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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [708v] (1433/1814)
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.
368
PERSIA
resting on stone supports, that still survive in the centre of the
miserable agora. There are no khans, or caravanserais, for mer
chants such as are usually found in Oriental cities.
A very large proportion of the population are seyids (i.e. de
scendants of the Prophet), whose voluminous green turban, here
Layard even more than elsewhere, seems to be an excuse for in-
and Selby su ff er able airs, gross superstition, and an indolent life.
on the peo- 70 ±
pie Of their attitude towards strangers, however, the most
conflicting accounts have been left by English visitors. Layard 1
and Selby 2 have spoken thereof in terms of the highest praise ; and
I cannot but attribute the favourable reception of Selby and his
crew to the personal popularity and prestige of the great traveller
under whose auspices they came.
Nor was the verdict of the quartermaster of the ‘Assyria’
much less complimentary, when in reply to a question from Sir H.
Layard as to what he thought of Shushter, c Well, sir,’ he said, 4 it
ain’t a bad place, but there bain’t a public in it.’ 3
That Selby, however, felt a little nervous as to the justice of
his tribute is evident from his next paragraph, where he says:—
In writing thus highly of the Shushteris, I fear I may be con
sidered as having drawn too highly-coloured and flattering a picture.
Let future experience and knowledge of them decide the point, nor,
until they are found unworthy of the character I have given them, let
them be classed with their oppressive neighbours, the Persians.
Unfortunately 4 future experience and knowledge,’ which we
are now in a position to invoke, have decided the point both against
Modern Selby and his friends the Shushteris. Only eight years
character i a ter, Mr. Loftus described ‘ the countenances of the in
habitants as not prepossessing, low cunning, deceit, and mistrust
being universal among the lower classes; ’ 4 while the advent of
Messrs. Lynch’s agents and the opening of the Karan have supplied
the present generation with the opportunity of giving the lie to
the benignant assurances of their predecessors to Sir H. Layard.
When Messrs. Lynch’s representative first took up his abode there,
in 1888, he found difficulty even in procuring drinking water and
the commonest necessaries of life, so loth were the people to have
any dealing with such ‘ an unclean thing; ’ and every obstacle was
1 Uarly Adventures, vol. ii. p. 282 ; cf. pp. 44, 340, 357.
2 Journal of the R. G.8. } vol. xiv. p. 230. 3 Early Adventures, vol. ii. p. 357.
4 Travels and Researches, p. 296.
I
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 [708v] (1433/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000022> [accessed 26 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