![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎726r] (1468/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1484.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎726r] (1468/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [726r] (1468/1814)
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
393
Whatever dreams of naval ambition on the Caspian Persia may
ever have indulged were rudely shattered in the early years of the
Treaties Of present century by the treaty stipulations that concluded
andTurko- tlie tw0 Perso-Russian wars. The Treaty of Culistan in
manchai 1813 contained a clause, renewed and confirmed in the
Treaty of Turkomanchai in 1828, by which it was declared that
Russia alone should have the right of maintaining vessels of war
on the Caspian, and that no other Power should fly a military flag
on that sea. 1 So crushing a penalty has seldom been inflicted by
the victor in any campaign upon the vanquished, and could only
have been submitted to by a power as weak as Persia at the dicta
tion of a power as strong as Russia. It has transformed the Caspian
into a Russian lake, destroyed the last shred of Persian autonomy or
authority on the northern sea, and left the Shah’s dominions in a
position of abject defencelessness on the north. It is true that
Russia has herself elsewhere set an example, in which Persia might
discover an apposite precedent here, by tearing up the Black Sea
clauses of the Treaty of Paris. But modern Persia is not a power
that can afford to infringe any treaty; nor are the modern Persians
so untrue to the traditions of their nation as to be willing to run
any risk for sake of the sea.
The Russians have not been slow to profit by the advantage
thus secured. Only ten years after the Treaty of Turkomanchai was
signed, thev made it an excuse for that occupation of the
Occupy- i-
tion of Island of Ashurada at the mouth of Astrabad Bay, the
Asimiada i nc ^ en ^ s 0 f which I have narrated in an earlier chapter.
The Persian Government, disabled from maintaining the police of
the seas by a flotilla flying its own flag, had applied to Russia for
the loan of two small vessels of war, in order to suppress the pira
tical excursions of the Turkomans. The Czar generously replied
that he was willing to take the trouble upon his own shoulders;
and as a consequence the island of Ashurada, which is as much
Persian as the Isle of Thanet is Kentish, has ever since supported
a Russian naval establishment. Hasan Kuli Bay, Chikishliar,
Cheleken Island, and Balkan Bay—all of them points either nomi
nally or actually in Persian territory upon the eastern shore of the
Caspian—have since been similarly seized, and the impotence of
Persia cannot be more forcibly demonstrated than by a coasting
voyage along the 400 miles of maritime border which she owns
1 Treaty of Gulistan, Article Y.; Treaty of Turkomanchai, Article VIII.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [726r] (1468/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000045> [accessed 6 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000045
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000045">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎726r] (1468/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000045"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1484.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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