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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [879v] (1775/1814)
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.
620 PERSIA
acquisitions which are achieved by industry and by enterprise, and
which carry a common reward, not to one nation, but to all nations of
the world.
In other words, the development of the industrial and material
resources of Persia, the extension of her commerce, the main
tenance of her integrity, the rehabilitation of her strength—these,
under the pressure and by the aid of a friendly alliance, are the
objects of British policy. The time for an offensive and defensive
alliance has passed. Early in this century England might, with
less risk and with possible advantage, have taken such a step.
But the opportunity vanished with the events that led up to
Turkomanchai, and with the drying of the ink that installed
Russia in a position of permanent sujDeriority on the north. Any
such engagement now might implicate us in warfare at a tre
mendous distance from our base, with every disadvantage of
position and resource, and against an enemy long and firmly
entrenched. The last time that such a contingency might have
been discussed was during the Crimean war, when Persia was
quite willing to throw in her lot with Great Britain on condition
of the restitution and guarantee of her lost provinces. 1 But
le jeu ne valait pas la chandelle then, and still less can it do so
now. We can undertake no responsibility for provinces which
Persia has been so weak as to lose, and which she is no longer
strong enough to keep ; for the bargain would be a one-sided one,
and the reciprocal advantage to ourselves would be small. But
by dint of a friendly alliance, by the exercise of prudent advice,
by encouragement of the flow of capital eastwards, and by its
application to purposes of ascertained stability, having for their
object the re-invigoration of the country, we can help to place her
m a position which may render the hostile schemes of her neigh
bours, if not impossible, at least precarious.
Above all we may make it certain that, whatever destiny befall
he^ * n ^ ie north, in regions beyond the sphere of our possible
interference, Persia shall retain inviolate the centre and south,
and be able to say to an invader, ‘ Thus far and no further. 5 British
ascendency, commercial and political, in the southern zone, which I
' In the absence of any sign from England, it is said that Persia was bribed
/ . Q U f ila dimng t J le Crimea11 War to place an army-corps on the Turkish frontier.
7 nn i! 7 ’ ^f thG r T eSfc ° f RuSSia ' Persian troops were concentrated at Khoi,
/ionab, and Mohammerah.
sin^ 1 ' „„th'
on
fluence at
Teheran
impe
reme
their fears, ai
habitually plaj
I have been
Teheran as 11
not have been
more than thii
Persia which,
interference, h
As the Granc
hence would
not occur, and
attributed in ]
a juster estin
ht in a high
“fence of
monel Wolff;
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 [879v] (1775/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b0> [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