![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎865v] (1747/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1777.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎865v] (1747/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [865v] (1747/1814)
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.
592 PERSIA
The commercial influence of General Annenkoff’s line upon
Khorasan has already been traced. I have shown that by its
Effect of means Russia is acquiring a hold upon the tia e o
the Trans- northern province which, unless counter balance y some
Railway corresponding British advance from the south, cannot
possibly be contested.' I have also shown that in the panorama of
Russian advance the pedlar precedes the tclnnovnik, and that t re
process, whose first stage is the advent of bales bearing a Moscow
label on the backs of camels or mules, is apt to find its last m t e
introduction of a permanent garrison. Politically the neighbour
hood of the Transcaspian Railway and of a great Russian ad
ministrative centre at Ashkabad, whence perpetual communications
and a steady flow of presents can be maintained across the border,
is gradually converting into Russian vassals or agents the khans
and chieftains of the contiguous Persian districts ; the fond hope
of Russia being that, either upon the death of the Shah, or when
some other opportunity of disorder presents itself, a movement in
this quarter may justify their advance, or an appeal for protection
from the conspiring chieftains may suggest a suzerainty that shall
afterwards take a more substantial form. But it is in their
strategical aspect that her new position and railway communication
with the Caspian have done most to strengthen the control of
Russia over Khorasan. The old Gez-Astrabad-Shahrud route of
invasion, hampered by the terrific obstacle of the Kuzluk Pass;
the Atrek valley route from Chikiskliar, which was adopted by
Lomakin and Tergukasoff in their first Turkoman campaign, but
abandoned by Skobeleff in 1880 ; the Teheran-Meshed postal route
-—all these methods of entering Khorasan, which alone were
accessible to a Russian army up to 1881, may now be set on one
side. Their place has been taken by the new military chaussee
from Ashkabad to Kuchan and Meshed, by which a column could
march from the Russian to the Persian capital city in less than
ten days ; by the Dushak-Meshed route ; and by the Sarakhs-
Meshed route, both of which are sometimes spoken of as lines of
future railway advance. The Transcaspian Railway can bring to
the point of detrainment the forces alike of Transcaspia and of
Turkestan; the battalions of Samarkand can unite with those
of Merv, Kizil Arvat, and Ashkabad; and admitting a caution
that would in reality be superfluous, I can see no reason why a
Russian army of 10,000 men should not be in bloodless occupation
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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 [865v] (1747/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000094> [accessed 23 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