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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎419v] (841/1814)

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. .

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590
PEESIA
contemptible body of men, armed with obsolete weapons and per
forming with much reluctance the duties of local guards.
The numbers of these various elements are as follows. I am
obliged to adopt a probably unprecedented classification, and to
Numerical arrange them under four headings, representing respec-
strength tively:—(1) the hypothetical Army List of the Persian
Government, which is an official record based upon imagination;
(2) the nominal strength liable to be called out for active service;
(3) the number alleged to be habitually under arms; and (4) the
actual number at present serving with the colours. There is
probably no other army in the world that can be depicted by its
apologists or its critics as figuring in so many categories.
The theoretical Army List of the Shah, published in the ‘ Sal
Nameh,’ or ‘Annual Official Gazette, 7 gives the total of the Persian
1. The army as 200,000-—150,000 in the regular army and
Army List 50,000 in the militia or reserves. These figures may be
dismissed without either comment or examination.
\
2 . Nominal Tlie nominal strength liable to mobilisation is as
strength follows
Irregular or Nomad Cavalry . 16,350
Semi-regular Cavalry . . 2,493
Regular Infantry . . . 63,700
Artillery 1 . . . . 4,000
Camel Artiller}^ (Zamburafichis ) 2 80
Austrian Corps . . . .169
Militia 3,600
90,392
3. Effective
strength
I next come to the third heading
alleged effective strength under arms :—
containing
the
Irregular Cavalry .
Semi-regular Cavalry
Regular Infantry .
Artillery 3
12,427
2,493
25,000
1,800
Austrian Corps
Militia
169
2,000
43,889
deficient complement,
4. Num
ber
embodied
Finally, deducting for false returns,
and men on leave, the number actually serving with the
colours at the present moment is believed to be about
30,000 men. 4
1 540 officers and 3,460 men. 2 10 officers and 70 mem
3 With 164 guns.
4 The information which I have since received renders a fifth column neces
sary, depicting the still smaller total under arms in the spring of 1891. This-
total relates, except where otherwise specified, to infantry. Teheran, six battalions,
nominally of 800 men each ; Khorasan, Meshed, one battalion ; Kelat-i-Nadiri and
Sarakhs, one battalion ; Kerman and Persian Beluchistan, one battalion ; Ears,
one battalion ; Luristan and Burujird, one battalion and four guns ; Isfahan and''

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎419v] (841/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000030> [accessed 6 April 2025]

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