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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [725r] (1466/1814)
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 NAVY
391
and Astrakhan. Jealousies, however, having arisen between the
different factors, Elton, whose bold temper yearned for a more
extensive field, entered the service of Nadir Shah, then at the
height of his power, as naval constructor, and in January 1743
received a decree, confirming him in that position, and presenting
him with the title of Gemal Beg. Nadir's designs, in contemplat
ing a Caspian flotilla, were fourfold. He desired to check the
piratical excursions of the Turkoman tribes on the eastern shore,
to punish and subjugate the turbulent Lesghians on the western
coast, to acquire a monopoly of the trade with Astrakhan, and to
establish the Persian claim to sovereignty over as much as possible
of this inland sea. The indefatigable Englishman warmly seconded
these designs; and having, in the summer of 1743, conducted
a survey of the east coast of the Caspian from Astrabad Bay to
Cheleken Island and Balkan Bay, in the ship the ‘ Empress of
Russia, 5 which he had himself built at Kazan on the Volga in the
preceding year, upon his return, with no resources or trained
assistance of any kind, he resolutely set about building a fleet on
the shore of Gilan. The timber was hewn in the mountains and
brought down to the coast; he fished for lost Russian anchors in
order to supply his own needs; he manufactured sailcloths of
cotton and cordage of flax; his only ship’s carpenters were one
Englishman, a few Indians, and some Russian c renegadoes ; 5 and
of several vessels on the stocks he actually succeeded in launching
one, intended to mount twenty three-pounders, which triumphantly
flew the Persian royal flag. 1 These proceedings were equally
distasteful to the Russian Government, who did not at all relish
the idea of a Persian navy on the Caspian, and to the British
merchants, who had engaged Elton to extend British trade, and
not to humour the whims of a Persian despot. The former
retaliated by a decree in November 1746 absolutely interdicting'
the British Caspian trade. The remaining British factors, having
quarrelled with Elton, left the country. Elton himself, having
procured a decree from Nadir Shah, commanding him to stay,
remained on through the troublous times that succeeded the
assassination of the tyrant , and was finally shot in a local rebellion
in 1751. With him and with his employer perished the sole
1 The relics of one of Elton’s vessels were said to be visible near Lahijan as
late as 1843, but were not seen by Holmes (Sketches on the Caspian Shores,
p. 129).
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 [725r] (1466/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000043> [accessed 5 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