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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎681v] (1379/1814)

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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CHAPTER XXY
THE KARUN RIVER
From Atropatia and the neighbouring plains
Of Adiabene, Media, and the South
Of Susiana to Balsara’s haven.
Milton, Paradise Regained.
Fardah Inshallah—
Please God, to-morrow !
Persian Saying.
Having in the previous chapter supplied all the information in my
power about the provinces of Arabistan and Luristan, about their
The Karun peculiar and warring populations, and about the problems
country 0 f } oca i ail( j foreign politics which they bring to light, I
now turn to a description of my own journey up the waters of
the Karun River, as far as the fanatical and crumbling city of
Shushter. There is much in the country, in the river scenery,
and in the character of the people upon its banks, that distinguishes
this from other parts of Persia. Few Englishmen have visited,
and fewer still have described this interesting corner of the Shah’s
dominions; and whilst those who have done so have recorded their
experiences in compilations not devoid of romance and familiar to
the student, though not perhaps to the public at large , 1 the local
1 The writers who have dealt with the Karun river, Shushter, and the sur
rounding districts are as follows:—Dean Vincent, The Commerce and Navigation
of the Ancients, 2 vols., 1807. Gen. W. Monteith, Journal of the R.G.S., vol. xxvii.
p. 108. J. M. Kinneir, Geographical Memoir, 1813. Capt. R. Mignan, Travels in
Chaldcea, 1829. J. H. Stocqueler, Fifteen Months' Pilgrimage, 2 vols., 1832. (Sir)
H. Rawlinson, Journal of the R.G.S.,vo\. ix., 1839. Lieut. W. B. Selby, I.N.,
Journal of the R.G.S., vol. xiv., 1844. (Sir) A. H. Layard, Journal of the R.G.S,
vol. xii., 1842, vol. xvi., 1846; Early Adventures, 2 vols., 1887. Baron C. A. Be
Bode, Journal of the R.G.S., vol. xiii., 1843; Travels in Luristan and Arabistan,
2 vols., 1845. Col. F. R. Chesney, Exp) editions for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates
and Tigris in 1835-7, 2 vols., 1850. W. F. Ainsworth, Researches in Assyria, Ac.,
1838 ; A Personal Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition, 2 vols., 1888 ; The River
Karun, 1890. W. K. Loftus, Travels and Researches in Chaldaa and Susiana, 1857;
Journal oftheR. G.S., vol. xxvii. 1857. Capt. G. H. Hunt, Persian Campaign (1857).
Gen. A. H. Schindler, ‘ Travels in S.-W. Persia in 1877-8,’ Zeit. d. Gesell.f, Erd. u
31
ft

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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 [‎681v] (1379/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x0000b4> [accessed 2 April 2025]

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