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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [781r] (1578/1814)
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
PERSIAN GULF
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
455
defiance of the engagement above quoted. The Mutasernf, who,
like most subordinate officials in the East, thirsts for distinction
at the expense of all decency, has even tried to assert the Turkish
authority over Bahrein, on the ground that Bahrein, which has been
independent for nearly 100 years, is a dependency of El Hasa. .
In the centre of the broad, Y-shaped bay that separates in
dependent but troublesome El Katr from Turkish El Ivatif, lies
Bahrein the object of much tender solicitude from all parties.
Islands 11 v j z the Island of Bahrein , 1 famous throughout the world
for its pearl fisheries, which rank with those of Ceylon. The
island is thirty miles long, from six to nine broad, and contains
two towns, Manameh or Bahrein, the port, and Raffar on a hill
seven miles inland. Niebuhr says that it once possessed 360
towns and villages. Like most of the Gulf ports and trading
settlements, it was taken, early in the sixteenth century, by the
Portuguese, who established a station here and at El Katif, to
ensure a monopoly of the pearl trade. Remains of the aqueduct
and reservoirs built by them, as also of their fort, are still to be
seen. The island further contains the remains of a ruined Arab
citv, with fragments of a palace and of a mosque with two mina
rets ; and a number of sepulchral tumuli, of ancient but uncertain
date, which were excavated, without much result, by Mr. Theodore
Bent in 1889. 2 1 <•- f
The pearl fishery lasts from June to October, and is pursued
not only at Bahrein, but along the entire Arabian coast, which. I
p earl . have delineated in this chapter, and as far as Koweit.
fishery 'ghe Bahrein banks, stretching for a length of four or
gy(, leagues, are, however, the richest and most ceitain , and the
boat-tax levied on every craft that comes to Bahrein to take part
, ,,
1 There are, in fact, several islands, of which one is large and the others small.
The largest is commonly called El flahrein, the second in size Moharrag. The
name Bahrein signifies ‘ two seas,’ and may he supposed to refer either to the
bays on either side of it, or to the larger arms of the sea east and west of El
Katr. It is identified by Oppert with the Tylos, or Tilvun, of the ancients, one of
the sacred places where Chaldasan civilisation had its origin. From Tylos came
that fish-god who, in the Babylonian myth, bore the Ark of the human race over
the Deluge. In addition to accounts of Bahrein, in most descriptions of the Gulf,
the following monographs may be mentioned: Whish, Memoir on Bahrein, 1859 ;
F. Wustenfeld, Bahrein mid Jemamah ; De Goeje, Memoire snr les Carmathest de
Bahrein, 18G3; Captain Durand and Sir H. Rawlinson, of the Boyal
Asiatic Society, 1879 ; P. Frede, La Peche aux Pcries cn Perse et d Ceylan, 1887.
2 Proceedings if the B.G.S. (new series), vol. xii. pp. 1-19 (1890).
7 u; ci: ■
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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 [781r] (1578/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x0000b3> [accessed 6 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