![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎718r] (1452/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1468.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎718r] (1452/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [718r] (1452/1814)
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.
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THE KAEUN EIYER
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381
The
Nizam-es-
Sultaneh
tration. Though neither of good family nor distinguished ante
cedents, I found him to possess the inimitable manners of a Persian
gentleman, which were also shared by his younger brother,
the iSaad-el-Mulk, then Governor of Bushire. His con
versation contained the usual flattery and assurance of
friendly sentiments towards the English people, pitched in a more
than ordinarily persuasive key. Accepting his protestations, I
asked him point-blank why he did not testify their sincerity by
endeavouring to remove the obstacles that had been so gratuitously
placed in the way of the English firm who, in response to an in
vitation from his sovereign, had commenced mercantile operations
upon the river. I He answered that he had done, and would continue
to do, everything in his power—a statement that did not precisely
tally with what I knew both of his previous attitude and of his
personal interests, which were believed to be directly concerned in
excluding the British from the upper Karun, some sort of conces
sion for its navigation having been granted to his brother. Inti
mating courteously that it was open to him to give much more
practical evidence of sympathy in the future, I next related the
tale of his subordinate, the Mirza, upon whom he undertook to
bestow a suitable rebuke.
The Arsenal at Shushter which adjoins the Castle, and which
I visited, was said to contain 3,000 Werndl rifles; though none of
the garrison-troops whom I saw, and who are said to
consist of six companies of infantry, as well as a detach
ment of artillery with two Uchatius mountain guns, were armed
with that weapon. Included in the arsenal are also some old
bronze guns, one of which dates from the Sefavi times, while the
second was cast at Hawizeh by Nadir Shah, and the third was a
present from Nicholas I. of Russia to Abbas Mirza at the close of
the war in 1828. The Persians firmly believe that the latter was
triumphantly carried off by them on the field of battle.
After I had left him, and during the remainder of my stay in
Shushter, he continued to pay me every possible attention, placing
the c Susa’ absolutely at my disposal for the return journey
to Ahwaz, offering me a horse, which, as I proposed
leaving by river, I could not accept, and subsequently a set of
elegantly-chased silver coffee-cups, which also I declined, having
no equivalent present to make in return. When I left the town,
which was very late at night, in order that the boat might start at
Arsenal
Civilities
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 [718r] (1452/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000035> [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