![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎761v] (1539/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1557.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎761v] (1539/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [761v] (1539/1814)
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.
Wi *l4iviA /
436 CCsV
O
/C't !
PERSIA
> ^ VC^9* r
order that no opportunity may be offered to designing men, who
are ever eager to promote dissensions, and that the friendship of
the two States may remain unshook to the end of time, and till
the sun and moon have finished their revolving career.’ The con
cluding paragraph was, perhaps, somewhat too rhetorical for
modern tastes, and probably transcended the limited astronomical
acquirements of the Sultan; but it expressed with becoming
Oriental hyperbole the solidarity of an alliance which has lasted
without interruption ever since, and under which the British
Political Agent
A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency.
has always exercised a dominant influence at the
Court of Muscat.
Seyid Sultan’s successor was his second son, Seyid Said, who
having, like his father before him, deposed his elder brother, Seyid
Seyid Said, Salim, ruled for the long period of fifty years. His
1804-1856
reign was disturbed by constant warfare against the
Wahabi Arab power in the interior, which had, at the beginning
of the century, spread its ferocious influence along the entire
southern shore of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, enlisting on its side the
piratical instincts of the maritime tribes, and continually threaten
ing the territories of Oman. The Sultan was sometimes only
saved from extinction at the hand of the Wahabis by the friendly
intervention of the British Government, under whose arrangement
he paid a yearly tribute to the Wahabi Amir. With England he
joined in naval operations against the pirate tribes and slave-
hunters, whom the Wahabi propaganda had let loose upon the
seas, and in 1822, 184CC and 1845, concluded treaties with the
East India Company, for the suppression of the slave trade,
the seizure of slave-dhows, and the prohibition of traffic in slaves
between the African and Asian coasts. In the latter part of his
life the affairs of Muscat fell into great confusion owing to the
prolonged absence of the Sultan at Zanzibar, which in 1840 he
made the permanent seat of Government. Mr. Stocqueler had an
interview with Seyid Said at Muscat in 1831, and described him
as c a mild gentlemanly-looking man of about forty years of age, a
warrior and a trader, a just governor, and a chivalric lover, 1 just
in his dealings and decisions, liberal of reward, anxious for im
provement, and tolerant of the religions of other nations.’ 2 He
1 I do not know if Mr. Stocqneler here alludes to the fact that he left 31
children, with a fortune of 60,000 crowns to every son, and 29,000 to every
daughter.
Fifteen Months' Pilgrimage, vol. i. p. 3.
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 [761v] (1539/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x00008c> [accessed 1 July 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