![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎732v] (1481/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1497.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎732v] (1481/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [732v] (1481/1814)
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.
402
PEESTA
Bushire-Shiraz line; while the distance from the sea to Isfahan is
from 100 to 150 miles less. The insecurity, however, of the country,
the absence of villages or caravanserais, where provisions foi. man
and fodder for beasts can be procured en route, and the seveiity of
the winter season, by which the passes are closed during fom
months of the year, have combined effectively to close this loute
against through communication 5 and it must be confessed that
there is not the remotest likelihood of its being opened up.
Bunder Eig is a small port situated further to the south, on a
creek by which one of the mouths of the Shapur 01 Bohillah Bivei
Bunder enters the sea. Here, in 1754, the English East India
Big Company, whose Grulf trade had been seriously ciippled
by the troubles arising out of the Afghan invasion, endeavoured to
found a
factory
An East India Company trading post.
, and sent out an agent. The attempt was a failuie,
owing to Dutch intrigues and opposition ; but a few years later Bu-
shire was selected as a substitute. Bunder Eig was one of the
strongholds, a little later in the century, of a famous Gulf pirate,
known as IMir IMohannah, whose fort was taken and lazed by Biitish
troops . 1 Its local trade is of the same character as that previously
described ; and its customs are now farmed for 5,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
.
We next come to Bushire, the principal landing-place (I cannot
call it port) on the southern coast of Persia. I have alieady de
scribed the position and features of Bushire at the end
Bushire ^ m y Trans-Persian ride, and have there shown how
slender are the qualifications that have secured for it the premier
position. Prom the sea the town presents a more striking and
compact appearance than any other port on the northern shore of
the Gulf, completely occupying with its buildings the end of the
peninsula upon which it is situated, and rising sharply with its
two-storeyed houses and its somewhat pretentious sea-front from the
water-level. Till about forty years ago, the town, whose indigenous
population is Arab rather than Persian, was ruled by its own
sheikh. But here, as at so many other points along the coast, the
internecine feuds of the tribes supplied the central authority with
the occasion which its own venturesomeness would never have won
for it. Advantage was taken of one of these local conflicts;
Persian soldiers appeared upon the scene; the weaker disputant
was coerced, and Bushire received a Persian governor. It is re-
1 The history of this exceptional ruffian is related by Niebuhr {Travels through
Arabia, vol. ii. p. 147).
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 [732v] (1481/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000052> [accessed 7 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000052
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_100157213849.0x000052">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎732v] (1481/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000052"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1497.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