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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [794r] (1604/1814)
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.
465
the Russians in the north have scared a few penniless buccaneers,
the British in the south have effectively destroyed a pirate com-
Compari- bination and fleet that recall the last century of the
son with Roman Republic and the exploits of Pompey. A com-
claims merce has been fostered and multiplied that, if it is
advantageous to Great Britain and India, is also the source of
great wealth, and almost of livelihood, to Persia, to Arabia, and to
Turkey. Thousands of British subjects peacefully ply their trade
under the armed protection of the Union Jack. England, how
ever, makes no such arrogant pretensions as Russia has insisted
upon in the case of the Northern lake. She does not demand
that the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
should be a mare clausum against foreign
trade. She does not impose treaties upon humiliated foes, wresting
from them the right to fly their own flag in their own waters. The
merchant navies of the world are free to plough these waves, and
to fill their holds with incoming or outgoing treasures. But at
least she must and does claim, in return for the sacrifices to which
she has submitted, and the capital which she has sunk, and for
the sake of the peace which she is here to guard, that no hostile
political influence shall introduce its discordant features upon the
scene. A Russian port in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, that dear dream of
so many a patriot from the Neva or the Volga, would, even in
times of peace, import an element of unrest into the life of the
Gulf that would shake the delicate equilibrium so laboriouslv
established, would wreck a commerce that is valued at many
millions sterling, and would let loose again the passions of jarring
nationalities only too ready to fly at each others’ throats. Let
Great Britain and Russia fight their battles or compose their
differences elsewhere, but let them not turn into a scene of
sanguinary conflict the peaceful field of a hard-won trade. I
should regard the concession of a port upon the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
to
Russia by any power as a deliberate insult to Great Britain, as a
wanton rupture of the status quo, and as an intentional provocation
to war; and I should impeach the British minister, who was guilty
of acquiescing in such a surrender, as a traitor to his country.
At Bushire, Bunder Abbas, Kishm, and elsewhere, I have
spoken of the trying heats that have sometimes to be endured in
the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. Though an agreeable place enough to the
passing visitor in the winter months, in the summer-time this all
but inland sea possesses a climate that to European constitutions
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 [794r] (1604/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000005> [accessed 4 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- 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