![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎419r] (840/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0852.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎419r] (840/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [419r] (840/1814)
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.
110t reali sed. T
° f a %h H -
lage > s quabti ec] a " 1 i ) ''i
, ,and finally, ^ ltl '
THE ARMY
589
Pers ian %
^une still ^
ing 0 f p .
f re giments belnn -
:,e ’ Wllicl1 s J
r ei r ents c
' n ° lon g er receive.
5 Austi
lie ran
;rian
was
°1 > Russian
)ne l Dumantovifcl
kasoff in tlieeul,
and five non.©,
regiment oni
the Russians pre-
rifles, costing!
ield batteries m
riend the Empen
an on the Eussi
men were dresd
n the model of tlif
ie himself upon
of
ments ^
and ^
these ^
t, and ^
parts of the existing army. In the present year it has been
decided to raise a fourth and similar regiment of Persian Cossacks
among the Kurds, Timuris, and other tribes of the north-eastern
frontier.
In addition to the Russian officers, relics of the successive
waves of foreign military importation which I have described still
Surviving survive in Persia in 1891 in the person of seven Austrian
foreign officers, six of whom are generals, and one a major, a
French bandmaster dignified with the rank of a general,
an Italian and a Bulgarian chief of instructors, an Italian head of
police, and two Prussian officers, acting as professors in the Royal
College. This is the flotsam and jetsam that the receding tide
of polyglot military influence has left stranded upon the dubious
shore-line of Teheran.
From this brief historical retrospect of the Persian army in the
past, and particularly during the nineteenth century—the information
Modern contained in which I have derived from a great number
army 0 f sources that have nowhere else been collated—I turn
to an account of the Persian forces as they now are. Roughly
speaking, the army in Persia may be said to consist of three con
stituent parts :—
1. A large number of irregular cavalry furnished by the frontier,
or nomad, or warlike tribes, and commanded by their chieftains or
khans. These must by no means be confused with the irregular
horse, as the term is employed in the military annals of England
or India. In Persia they are in no sense a drilled, organised, or
disciplined body of men, but consist of rude tribal levies, raised
without fixed method from such districts or clans as possess fighting
material, horses, and a frontier to guard; and while the staple of
which they are formed is masculine and robust, yet, in the absence
of discipline, and still more often of pay, they are apt to constitute
a greater danger than protection.
2. A semi-regular army of infantry, cavalry, and artillery,
equipped, clothed, and drilled on more or less European lines, and
constituting the bulk of the defensive forces of the kingdom.
3. An irregular infantry militia (tufangchis, or matchlock men,
shamkhalchis, and jezailchis), raised and supported by local dis
tricts and cities for the protection of life and property within their
own borders. Nominally, this is a large force, only called out in
cases of dire emergency. In reality, it is an insignificant and
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 [419r] (840/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x00002f> [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