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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [370r] (742/1814)
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.
»1m
d Wl th irl, b '
f . liat , even
r ""'istio, J
ind who
see in%
the wicle- S p rea( |
y °f the Koran,
Rewards s Pecula’
1 opinion, a
of the Protestant
Pe most hopeful
ast. While con-
^ is being done by
American Mission
-on, by the display
e, by the force of
that these pious
ich knowledge as
st of the future,
3 cast an eye in
f in Iran,
lajiabad Inscrip-
king sat upon
>f the renowned
But it would be
this hypothesis . 1 2 '
3 last great sove-,
have professed a
rile in exile with
d to saints and
itron saint. H e
3e reads the name o f
artin Hang fin* ®
o- to an unsnccessf"
] etc., of the
INSTITUTIONS AND REFORMS
also married a Christian, the far-famed Sira or Shirin. Similar
suspicions have been entertained of the enlightened Mongol
prince, Abaka Khan, the son of Hulaku Khan, and great-grandson
of Jenghiz Khan, who married the daughter of the Greek
Emperor Michael Palseologos, and is believed to have embraced
the Christian faith. It is certain in any case that the Gospels
were first translated into the Persian tongue a few years after his
death, in 1282 a.d. ; and a Persian MS. version of the Four Evan
gelists is in existence, dated 1314. 1 A later version was published
in London in 1652-7 (edited by Pierson), from a collation of three
MSS. supposed to have been made from the Greek. Shah Abbas
liked to delude the missionaries at Isfahan into thinking that he
was a Christian, and is said once actually to have gone through the
ceremony of baptism; whereupon tracts were issued by the de
lighted Friars, ascribing his victories over the Turks to this con
version. In the succeeding century Nadir Shah, in a freak of anti-
religious intolerance, ordered the four Gospels to be translated into
Persian, after which, before an audience of priests, rabbis, and
mullahs, he made fun of the doctrines presented in what was a
ludicrously inaccurate version. The first Protestant missionary to
Persia was the famous Henry Martyn, who, in the year 1811, went
out to Shiraz . 2 This remarkable man, who impressed everyone by
his simplicity and godliness of character, created an effect in the
short space of a year (for he died at Tokat in Asiatic Turkey in
October 1812), that was as much to be attributed to the charm
of his personality as to the character of his mission. Known as
4 the enlightened infidel,’ he spent his time in translating the New
Testament into Persian, in preaching Christ, and in publicly con
futing the doctrines of Islam, a written refutation of which from
his pen was sent to Kerbela, to be answered by the learned Moham
medan divines of that sacred city. An anonymous
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
in the
4 Asiatic Journal’ of March 1830 quoted the words of a Persian
mullah named Mohammed Rahim, alleged to have been converted
to Christianity by Martyn :—
In the year of the Hejira 1223, there came to this city (Shiraz) an
Englishman, who taught the religion of Christ with a boldness hitherto
1 This was first printed in the London Polyglot by Bishop Walton.
2 Vide Journals and Letters of the JRev. Henry Martyn, edited by Rev.
S. Wilberforce (London, 1821, 1839) ; and a Memoir of the same, by Rev. J. Sargent
(1828,1837).
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 [370r] (742/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000095> [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