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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [413v] (829/1814)
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.
582
PERSIA
Then ensued a long period of apathy, until, in August 1820, Russia
having for some time assumed an attitude of studied provocation, war
again broke out on the N.W. frontier. The effects of the preceding
lethargy were soon visible. Persia cut a very sorry figure on the
battle-field, and, after the war had lasted for a year and a half, and
had resulted in sufficient Persian discomfiture, it was closed by the
Treaty of Turkomanchai in February 182b. After the death of
Hart in 1830, Colonel Shee was the only remaining English officer
of any rank in the Persian service. 1 He and some English drill-
sergeants, among whom was Sergeant Gibbons, whom I have before
now quoted, accompanied Abbas Mirza on his campaign m Khorasan
in 1831-2 ; but the successes of the Prince in that expedition, in
which he successively reduced Herman, Hu chan, and Saiakhs, had
a most unfortunate effect upon the temper of the Persians, who
became inflated with unreasonable pride, and thought themselves
good enough to conquer any enemy without European assistance.
One of the most curious elements in the Persian army at this time
was a corps known as the Russian Deserters, being the half of a
battalion who had been taken prisoners by the Persians on the march
to Shisheh in 1826, and had enlisted in the service of their captors.
They were commanded by a Colonel Samson Khan, a Russian
serjeant-major who deserted his countrymen, married the daughtei
of the Vali of Georgia, and betook himself to Persia. These
Bahaderan (or grenadiers) were well paid, and fought well for their
new masters, until finally disbanded about 1840. Colonel Stuart
described them in 1835 as ‘ wearing heavy shakos with high green
plumes, red coutees with wings of blue cloth and white lace, loose
white trousers and high boots/ 2
The expedition of Abbas Mirza into Khorasan and against
Herat, the siege of which place was only raised because of his death
4 in the autumn of 1833, had re-aroused the languishing
lish solicitude or alarms of the Indian Government, and a
more decisive step in support of British interests was
now taken by the Governor-General, Lord W. Bentinck. A con
siderable supply of arms and accoutrements was despatched to
1 Stocqneler (Fifteen Months'’ Pilgrimage, $c., vol. i., p. 170) says that in 1831
the only European commissioned officers still in the service of Abbas Mirza were
Captains Shee, Burgess, Littlejohn, and Borowski (a Pole). Captain Mignan ni
1830 (Winter’s Journey) had mentioned Colonel Shee, Lieutenants Burgess arc
Christian, and eight sergeants.
2 Journal of a Residence, fyc., p. 187.
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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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- 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