![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎793r] (1602/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1632.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎793r] (1602/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [793r] (1602/1814)
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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PLiAi^u^ ? r f a *
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- / «r\~. i L~- k /
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463
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THE
PERSIAN GULF
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
~ , v .
^ /.rvV ' fM'-q g/j"* -J^U *. , , fj,
and complete the circumnavigation of the Gulf. The sole place of >*/
any interest on the coast-line between El Katif and Fao is the \/A<
■excellent and flourishing harbour of Grane, or Koweit. 1 Here an L . ;
Arab tribe, expelled from Busrah in the seventeenth century, came U /
and settled, and by dint of sagacious policy and commercial y
aptitudes raised the population of the town to a total of 20,000
souls, and converted the harbour into one of the most prosperous
and best managed ports of the Gulf. The stability of Koweit has
also been greatly assisted by the phenomenal longevity of its chief
tains, five only having ruled in the course of two and a half cen
turies. The best Arab horses are commonly brought down hither
from the interior for shipment to India. In 1821-2 it was for a
short time the headquarters of the British Resident at Busrah, who
moved here in consequence of the insolent attitude of the
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
of
Baghdad. Koweit now nominally forms part of the vilayet of Busrah,
to which it pays tribute; but it is not greatly interfered with by
the central power, who have never attempted to place a garrison
here. To English readers the name, in its alternative rendering of
Grane, is more familiar as the suggested maritime terminus of the
Euphrates Valley Railway, projected by General Chesney and ad
vocated by Sir W. P. Andrew, the Duke of Sutherland, and others.
If such a railway, as to the wisdom and chances of which I have
spoken elsewhere, were to terminate in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, Koweit
would probably afford the best available harbour in the neighbour
hood of the Tigris and Euphrates delta. On the other hand, were
it to be continued by a line running, in whatever direction, through
Persian territory, it would be absurd to locate the maritime ter
minus at a point so far to the west.
Eao is a quarantine and telegraph station of the Turkish
Government, situated at the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab. The
Indo-European Telegraph Department maintain a staff*
and occupy a building within the same precincts, Fao
the terminus of the submarine cable from Kurrachi via
Jask and Bushire, and the point of junction with the overland
wires from Baghdad. The place, which is otherwise insignificant,
has lately developed a sudden, if somewhat spurious, importance
from the steps that have been taken by the Turkish Government
1 Rrane is a corruption of the Arabic ghern or him = ‘ horn,’ from the curving
outline of the bay. Koweit, pronounced Quoit, is an Arab diminutive of hot, or
hut, a fort.
Fao
beino;
a
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 [793r] (1602/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000003> [accessed 5 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