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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [420r] (842/1814)
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.
1 0 ksolet e w
? w 'WaS'
Dilip's! |
, gs ’ re Prese 1 ,ti )1 '
.JiT>
" tlle colours t
iat Can be depicfei
mail y categories
public
' T es the total 0 f the p
tlle re gular arm
es - These figures 5
animation.
‘ble to mobilisation
Artillery (Zamhmkkuf |
n Corps . in
\i
90,1
heading, containing tie
3r arms:—
i Corps. . . . li
. . 2,1
deficient complement
actually serving
is believed to be ata*
and 70 m el1 '
dfth colum 11 ce(:{ '
ingof IS* 1 *
Kelat-i-N^
0 battali 011 ’
runs;^ 11
THE ARMY 59i
I pass on to say a few words in explanation of the various items
in the above lists, commencing with the irregular cavalry. Their
Irregular elementary constitution I have roughly sketched. The
cavalry Pegt 0 f them are the Kurds in the north-east and north
west, the Timuris in the east, and the various Iliats, or nomad con
tingents—such as the Bakhtiaris,—in the south-west. Sir H.
Bawlinson, speaking from personal experience, once described the
tribes on the western frontier, ‘ those inhabiting the range which
runs from Ararat to Shiraz, as the very beau ideal of militarv
material, the men being athletic, strong, hardy, and active. 5 The
contribution of each tribe or district is regulated by the number
of families or tents, and has varied greatly at different epochs.
The commanding officers are generally the chief khans of the tribe,
or one of their near relations, with the title of sertip or serhang,
irrespective of the number of men under their command. Subaltern
officers are usually designated yuzbashi or panjabashi —i.e. ‘head
of 100 5 (centurion) or ‘ head of fifty 5 —and also naib, or lieutenant.
The officers have no regular pay, but when away from their
camping grounds and on active service receive rations. The
subalterns and men receive pay varying from 65 brans ( 11 . 17s.)
to 1,000 brans (28k 10s.) per annum, the latter being the pay of
the royal gholams, or Shah’s bodyguard, who are mostly khans and
men of means. They also receive rations, 6^ pounds of barley,,
and 13 pounds of straw per diem. Including pay, rations, and
allowances, the pay of the irregular cavalry soldier ranges from
4k 12s. 6 d. to 31k 12s. per annum. The
sowar
In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman.
, or trooper, usually
sells his fodder, and accordingly his mount is apt to present a lean
and woebegone appearance. But these very animals, as soon as
they get a little food into them, are capable of astonishing feats of
endurance. They are all entire horses, not, as a rule, above 14^
hands in height, but hardy, active, and sure-footed, and commonly
fast. They are great weight carriers ; for all the worldly goods of
the
sowar
In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman.
, his bedding, and the night clothing for his horse, are
Yezd, one battalion and 400 cavalry ; Astrabad and Gnrgan, one battalion; Ker-
manshah and Kurdistan, one battalion; Azerbaijan, Tabriz, 1^ battalion and 100
cavalry ; Moghan (on Russian frontier), one battalion and two guns ; Urumiah, half
company and two guns ; Snj Bulak half company. Total under arms : seventeen
battalions, or, at the most, 13,000 men, and 1,800 artillery. Nevertheless the Official
Army List for 1890-1 continues to report 44 regiments under arms, or 35,200 men
(and 35 regiments, or 28,000, on leave), as well as artillery 2,200 under arms*
and 2,990 on leave !j
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 [420r] (842/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000031> [accessed 2 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