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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [837r] (1690/1814)
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
539
In 1619 we hear of one Giles Hobbs, an agent of the English
East India Company, who was deputed by his employers to travel
Giles f° Persia by the deserted route of Jenkinson from Moscow
Hobbs and Astrakhan, and who, after a hazardous journey of
seventeen months, in which he suffered arrest and imprisonment,
arrived at Isfahan, and suggested a reopening of this northern
channel. 1 At that time the Portuguese enjoyed an absolute
mercantile predominance in Persia, and the spleen of the worthy
Englishman vented itself in the following paragraph :—
Gentlemen, this your Persian trade, as it is in her infancy, hath
many enemies: the Turks, Arabians, Armenians, and the proud
Portugall, whose lying tongue ceaseth not to dishonour our kingdome
and nation ; but the Lord, I hope, will turne the dishonour upon his
owne pate. 2
Hanway says that, early in the seventeenth century, the French
formed a design of opening trade with the Caspian and Persia, by
French way of Archangel and Moscow. This project, of which I
ambition l ia y e found no other confirmation, and which differs from
the other French schemes to which allusion will presently be made,
came to nothing.
The next attempt to revive the northern trade route was made
in a novel quarter. Early in the seventeenth century the silk
Holstein manufactories of Holstein had attained some eminence in
embassy Europe ; and it occurred to a Hamburg merchant, named
Brucman, that a profitable speculation might accrue from the
import of the raw material direct from Persia, and that the wealth
which flowed into the coffers of the Portuguese and Dutch by their
maritime advantages on the South, might be diverted into equally
remunerative channels on the North. Not being strong enough,
even in conjunction with his fellow merchants, to act alone,
Brucman appealed to the Duke of Holstein, who at once entered
into the spirit of the enterprise, and in 1637 deputed Brucman
with others on a special embassy to the Court of Persia. On their
way they made ruinous terms with the Grand Duke of Moscovy,
for the right of free transit through Russia ; and, upon arriving in
Persia, soon found that customs and freight charges would leave no
margin of profit. Brucman accordingly changed his tone and
posed as a diplomatic envoy, courting an alliance against Turkey.
1 Calendar of State Papers (East Indies), vol. ii. No. 753.
2 Purchas’ Pilgrims, lib. v. cap. xvi.
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 [837r] (1690/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00005b> [accessed 4 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