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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [319v] (641/1814)
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.
414
PERSIA
I believe (and I have taken steps to procure the best informa
tion on the subject) that this is a most unfair account of the per
sonality of the future king of Persia, So far from being either
"am idiot or an imbecile, he is a man of good intelligence and
considerable instruction, being well read in history, professing an
interest in botany, and being withal of an amiable and unassuming
disp osition. The charge of bigotry appears to have arisen from
the fact that he pays marked respect to the mullahs, and that he
is believed to be more or less under the influence of the Sheikhi
sect, which maybe described as a fanatical
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
. 1 Any such
prepossession, however, which probably does not amount to more
than serious orthodoxy, as contrasted with the free-thinking ten
dencies of his elder brother, is far from justifying a fear of active
religious persecution in the future. If the prince is, as alleged, of
weak character and easily led—although such a lack of individuality
is denied by others—it is largely owing to the inexcusable position
of subordination in which he, a man of nearly forty years of age,
the second personage in the kingdom, and the future sovereign,
has been placed by the shortsighted apprehensions of his father.
Though nominally Governor-General of a great province, he has
hitherto been allowed no more voice in the actual administration
than a lacquey at his table; a child in leading-strings has more
control over his own movements than this pseudo-ruler has had over
his subjects. 2 The allowance given to him by the Shah has been
have contained similarly unflattering portraits of the Vali-Ahd, but I cannot
ascertain that they amount in any case to more than repetitions of second-hand
or third-hand gossip.
1 The Sheikhi sect are so called from a celebrated Sheikh of Kerman, Haji
Mohammed Kerim Khan, who in the early part of the century was a disciple of
Sheikh Ahmed Ahsai, the doctrinal parent of Babism. A split occurred between
the followers of the Bab and the pupils of the Sheikh, who called themselves by
his name. He preached a superior rationalism, reconciling dogma with reason,
and had many admirers, including Fath Ali Shah. The three chief points of his
creed were, extreme veneration for the Imams, as divine incarnations, belief in
his owm spiritual communion with them, and denial of a material resurrection.
Vide E. G Browne, Journal of the R.A.S., 1889, art. xii.
2 The Province, as I shall presently show, has been for long administered by
the Prince’s Vizier—the Amir-i-Nizam. Several years ago, in the absence of a
strong hand at the helm, the mis-government was so great that the Vali-Ahd was
temporarily deprived of his governorship, which was conferred upon one of the
Shah’s uncles, an adept in the proper use of the bastinado, the bowstring, and
the executioner’s knife. The Amir-i-Nizam having been recalled (1891), the
Vali-Ahd has now once more a chance.
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 [319v] (641/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000030> [accessed 10 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