![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎364v] (731/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0742.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎364v] (731/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [364v] (731/1814)
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.
498
PERSIA
proceed to give the latest information as to its present foothold and
probable future.
The Babi movement may be divided into three epochs the
period of formation and persecution, the temporary recoil, and the
Later de- subsequent internal schism, with its consequences. After
velopments t p e £ rgt sava g e outbreak—which has been most unfairly
mistaken for a revolutionary and anarchical conspiracy—had been
drowned in blood, the Babis shifted their headquarters to Baghdad
where Mirza Yahia, known as Hazret-i-Ezel—i.e. His Highness the
Eternal—was recognised as the Khalifa, or successor of the Bab
his chief subordinate being his half-brother, Mirza Husein Ali of
Mazanderan, known as Beha, who during this period wrote the
Ikan or argumentative demonstration of the truth of the Babi
doctrine. After a ten years’ sojourn (1853-63) at Baghdad, the
Babis were removed by the Turkish Government, first to Constanti
nople, and afterwards to Adrianople. It was while at the latter
place that, in 1866, Beha renounced his allegiance to his step
brother, and claimed himself to be ‘He whom God shall manifest’—
i.e. the Mahdi, or veritable incarnation, whom the Bab had foretold,
and who superseded all other manifestations. A bloody dissension
at once arose between the followers of the two prophets, which was
only superficially healed by the despatch of Beha to Acre and of
the Hazret-i-Ezel to Cyprus, where the two have ever since re
mained, each claiming the sole headship of the Babi Church. Beha,
three years of his life, the greater part was spent in confinement at Maku and
Cherikin Azerbaijan ; and on July 9, 1850, he was led ont with a disciple, and shot
in the citadel of Tabriz. How at the first volley he escaped unhurt, and disap
peared, but, taking the wrong direction, was recaptured and killed, is well known.
Had he evaded recapture on this occasion, there can be little doubt but that
h»asr-ed-Din Shah would not now be upon the throne of Persia, and that Babism
would be the religion of the land. While in prison, the Bab composed the volu
minous works, the principal of which was the Beyan, that embody his doctrines
and beliefs. In the same year occurred the terrific siege and slaughter of Babis
at Zinjan, where women and children fought in the streets like fiends against the
Royal troops, and the execution of seven leading sectaries, since known as the
oeven Martyrs, at Teheran. Babi rebellions occurred at Yezdand elsewhere, and
were put down with horrible cruelty, and an attempt was made upon the life of
the Amir-i-Nizam. Finally, in August 1852, an attempt was made by four Babi&
to assassinate the Shah while out riding near Teheran. The inquisition and ap
palling tortures that succeeded haA~e been alluded to elsewhere. Since that time
there has been no formal outbreak of Babi hostility or revenge, and the persecution
of the ruling powers has been only intermittently revived. But sanguis mar-
tyium semen Ecclesice, and the massacres of those five years have given Babism a
vitality which no other impulse could have secured.
)
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 [364v] (731/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00008a> [accessed 4 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