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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [834r] (1684/1814)
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.
COMMERCE AND TRADE
533
to the Caspian Sea, a fact which seemed to suggest an easy triumph
over ‘ the Portugals,’ who could only purchase and export this
The Mos- valuable commodity from the southern havens, at a
covy Com- distance of several hundred miles from the area of pro-
Persia duction. And secondly, through Persia it might be
possible to tap the mysterious resources of Hindustan by overland
caravan routes, which should divert to camel back and muleback
the wealth that was now poured into Portuguese carracks and
galleons. Accordingly the travelled Jenkinson was again sent out
in company with one Edward Clarke to make the initial experi
ment, bearing with them ‘ cloth of golde, plate, pearles, saphyres
and other jewels, as well as woollen cloths (karsies or kerseys),
and a letter from Queen Elizabeth to the ‘ Great Sophie, Empe-
rour of the Persians, Medes, Parthians, Hyrcanes, Carmanaiians,
Margians, of the people on this side and beyond the river of
Tygris, and of all men and nations betweene the Caspian Sea and
the Gulph of Persia ? —a compendium ot his titles which could not
fail to be gratifying to the Sefavi monarch, but which affords an
amusing test of the knowledge of Persia possessed by the best
informed English intellects of the Tudor time. The narratives ot
this and of the subsequent expeditions organised by the Moscovy
Company, contained in a number of letters written by the principal
actors, have been ably edited and republished, and constitute one
of the most interesting volumes of travel ever penned . 1
During the twenty years from 1561 to 15bl, six trading ex
peditions to Persia were despatched by the Moscovy Company, and
Trading assuredly commercial enterprise has rarely been prosecuted
expeditions greater gallantry or under more serious discourage
ment. Jenkinson himself received a rebuff at the start that would
have deterred any less resolute pioneer. Having landed at Derbend,
then a Persian town, in August 1562, and having proceeded to Kaz-
vin, at that time the Persian capital, he was received in audience by
Shah Tahmasp, to whom he presented the Queen of England s letter,
but who returned to him this ungracious reply: Oh, thou un
believer,” sayd he, u we have no neede to have friendship with the
unbelievers,” and so willed mee to depart ; the reason of the Shah s
reluctance to enter into commercial relations with Englishmen
being that he had just composed his differences with Turkey, whose
1 Early Voyages in Russia and Persia (Hakluyt Society), edited by E. D.
Morgan and C. H. Coote. 2 vols. 1886.
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 [834r] (1684/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000055> [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