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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [206r] (414/1814)
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.
THE SEISTAN QUESTION
233
retained the only really valuable and lucrative portion of the
country—a portion to which they could establish the double
claim of ancient possession and actual occupation. Had the de-
markation taken place ten years earlier, when first the}/ pressed
for it, there can be no doubt that in the absence of the second o
these claims the award would not have been so favourable to them
as it ultimately proved to be. Notwithstanding which facts, they
professed themselves extremely dissatisfied with the result, and
looked upon the partition as an attempt to enrich an English
vassal state, Afghanistan, at their expense. The Afghans, on their
side, were annoyed at losing the revenue-paying part ol the pro
vince, and Shir Ali is said never to have forgiven the British
Government in consequence. The award has not been adhered to
with absolute precision on the spot; but, even if we concede to it
a fair amount of success, it still remains somewhat doubtful whether
it is wise policy for the Indian Government to undertake these
chivalrous but thankless Commissions, which are apt to be mis
interpreted by both parties, and usually leave a legacy of odium
behind them.
The chief town of Persian Seistan is Sekuha (the Three Hills),
so called from three clay hills around and in part upon which the
town is built. At the time of the Commission in 18/2, it
SmTnit consisted of about 1,200 mud huts, not more than half of
tration were then or are now inhabited. The population is
entirely engaged in agricultural pursuits, the town being situated
in the most productive part of the province. As I have before said,
however the administrative and military head-quarters are at
Nasratabad (called Nasirabad by Goldsmid), where lives the Deputy
Governor of the Amir of Kain, and where is stationed one of the two
infantry regiments, nominally 1 , 000 , but actually less than 800
strong, which are raised in the entire province; as well as a small
force of cavalry and a few guns. Service is for life, and is hereditary
in the families supplying the soldiers. They are armed with muzzle
loading rifles of Persian manufacture, and are supposed to get a new
uniform every second year. Their pay is reported to be 20 hams
(12s.) and 7T mans of wheat yearly, and when on service in Seistan
rations also ”. 1 The capital of Afghan Seistan is Chakhansur or
1 These figures, which date from 1886, do not correspond with the general pay
of the Persian infantry. Vide a later chapter on the Persian Aimy. But payment
is no doubt as haphazard as the system.
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 [206r] (414/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000015> [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