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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [414v] (831/1814)
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.
584
PERSIA
met by an istikbal, consisting of c twenty regular lancers com
manded, in English words, by a sergeant of our 4th Light
Dragoons, and forming part of a body of 100 men raised in the
Khamseh district, drilled and disciplined by Mr. 1 arrant. They
wore red jackets, loose blue trousers, and Peisian caps • and were
armed with swords, holster pistols, and lances with red and blue
pennons.’ The Khamseh Lancers, however, were soon voted too
expensive a luxury by the king, who found that their keep cost 4^.
daily; and, accordingly, they were disbanded, and Colonel Tarrant
was told off to instruct the Royal Bodyguard, or gholams.
This second English experiment was even less successful than
the first. Persia was not at the time face to face with an over-
F whelming national danger; and the new sovereign,
and with- Mohammed Shah, was inflamed with preposterous ideas
theEngiish of personal military renown. The British officers were
contingent not we p rece i vec [ f rom the start, and were subjected to
constant humiliation from the spite and jealousy of their Persian
colleagues. They were not even informed beforehand when re
views were going to take place. Among the regiments whom
they were expected to lick into shape, they found it difficult to
contend with the turbulence and rascality, the thieving and
drunken propensities, of the recruits. After three months’ hard
work, Sheil wrote, ‘ I begin to think it hopeless to endeavour to
establish a nizam (regular army).’ And again :—
With no power except that of the lash and such authority as from
personal character they could acquire for themselves—no control over
the pay or rations, which were always embezzled, or over promotion,
which was always bestowed from corrupt motives—it is not surprising
that the English officers did not effect more than was done. If they
could not enable the Persian troops to contend successfully with the
regular troops of other nations, they at all events gave the Persian
artillery and infantry the means of beating an unlimited number of
Afghans, Koords, and Toorkomans, or irregular Persian troops. 1
It was owing, however, to political and diplomatic rupture in
the first place that the experiment broke down. In the second
year of his reign, Mohammed Shah commenced the execution of a
design long cherished by himself, but avowedly repugnant to
England, by marching against Herat. The growing ascendency of
Russia, and the strained relations with Great Britain, were illustrated
1 Note C to Lady Shell’s Glimjjses of Life^ S\C.
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 [414v] (831/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000026> [accessed 4 April 2025]
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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