![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎747r] (1510/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1528.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎747r] (1510/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [747r] (1510/1814)
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 PERSIAN
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GULF
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\ l ^ The hills are covered with a thick saline incrustation, under which
- they glisten white in the sun. There is not a well or water spring
r £ ^-I 16 entire extent; and the rain of the short winter-falls was
collected in artificial reservoirs or tanks, the ruins of which are
still visible in the mountains. As Master Ralph Fitch, the
English merchant, said, c it is the dryest island in the world, for
*> / tnere is nothing growing in it but only salt.’ All supplies, even
the daily provisions of life, were imported from the outside ; and
anyone who visits the modern site, strewn though it be with ruins,
will find it difficult to believe that it was once occupied by an
k urban population of 40,000 souls . 1
The remains on the island of Ormnz now consist of parts of the Portuguese
foit or castle, a lighthouse, a number of tanks in g*ood repair, and the ruins of
t severa l hundreds. The modern town of Ormuz contains a population of 340.
2
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Si terrarum orbis, quaqua patet, annulus esset,
Illius Ormusium gemma decusque foret.
If was at this period, namely, the opening of the sixteenth
century, that the Portuguese, profiting by the recent discovery
Portuguese of the Cape of Good Hope route by Vasco da Gama,
ascendency appeared in the eastern seas and, under the famous
Albuquerque, laid the foundations of their short-lived but showy
empire. In 1507, with a small armament, after sacking and
destroying Muscat, he attacked Ormuz, and won a partial success,
forcing the king to acknowledge himself a vassal of Portugal and
to pay an annual tribute. Failing to receive the latter he reappeared
upon the scene in lo!4 with a much larger force, being now
Governor-General of the Portuguese dominions in the East, captured
the place, reduced the king (Seif-ed-Din) to complete subjection, and
compelled him to admit a Portuguese garrison, but left him on
the throne as a Portuguese titulado, or vassal, in receipt of an annual
pension. Fresh treaties were made with his successors, regulating
and raising the tribute exacted by the conquerors, which advanced
from 15,000 to 100,000 seraphims, until, in the middle of the
■' century, the Portuguese compulsorily appropriated the entire customs
and became the de facto proprietors of Ormuz.
There was not anything in the locality itself, beyond its situation
at the mouth of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and its possession of two good
Natural karbours, to recommend it as the site of a great city,
disadvan- The island, which is twelve miles in circuit, contains no
natural products but salt, iron, and red ochre and sulphur.
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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 [747r] (1510/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x00006f> [accessed 4 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