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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [640v] (1297/1814)
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.
270
PERSIA
degree all these tribes contain a settled population, which in the
case of the Turks constitutes an enormously preponderant ma
jority, in that of the Arabs and Beluchis a decided majority, in
that of the Kurds and Lurs a decided minority. The settled peoples
are known as sJiGliT-'yi'islwYis or dGJi-Tiishi'yis^ he. dwellers in cities
or villages; the nomads as soJivci-'Yiishivis^ i.e. dwellers in the open
country. All nomads may further be grouped under the designation
lliat, a Turkish word, which is the plural of //, a family or clan.
Of the entire population of Persia it has been assumed that one
quarter, or over 2,000,000, are in the nomadic state.
Among the Turkish tribes of Persia, which are most numerous
in the north and north-west, the best known are the Kajars (the
tribe of the Shah), the Afshars (the tribe of Nadir Shah),
Turks the Karaguzlus of Hamadan, the Shah Sevens of Ardebil 2
(supplying the Royal Bodyguard), the Turkomans of the Glurgan
and Atrek valleys, and the Kashkai hordes of Pars and Laristan.
Of these the last three contain the only remaining nomad ele
ments, changing their pastures according to the season of the year.
The Goklan and Yomut Turkomans have been dealt with in Vol. I.
and the Kashkais in Chapter XX.
Of the Arab tribes, I have previously mentioned some sections,
localised in the eastern districts of Khorasan. There are also many
Arabs Persianised Arab tribes both in the neighbourhood of
Kurds, etc. Teheran and along the coast-fringe of the Gulf. The
Kurds I have already described, both on the north-east and north
west frontiers. Similarly the Beluchis, who are to be found in
Seistan, Persian Beluchistan, and on the Gulf fringe, have been
dealt with in Chapter XXIII. The most conspicuous illustrations,
however, of both the second and the third class, above mentioned,
1 It is impossible to arrive at any scientific estimate of the numbers of the
nomad population. No census or register of births is kept; the scale of military
contribution affords no clue ; and an approximate calculation is only arrived at
by taking the number of the families, which are roughly ascertained for revenue
purposes by the chiefs. Equally difficult is it to explore their past history. The
nomad tribes appear never to have developed a folk-lore, or produced a book, or
harboured an historian. Such historical details as are contained in this chapter
have been laboriously gleaned from a wide variety of sources, partly written,
partly oral.
2 The Shah Sevens or King-lovers were so called by Shah Abbas the Great,
who, in order to break the excessive power of the seven Kizilbash, or Bed-Head
tribes, who had raised Ismail to the throne, constituted a new tribe of his own
supporters.
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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 [640v] (1297/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000062> [accessed 6 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