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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [298v] (599/1814)
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.
374
PERSIA
and destroyed. In the course of the winter, the Persian chief of
Gilan sent an agent to Astrakhan offering to surrender Pesht
which was then besieged by the Afghans, to Russia. Overjoyed
at this windfall, Peter despatched another army early in 1723
Resht opened her gates to the new-comers, and the greater part
of the province of Gilan passed into Russian hands. In July 0 f
the same year, Baku, after suffering a bombardment from the sea
also capitulated. The young S>hah Tahmasp, who meanwhile was
striving to make headway against the Afghans in the north, now
thought it time to enter a claim of nominal ownership over his
fast-shrinking dominions. What weakness, however, rendered him
unable to dispute, policy suggested that he should amicably con
cede. Accordingly, an ambassador was sent to Peter, and the
terms of a bargain, which in all probability neither party had any
idea of keeping, were embodied in a treaty of alliance that was
signed on September 3, 1723. It contained four principal articles.
The Czar was to drive out the Afghans from Persia, and to rein
state Tahmasp on the throne. In return the Shah was to cede to
Russia in perpetuity the towns and dependencies of Derbend and
Baku, as well as the provinces of Gilan, Mazanderan, and Astra-
bad. He further undertook to furnish camels and provisions for
the Russian army of invasion. Finally, full liberty of commerce
was guaranteed between Russia and Persia . 1 The Russians, as
has been shown, had occupied Gilan even before the treaty was
signed, and the agreement in that respect was little more than a
latification of the status quo. They do not appear ever to have
set foot in Mazanderan or Astrabad, having their hands full else-
wheie, oi lealising the doubtful policy of such a proceeding. In
1/25 Peter the Gieat died, and his schemes of Oriental aggrandise
ment were temporarily shelved. In the same year the Russian
foices took Lahijan, the second town to Resht in the province;
but they advanced no further to the east. Basil Batatzes, the
Gieek merchant, whose travels I have cited when speaking of
Kelat, was in Gilan during the period of the Russian occupation
and had an interview at Resht with General Levasoff, the Russian
commander . 2 Finally, about the year 1734, ‘the Russians, then
involved in domestic commotion and intrigue, were compelled to
evacuate their Caspian dominions, wdth only a permission to hold
1 Han way, Historical Account, vol. iii. p. 181.
2 Nouveaux Melanges Orieniaux (Paris, 1886), lines 933-950.
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 [298v] (599/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000006> [accessed 9 July 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