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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [314r] (630/1814)
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.
3M
THE SHAH—ROYAL FAMILY—MINISTERS
403
only had the life of the sovereign been attempted, but the existence
of the dynasty was believed to be at stake; and it must be
remembered that studied refinements of torture are an immemorial
tradition of the East.
There was less excuse for the execution of the soldiers suspected
of having conspired against the life of the Shah, just before his
second European journey, in 1878. The story is a tragic one,
illustrating both the abuses of the Persian administrative system
and the perils attaching to the irresponsibility of an Oriental
sovereign. 1 Some soldiers of an Isfahan regiment, who, according^
to the Persian custom, had received no pay for three years, and
had yet been oidered to remain under arms, seized the opportunity
of a pilgrimage of the Shah to the shrine of Shah Abdul Azim to
approach his carriage and present a petition. The Shah was in a
bad humour, and ordered his ferashes to drive back the supplicants.
An emeute ensued, in which stones were thrown, some of which
struck the royal ecpiipage. The apprehensions of the Shah were
y - lie wicked assurance of one of his suite that it
was a Babi conspiracy against his life. He ordered the arrest of
the soldieis, and, on his return to the palace, ten of their number
were strangled without further inquiry, and their bodies dragged
through the streets. The remainder were sentenced to have their
ears cut off, and to be bastinadoed. A few days later, when start
ing for Europe, the Shah read the petition of the suspected soldiers,
and ascertained his fatal mistake. He at once took steps to re
dress the injustice that had been done; but the denouement is even
more Persian in its characteristics than the earlier incidents of the
story. The culprits were released, and their arrears paid, with a
small indemnity of five
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
to each man for his unmerited
sufferings. But the offending chamberlain, who had started the
false cry of a Babi rebellion, was mulcted in a sum of 18,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, so that the whole transaction resulted in a gain to the
Boyal Exchequer of 7,000L I do not think it would be possible
in the space of a short paragraph to narrate a more profoundly
illustrative tale.
• 1 It is related among others Mme. Carla Serena, Homines et Clwses en Perse,
p. 319, and by S. G. Benjamin, Persia and the Persians, pp. 178-180. With it
may be compared the incident of the execution of the Kalantar or Mayor of
Teheran, on the occasion of a riot arising out of a corner in grain which had
been effected by some rich speculator in 186L It is related by Ussher, Journey
from London to Persejyolis, p. 625.
i> d 2
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 [314r] (630/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000025> [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