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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [276v] (555/1814)
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.
336 PERSIA
provided with a shaft, sunk into the ground to a depth of thirty
or forty feet, from the bottom of which four lateral shafts run into
the soil. When all these are filled, the whole is closed and sealed
up This certainly does not sound very nice : but between Oriental
systems of sewerage it would be difficult to discriminate.
On the other hand, the city is situated at an altitude of 3,800
feet above the sea ; during the greater part of the autumn, winter,
and spring months the climate is delightful; and, when
merits the scorching heats of summer begin to prevail, there is
an easy and rapid retreat to the mountain-slopes, where life under
tents and the trees, though not exhilarating, is endurable. But
the grounds upon which I should prefer to rest my defence of the
site are political. Here, too, adverse critics have declared that the
city lies exposed to Russian attack and invites aggression. I do
not agree. Teheran is nearly 500 miles by road from the Russian
frontier at Julfa, on the Araxes, whence, as conducting to the north
west capital, Tabriz, an invasion would doubtless begin ; and, if
Persia did not stop Russia before those 500 miles were passed, she
would never stop her anywhere. The sole remaining alternative
on the north is the Resht-Kazvin route, crossing the main range
of the Elburz, than which an army posted for purposes of defence
could not solicit a better position. If, on the other hand, as I have
argued in my chapter upon Khorasan, invasion were to come from
the north-east quarter, how much better would the Shah be able
to meet it from Teheran, than from Isfahan. The choice of a capital
must, however, in the main, be determined, not by its exposure, or
the reverse to a single possible enemy, but by its central or cen
tralising position, and by its ready command of the routes leading
to the most valuable provinces of the kingdom. It is in this
respect that Teheran is so admirably placed. Situated but little
more than midway between the eastern and western capitals,
Meshed and Tabriz, it commands the important provinces of which
they are the governing centres. At the same time, it is in close
proximity to, and in easy yet defensible communication with, the
northern maritime provinces, for which it may hereafter require to
strike a blow. Lastly, it stands as a sort of advanced outpost to
the elder capitals of Isfahan and Shiraz, upon which, in the event
of disaster in the north, it would always be possible to fall back.
So far, therefore, from thinking that Persia would be the better or
the stronger for a change of capital to a more southerly site, I
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 [276v] (555/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a2> [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