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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [653v] (1323/1814)
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.
in 1751. Later in the century Agha Mohammed Khan, ambitious
to fortify his rising fortunes, essayed a campaign in 1785 against
these formidable mountaineers. He was not more successful than
'Nadir had been ; and during the rest of his reign left the Bakhtiaris
wisely alone. In the early years of the present century, Asad
Khan, of the Haft Lang tribe, defied the Persian Government, raided
up to the walls of Teheran, and when pursued took refuge in his
impregnable hill-fort of the Hiz near Shushter. Ultimately, how- L
ever, he surrendered to Mohammed All Mnza, the son of Path Ali
Shah, and made his peace with the Government. At this time
(1810) Morier calculated the Bakhtiaris as possessing o00,000
families, an altogether extravagant estimate. A little later, when
British officers appeared in Persia to drill the native troops, a force
of 3,000 Bakhtiaris was raised and placed under Major Hart, who
found them orderly and tractable in their relations with him,
though insubordinate and contemptuous towards Persian officers.
Subsequently, Duhousset, the Frenchman, also commanded a
Bakhtiari regiment. A curious story is related by Colonel Stuart
and Lady Shell of an Englishman who, in about 1830, having been
captured by some Bakhtiari brigands, became domesticated and
married among them, taking the name of Dervish Ali, and living
as a Moslem. In process of time, having grown tired of savage
life and of his Bakhtiari bride, he sold her for a jackass, which he
rode to Trebizond, and embarked thence for his native country,
having turned a few shillings on the speculation. Lady Shell says
that he kept a diary; if so, it is to be regretted that this has never
been given to the world.
We now come to a time when, jealous of the power of a great
Bakhtiari chieftain, the Persian Government once again made a
The resolute attempt to assert its authority in the Lur moun-
Chehar tains ; and when, owing to the accidental presence of an ,
Lang Englishman, Sir H. Layard, in these regions, we have for
the first time presented to us, in vivid and contemporaneous por
traiture, a page of Bakhtiari history and life. The two principal
subdivisions of the Bakhtiari tribes had for long been the Haft
Lang (Seven Eeet) and Chehar Lang (Four Feet). According to
the popular account, current among the people themselves,
the whole tribe originally migrated from Syria under a single
chieftain, one of whose descendants left upon his death two families
of seven and four sons respectively, the struggle between whom. ^
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 [653v] (1323/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x00007c> [accessed 7 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