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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [701r] (1418/1814)
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 KARUN RIVER
353
responded to the grandiloquence of the title. The place consisted
of four or five mat huts, in front of one of which floated the Persian
flag, and a small gun was planted to fire salutes and to proclaim the
majesty of government. Within resided the deputy of the Governor-
General of Arabistan, an official named Mirza Akbar Ali, with
whom I was now to make acquaintance, and in whom I found a
model type of the genus Persian subordinate official, species first-
class obstructionist. Another of the mat-huts was tenanted by the
agent of Messrs. Lynch, who with great difficulty obtained per
mission to take up his residence here, and was obliged to pay a rent
of 600
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(170k) a year for quarters that would be exorbitant
at 7k This preposterous fine—for it was nothing else—was sub
mitted to un the understanding that it was to be the rent of a
substantial structure, which was forthwith to be erected by the
Persian Government, with a suitable shed for stores. A year had
elapsed, and the new residence was as much in nubibus as ever,
although no mention had been made of any consequent abatement
of rent.
I was the bearer of letters of recommendation from the British
Resident at Bushire to the Nizam-es-Sultaneh, Governor-General
introduc ^ ra t ) i s 't an ) requesting him to aid my journey by means
tiontothe of the Persian steam launch, the ‘ Susa,’lately placed
upon the upper river. Being already three days behind
time at Ahwaz, I heard with pleasure that the ‘ Susa ’ was lying at
anchor above the rapids, waiting for the arrival of the c Shushan ’
in order to proceed to Shushter. I therefore called upon the Mirza
with my letter to the Governor, to request that the c Susa ’ might
be ordered to start upon its journey at daybreak on the following
morning. It would have been possible for me, and far better, to
have ordered horses on my own account and to have ridden to
Shushter, the distance being only 56 miles by land. But I was
informed that the route might be impassable from rain and mud,
and—I did not yet know the Mirza.
The latter first attempted at the same time to put me off and
to vindicate his own official importance by making the plea of ill-
His wily ness an excuse for not receiving me. I replied that my
wa ys business was urgent; and an interview was accordingly
arranged, the imaginary illness not again figuring in the negotia
tions. I found the Persian seated more Persico on the ground in
his mat-hut, with a carpet spread in front of him, on which candles
VOL. n. A A
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 [701r] (1418/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000013> [accessed 3 July 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