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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [308r] (618/1814)
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 SHAH—ROYAL FAMILY—MINISTERS
393
of the tribe, whose chieftain, Fath Ali Khan, a little more than
150 years ago, having been made joint Commander-in-Chief
with Nadir Kuli Khan, by Shah Tahmasp II., was speedily put
out of the way by the ambitious soldier of fortune , 1 thereby
bequeathing to his posterity a blood feud which was not satisfied
until Nadir’s descendants had all been removed by death or torture,
and a Kajar sovereign was firmly seated upon the throne of Persia.
Agha Mohammed Shah, the grandson of Path Ali Khan, could not
himself perpetuate the race, having at an early age been made a
eunuch by order of Adil Shah, the nephew and successor of Nadir.
But his nephew, Fath Ali Shah, to whom he transmitted the crown,
and his successors after him, have proved so extraordinarily prolific
of male offspring that the continuity of the dynasty has been assured;
and there is probably not a reigning family in the world that in the
space of one hundred years has swollen to such ample dimensions
as the royal race of Persia. The Kajars have, indeed, been mainly
distinguished for five characteristics, which have been uniformly
noticeable in the princes of the blood : a genius for paternity, a
fairly high level of intelligence, handsome features, sporting in
stincts, and a remorseless economy. How true a Kajar is the
reigning monarch will be evident as I proceed.
Since his two visits to England in 1873 and 1889 the personality
and many of the idiosyncrasies of the Shah have become familiar to
Nasr-ed- the British public. Nasr-ed-Din (Defender of the Faith)
Din Shah. was ppg eldest son of Mohammed Shah, and was born on
His appear
ance July 17, 1831. Consequently, he is now just sixty years
of age. Upon his father succeeding Fath Ali Shah in 1834 (Abbas
Mirza, Mohammed’s father, and for so many years Vali-Ahd or
Heir Apparent, having died in the previous year), Nasr-ed-Din
became Vali-Ahd and, after the fashion of the Persian Royal
Family, was, at the early age of twelve, made nominal Governor of
Azerbaijan, residing at Tabriz. In that province, at Deran near
Urumiah, he was seen in 1835, and described as follows by Colonel
Stuart, who accompanied Sir H. Ellis as private secretary on his
mission to Teheran:—
The Walee Ahud was, like his uncle, seated at an open window. I
never saw so beautiful a child. The expression of his countenance is
mournful, and the poor thing was evidently shy. Me were given
1 He was buried, in the Mausoleum of Khojah Rabi outside Meshed . vide
Chapter VII.
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 [308r] (618/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000019> [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