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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [869r] (1754/1814)
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.
BRITISH AND RUSSIAN POLICY IN PERSIA
barefoot army, a population half composed of beggars, and crumb
ling political institutions.’ Shortly before my arrival in Meshed a
seyid had been banished from the city by the
Prince-Governor
A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925).
, in
obedience to the imperious requisition of the Russian Consul, but
no sooner had the letter of the demand been complied with and the
exile left the walls, than the mujtaheds persuaded the Governor to
issue private orders for his recall. Nor can I think that Russian
interests are materially forwarded by the intrigues in which
Russian emissaries are constantly engaged, and not infrequently
caught—e.g. the employment of Russian agents to stir up the
Yomut Turkomans against Persian rule—a curious service to
render to an ally—and the secret transactions with Ayub Khan in
1885, when the latter was a so-called prisoner at Teheran, and
was urged by the Russians to escape, and was provided with funds
for that purpose, so as to embroil England and Persia. Again, the
Russians may have their own opinion about the venality of the
Persians, and they may or may not be right therein, but their
convictions in this respect are somewhat incautiously revealed
when, with a reckless manipulation of numerals which only a
Russian journal can successfully accomplish, the ‘ Novoe Vremya ’
exclaimed :—‘ The Queen of England lately raised the budget of
her representative in Persia to 250,000k’ (it is really 5,000k). ‘ If
with 100,000k Sir I). Wolff acquired the Karun, what will not his
victories be when millions are at his command ? ’
It is amusing to contrast the present position of Russia in
Persia, and the political vantage-ground that enables her to pursue
Former these tactics with impunity, with the estimation in
Persian which she was held when first she ‘ broke ground ’ in
Persia more than 200 years ago. I have already narrated
the story of the Muscovite ambassadors in the reign of Shah
Abbas II., and of the unfavourable impression produced by their
coarse and unmannerly habits upon the scrupulous and critical
Persians. Chardin, in his description of the coronation of Shah
Suleiman, in 1677, says:—
The Persians looked upon the Moscovites as the most paltry,
narrow-souled, and infamous among all the Christians, and in derision
call ’em the Yusbeks of Europe, thereby expressing the small esteem
they have of ’em, for the Yusbeks are the most abject people of all the
East.
The Uzbegs now own as lords and masters these very Muscovites,
!'
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 [869r] (1754/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00009b> [accessed 7 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