,
will fall without a blow; and that a change of ownership in
Khorasan might be effected without the loss of a drop of blood.
1 I never heard this doubted until I came across a Russian book, entitled
Sketches of Persia, by P. Ogorodnikof, published in St. Petersburg in 1878. The
author was a Russian who had been deputed by the Imperial Geographical Society
to join a commercial caravan, conducted by General Glukhofski, to Meshed in
1874; and his utterances were mainly an epitome of the views of a Russian
merchant, named Baumgarten, who resided for many years in Shahrud and was
seen there by Baker, Napier, MacGregor, and other English travellers. Baumgarten,
who presumably knew what he was saying and could not be regarded as a Russo
phobe, denied that the Khivan release of prisoners had brought any popularity to
Russia, and declared that the Persians held the Russians in contempt while cring
ing to them, and seeking to propitiate them as possible informers to the Shah
against their misdeeds and rapacities.
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 [199v] (401/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000008> [accessed 6 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