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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [654r] (1324/1814)
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.
for the supremacy originated a tribal division that has lasted ever
since. According to another account, the numbers of seven and
four represented the respective scales of military contribution in
bygone days, the Haft Lang, who were always the poorer and more
nomadic section of the tribe, being taxed in the proportion of one-
seventh of their property, while the Chehar Lang, who possessed
villages and agricultural wealth, were assessed upon a quarter of their
possessions. However this may be, a bitter enmity had from early
times existed between the tribes, for which a perhaps sufficient
reason was to be found in the fact that some of their pastures over
lapped, and that they crossed each other while moving from their
winter to their summer quarters. Between the years 1830-40,
one Mohammed Taki Khan, of the Kunurzi tribe of the Chehar
Lang subdivision, and a lineal descendant of Reshid, the brother
of Ali Mardan Khan, before mentioned, rose by his own eminence
and abilities to a commanding position among the Bakhtiari
peoples. Starting as chief of his own clan, he was presently recog
nised as head of the Janiki (lit. Juwaniki) Garmsir, a larger tribal
unit, which as a rule carried with it the supremacy of the entire
Chehar Lang. At his prime his sway was likewise acknowledged
by many of the Haft Lang Bakhtiaris, and by some of the Feili
and Kuhgelu Lurs. This was the powerful and remarkable chieftain
whom Mohammed Ali Shah, thirsting for military renown, deter
mined to subdue ; and of whose individuality and misfortunes so
affecting a picture has been drawn by the pen of Layard. 1
Mohammed Taki Khan was one of those men who exist to show
that primitive surroundings and a wild existence can still develop
Moham- a high ideal both of statesmanship and manhood. A
med Taki brave warrior, an excellent swordsman, shot, and horse-
Knan . •
man, abstemious m his private life, affable and humane
in his public relations, liberal-minded in political views, and
possessed of no common abilities, ‘ he had a very noble air, and
was the bane)ideal of a great feudal chief. 5 His policy was much
in advance of what might have been expected from his environ
ment. He sternly repressed brigandage, encouraged settled as
against nomadic existence, attempted colonisation on a large scale,
fostered trade, and was keenly in sympathy with Layard’s proposals
1 Vide Journal of the R.G.S. y vol. xvi. pp. 8 , 15, 47-9, and. Early Adventures,
pp. 371-5, et passim. Compare, also : (Sir) H. Rawlinson, Journal of the R.G.S
vol. ix. p. 104; and Baron C. A. De Bode, Travels in Luristan, vol. ii. pp. 78-81.
u 2
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 [654r] (1324/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x00007d> [accessed 4 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