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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎680r] (1376/1814)

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. .

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THE SOUTH-WESTERN PROVINCES 3^7
route, of which I shall speak in the next chapter, and which is
backed by the Grand Vizier, he may succeed in retaining his twofold
office. After him it is doubtful whether the Persian Government
will ever again tolerate an Arab chieftain possessing any real
authority.
The Ka’b Arabs occupy the entire extent ol territory from
Mohammerah and the Ivarun River eastwards towards the River
Arab Hindian, a distance of over one hundred miles. The
habits natural richness of this region is enormous. It is more
abundantly watered than any track of similar size in Persia,
possessing the Karun, Jerahi, and Hindian rivers, and a network
of canals. It is capable of producing an immense variety of cereal
and other crops : wheat, barley, rice, sugar, cotton, opium, and
indigo. With proper care it might become one vast grain-field,
pouring much needed wealth into a depleted exchequer. As it is,
tribal warfare and Government oppression have turned it into a
desert over which the eye may roam unarrested for miles. Sheikh
Mizal’s section of the tribe dwell in the palm-groves upon the left
shore of the Shat-el-Arab above and at Mohammerah, and occupy
both banks of the Karun as far as Weiss. Upon the rivers they
fish and trade and export their date crops ; inland they camp in
huts of reed, and supply their own needs by extracting an unde
served harvest from the prolific soil. Their wealth is chiefly ex
pressed in flocks of sheep and goats, particularly the former, which
supply them with their woollen blankets and tents, and with milk,
curds, and clarified butter. Their breed of horses has greatly
diminished; but they possess large numbers of donkeys. From
long residence on Persian territories the Ka’b Arabs have lost much
of their own national character. They have intermarried with the
Persians, and have adopted the Shiah religion, as well as parts of
the Persian dress . 1 None the less no love is lost between the two
people, the Persian regarding the Arab as an interloper and a
dullard, and the Arab regarding the Persian, with some justice in
this region, as a plotter and a rogue.
Among the remaining Arab tribes I need only notice the
Muntefik of Hawizeh, on the extreme south-eastern border of
Persian territory. They appear to have migrated thither from
1 They commonly wear the Arab Jtejieh, or silk handkerchief, on the head, kept
in place by the aghal, or twisted camel’s hair bands. But, beneath the Arab aba
or cloak, may be seen a Persian tunic and drawers.

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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎680r] (1376/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x0000b1> [accessed 4 June 2026]

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