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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [674r] (1364/1814)
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.
THE SOUTH-WESTERN PROVINCES 321
Persian subjects, the rulers of Gurjistan (Georgia), Ardelan, and
Luristan. The villages or camps are under their respective
sheikhs, who are responsible for the revenue, paid in a lump sum
to the district governor, who again passes it on to the provincial
exchequer.
The population of this region is either pure Arab, or, more
frequently, mixed Arab and Persian. The introduction of the
former element commenced with the Arab conquests
The Arabs ^ A . D#j and has been recruited ever since by
spontaneous immigration from the other side of the Tigris and the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, as well as by direct importation, Shah Ismail having,
it is said, brought a large number of Arab colonists from the
district of Nejd. Few of these Arab tribes have kept their blood
undefiled. The majority have intermingled with the Persians, and
the result is a strange hybrid, such as I shall afterwards describe, at
Shushter and elsewhere, where the Persian dress and even the
Persian religion have been in the main adopted, where sedentary
has replaced nomad existence, and where the natural dignity of
the Bedouin, or Wanderer, has succumbed to Persian wiles. Of
the Arab peoples the most important are the Ka’b (vulg. Cha’b)
Arabs, of whom there were originally seventy-two tribes. The
bulk of these have died out or disappeared; but the race is still the
most numerous in Arabistan. Layard in 1841 gave a tabulated
list of their tribal divisions and subdivisions, many of which are not
now known in the country, from a list compiled by Mr. Robert
son, the late British Consul at Busrah, I take the following names
as those of the Arab tribes of the province, not Ka’bs alone, who
are said still to number 500 or more adult males. They are the
Al-bu-Ghubaish, Asakirah, Khanafirah, Bawieh, Bait-el-Haji, Beni
Rushaid, Beni Saleh, Beni Turuf, Hamudi, Humaid, Kindazli,
Jurf, Kathir, Muhaisen, Naisieh, Aasara, Sharaifat, Shurafa,
Suwari, Sudan. Suleiman. The number of smaller tribes is very
large. On the eastern borders of the province are some other Arab
tribes not included in the above list, notably the Muntefik of
Hawizeh, and those dreaded robbers the Beni Lam. The bulk of
these, however, particularly the Beni Lam, are in Turkish terri
tory ; and of the latter, therefore, I shall not again speak. The Arab
and semi-Arab tribes of the province have been reckoned at various
totals between 170,000 and 200,000, the larger sum being thus
arrived at:—
VOL. n. Y
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 [674r] (1364/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x0000a5> [accessed 6 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