![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎838v] (1693/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1723.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎838v] (1693/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [838v] (1693/1814)
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.
542
PERSIA
The British Government having received permission fiom the
Russians to build two ships at Kazan on the Volga, these vessels
were launched in June 1742. Elton, being placed in
an" n Charge of the expedition, sailed in the ‘Empress of
Hanway p> uss i a ’ Oantain Woodruffe. In the second vessel, the
• Elizabeth/ Ct4>taiD ^Gilbert Blaire, tailed James Brown, Martin
van Mierop, and Richard Wilder, the remaining factors. Jealousy
soon broke out between the two parties, largely owing to the way
ward and imperious temper of Elton, who, in January 1743, without
any application to, or permission from, the Company, entered the
service of Nadir Shah as naval constructor on the Caspian, under
circumstances which I have narrated in an earlier chapter on the
Persian Navy. Taking the ‘ Empress of Russia, 5 which had already
prosecuted some trading voyages between Resht, Baku, and Der-
bend, he proceeded on a survey of the eastern coast of the Caspian
as far north as Balkan Bay. Rumours of his action were trans
mitted to St. Petersburg, and excited the liveliest suspicions of the
Russian Government. Jonas JEEanway, at that time a partnei m a
mercantile house m the capital, was accoidmgly sent out by his
employers to report on the situation. Upon his arrival in Persia at
the close of 1743, he very speedily took stock of the situation. The
amenities of courts were no guarantee for amity of commerce. He
found Russian officials and traders everywhere jealous and hostile.
Intent upon an independent venture, Hanway at once started off
to carry out Elton’s original project, and to open the route from
Astrabad to Meshed. At Astrabad he came in for a local rebellion,
his caravan, when about to start, was seized and the bulk of his
property confiscated, and he himself narrowly escaped being handed
over as a slave to the Turkomans. Having at length escaped, he
returned through Mazanderan and Gilan to Kazvin, and proceeded
from thence to Hamadan, where, finding Nadir Shah in camp, he
procured from him an order for the restitution of his stolen goods.
author. Bom in 1712, he became a partner in the house of Dingley, in St. Peters
burg, in 1743, and in that interest travelled in Persia and Russia until 1750, when
he returned to London. There he led a life of public activity, founding many
excellent institutions, and particularly interesting himself in the welfare of the
young. When he died, in 1786, a monument was erected to his memory in West
minster Abbe)'. Vide John Pugh, Iteinarliable Occurrences in the Life of Jonas,
Hanway, 1787, 1798. A contemporaneous account of the same Anglo-Persian
venture is to be found in the I oyages and Travels by Dr. J. Cook, who accom
panied Prince Galitzin, Russian Envoy to Nadir Shah in 1747. He disagrees
in some respects with Hanway. Vide vol. ii. cap. xxxiii.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [838v] (1693/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00005e> [accessed 5 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00005e
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00005e">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎838v] (1693/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00005e"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1723.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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