![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎305r] (612/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0623.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎305r] (612/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [305r] (612/1814)
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.
common knowledge
marked a disposition
he has been signifi-
has been threatened
ussia could land her
m all probability,
s rumoured that in
xeneral Kuropatkin,
), and generally ac«
^asion of India, the
11 as of Azerbaijan
liminaries upon the
3 abundant ground
lar provinces with
n Shell, himself a
11-informed, echoed
vrote:—
- Eussia is not sun
esirable possession,'
nprovable qual«
, sea on the other,
THE NORTHERN PROVINCES
387
On the other hand, it is well to pause for a moment and consider
whether the movement, if contemplated, would be either so advan-
Periis of I a g eous or so simple as at first sight appears. Let it be
climate remem hered that there is not in the same parallel of
latitude a more unhealthy strip of country in the world.
The Russians were expelled by the climate before. Gilan has
proved a graveyard to most Europeans whose lot has cast them
there. In the fifth trading expedition of the British Moscovy Com-
pany to North Persia in 1568-1574 A.D.,five of the English factors,
died of illness and two were murdered in the space of five weeks. Sir
Robert Sherley and Sir Dodmore Cotton succumbed in the manner
already related in 1627. When Elton and Hanway revived the
British trade with the Caspian in the eighteenth century, five out of
the fifteen Emopeans engaged in the traffic died at Kazvin between
1740 and 1744. In the latter year we hear of all the Europeans
m Resht as veiy ill with agues, distemper, &c. The recent occu
pants of the British and Russian consulates at Resht tell a similar
tale. It may, therefore, be accepted that for Europeans an occupa
tion in force or a colonisation of either Gilan or Mazanderan would
be an extremely risky experiment. Any such invaders would be
compelled to seek the higher altitudes, and to leave the lower levels
to the acclimatised indigenous population. Such a partition might
be possible, in the event of the absolute quiescence of the latter ;
but it might also become in the highest degree perilous if the
natives resisted a foreign usurpation, and profited by the extra
ordinary natural advantages for defence of their jungles, and defiles,
and mountains.
It may be averred without fear of contradiction that a more
difficult country either to carry or to hold in the face of armed
Perils of opposition can nowhere be found. Fraser, who twice
tlie traversed it from end to end, summed up its strategic
properties in the following language :—
country
Certainly I never saw, nor can I imagine, a stronger or more
impracticable country in a military point of view than these provinces.
Loads, i.e. made roads, there are none, except the great Causeway
made of old by Shah Abbas, and this has now so nearly disappeared
that it requires a guide to find it ; and even when found it would be
useless, for military purposes, from the numerous breaks and gaps in
its course, and from the impenetrable jungle which surrounds it on all
sides, and affords cover for all sorts of ambuscades and surprises.
c c 2
, Persia'
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 [305r] (612/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000013> [accessed 12 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