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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [752r] (1520/1814)
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.
^rioted to
: 000 fo%,i 8
111 most
as We H as of
^ ^iritorieg
arra iigenieiit
ltl0a ofSeyM
opportunity
■ n ^ er the late
l ' ft’esently,
ne w Sultan,
^ade Bunder
the Persians
t, by whose
from 1868,
? rise in rent
' the'revived
Itan was ex-
sian Govern
ing them to
of Muscat , 2
we retained
of the fussy
ere stationed
is extremely
nent having
of the pre-
al.
of water at
3 re is a very
M /fti. fcjL / (
/t-
a,
* '■ ,/v, ;■ (’
Modern
Bunder
Abbas
t
THE
PERSIAN GULF
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
shelving sandy beach, with so small a slope that I had to be carried
for some distance to the shore. The town, which is not to be
compared with Lingah either in size or appearance, is
situated upon the beach, the business of its motley bazaar
and the life of its people being concentrated upon the
narrow strip of yellow sand that glitters above the high-water
line. Here are to be seen innumerable stalls covered with dates,
almonds, raisins, and other fruits, themselves covered with myriads
of Hies ; and strange forms, passing to and fro through the narrow
passages, here the pious votary of Vishnu or Shiva, with the red or
white sect mark daubed upon his forehead, there a swaggering
pirate from an Arab port, here a cringing henna-bedyed Persian,
there a six-feet black-locked Barabbas from Kabul. Bunder Abbas
has a small stone pier projecting a short distance into the sea, and
supporting a flagstaff, the two English guns before mentioned, and
two old iron carronades as well. The horizontal lines of the town
are broken by a large number of wind-towers, but are relieved by
very few palms, which do not seem to flourish here as at Lingah. In
the centre facing the sea is the customs-house and residence of the
Deputy-Governor, once the Dutch
factory
An East India Company trading post.
, and afterwards the
residence of the deputy of the Imam of Muscat. A little to the
east are the ruins of two towers or bastions which were part of the
fortified enceinte erected by Shah Abbas. The English and old
Dutch factories, as I have said, were to the west of the modern
town, and have disappeared. So also have the tombs of the
Englishmen who died while residing at the
factory
An East India Company trading post.
here. Imme-
diately behind the town is a low sandy ridge, and at a distance of
fifteen miles a mighty mountain scarp, rising to a sheer height
above the Gulf of 8,500 feet at its highest point. A little to the
L-V • west the range dips to a gap, through which the caravan road
strikes into the interior. The population of the town is peculiarly
fluctuating, according to the arrival or departure of large caravans,
and to the season of the year, the place being almost deserted in
the heat of summer; but it was given to me by a merchant as
5,000 persons. The customs, however, are farmed for 53,000
commanded by Captain John Weddall, in alliance with four Dutch vessels, against a
Portuguese fleet of eight galleons and sixteen frigates. The English lost 29 men; the
Dutch nearly as many, including their commander; the Portuguese, 800, including
their general and vice-admiral. The enemy were put to flight, and the allies were
only prevented from continuing the chase by failure of ammunition (State Papers,
East Indies, vol. iv., Nos. 121 , 122).
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 [752r] (1520/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000079> [accessed 2 April 2025]
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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