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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [863v] (1743/1814)
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.
PERSIA
v
588
cannot be expected to prove of engrossing interest to English leaders ,
but it may be well to remember that the country is so placed geo
graphically midway between Europe and India, that it can hardly fail
to play an important part in the future history of the East > and that
the condition of its people, therefore, and the temper of its Govern
ment, are entitled to the attention of thoughtful inquirers in a degree
altogether disproportioned to the space which the dominions of the
Shah occupy on the map of the world, or the rank which Persia holds
in the scale of nations. The Persia of to-day is not, it is true, the
Persia of Darius, nor even is it the Persia of Shah Abbas the Great ;
but it is a country which, for good or for ill, may powerfully affect the
fortunes of Great Britain’s Empire in the East, and which requires,
therefore, to be studied by our statesmen with care, with patience, and,
above all, with indulgent consideration.
This language is the utterance neither of apology nor of ex
aggeration. It is a faithful statement of the truth.
In discussing the respective policies of the two Powers in
Persia. I know that I am approaching an international question of
p f ce some delicacy which, in the case of a
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
belonging to
to discus- either nationality, it is difficult to treat with complete
rivai° f freedom from bias. My previous writings, however, will,
policies j } 10 p e5 b aV e absolved me from the charge of Russophobia ;
and in this case it will equally be my endeavour to handle the sub
ject fairly and with justice to those whose interests in the East
undoubtedly clash with our own. I shall put out of recollection
the fact that Russia has to a considerable extent usurped the posi
tion, power, and prestige at the Persian Court which in the earlier
years of this century were exclusively in British hands, because I
conceive that the transformation, upon which our rivals are entitled
to congratulate themselves, so far from being a ground for legiti
mate offence, is a condition of affairs for which our own policy,
weak in its conception and calamitous in its results, has been
mainly responsible; and that to cry over spilt milk is as futile an
expedient in politics as it is in any other walk of life. It is suffi
cient to admit that the successive conquests of Russia, and her
subsequent policy, pursued in Persia with much industry, if with
no superabundant scruple, have placed her in a position where she
exercises a powerful control over Persian affairs, and requires to be
consulted in any readjustment of Persia’s political relations. More
to my immediate purpose will it be to discuss the extent to
which that control actually or in prospect amounts, and the
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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 [863v] (1743/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000090> [accessed 2 April 2025]
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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