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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [793v] (1603/1814)
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.
464
PERSIA
to fortify the month of the river. I have described and commented
upon these proceedings in an earlier chapter on the Karun river y
and will not, therefore, repeat myself here.
I have now completed the entire periplus of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
,
and have shown the Persian Government along its northern
Effects of shores exercising a more vigorous and undisputed sove-
pJotec 1 reignty than at any period since the reign of Shah
torate Abbas ; upon its southern coast the Turks endeavouring
to extend a precarious influence over Arabia ; and small Arab
states, retaining either wholty or only in part their original
independence ; while between all parties intervenes the sworded
figure of Great Britain, with firm and just hand holding the scales.
It is no exaggeration to say that the lives and properties of
hundreds of thousands of human beings are secured by this
British Protectorate of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and that were.it either
withdrawn or destroyed both sea and shores would relapse into
the anarchical chaos from which they have so laboriously been
reclaimed. That the Persian Government has been enabled to
reassert its authority upon the north littoral; that the pirates of
the opposite coast have been taught that rapine is not a safe
religion, and, where they once swept the sea with laden slave-dhows,
now dive harmlessly for pearls ; that the Arab tribes, instead of
being subjected to the curse of pashas, retain the liberty they so
dearly prize, is due to the British Government alone. The very
soundings
Measurements of the depth of a body of water.
of the channels and surveys of the shores, by which
navigation has been rendered easy for the vessels of the world,
were the work of the officers of the old Indian Navy, and have
been transferred without acknowledgment to the charts of other
countries navigating these seas. These considerations, to which I
draw special attention from a belief that they are not generally
recognised in England, are essential to an understanding of the
attitude taken up by this country with regard to the future control
of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and of her resistance to the possible intrusion
of an enemy into the waters for whose security she has, both in
treasure and in life-blood, spent so much.
Every claim that can be advanced by Russia for the exclusive
control of the Caspian Sea could be urged with tenfold greater
force by Great Britain for a similar monopoly of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
.
Hundreds of British lives and millions of British money have
been spent in the pacification of these troublous waters. Where
* <
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 [793v] (1603/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000004> [accessed 8 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