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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [635v] (1287/1814)
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.
be taken under the protection of the British raj. Their religion is as
uncouth and primitive as are their manners. They are nominally
Mohammedans of the Sunni persuasion (whence an added contempt
for the Persian Shiahs); but practically they know nothing of religion
but the rival names and a few Arab formulae, and have neither
scriptures, ritual, nor mosques. A flavour of indigenous supersti
tion is added by the worship of f irs or saints, whose shrines,
bearing the same title, are looked upon as charms, particularly if
a stone be added by the worshipper to the piled-up heap. In the
Serbaz district is a sect, known as the Zikris, who have a belief of
their own, and a holy book (which is little more or less than a
modified Koran) alleged to have been miraculously communicated
to them, much as the Mormon bible was to Joe Smith. They
omit all mention of Mohammed from their prayers, but expect the
ultimate reappearance of the Mahdi, who will rise out of the earth
at the hill of Kuh-i-Murad (Mountain of Desire), at Turbat Kej,
in Beluchistan proper, where are the headquarters of the sect, and
where they perform their rites, sometimes alleged, though without
apparent foundation, to be strange and incestuous. A Persian
authority has calculated the population of Persian Beluchistan as
250,000 ; which is believed to be a fairly accurate estimate.
The Beluch village is a cluster of squalid huts round a central
keep or fort where the Khan resides. In the south, these huts are
made of wattled palm leaves ; in the north, where it is
Iia aS6S colder, of mud and sun-dried bricks. The chieftain’s fort,
cultivation .^ieh is typical of a primitive and semifeudal state of
society is a much more picturesque and ambitious structure
than its Persian counterpart. In Persia, a fort is seldom more,
than a rectangular walled enclosure with flanking towers. n
Beluchistan it has more the appearance, except for its material, o
a mediffival European keep, having lower walled courts and a lolty
central tower, with a watch turret above all. Fort and vi age
are commonly placed in a valley or grove of date palms, whence
the people derive their livelihood, at the same time that they
diligently cultivate with wheat and barley the intervening spaces
between the stems. The date palm which grows here, and of whic
those of Bampur in Persia, and of Panjgur in Kelati Beluchistan,
enjoy the widest reputation, is, as is well known, impregnated )
the pollen of the male tree, which is inserted in the flower ol t e
female. The ears of one male tree are sufficient to fecunda e
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 [635v] (1287/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000058> [accessed 9 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