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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [881r] (1778/1814)
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
623
Hie Czar. I am quite unable, therefore, to agree either with the
estimate of the Frenchman, M. Orsolle, when he said that
The Shah is only the viceroy of a Hussian Province. The real
sovereign is not he who lives in the Ark, but the diplomatist in the
mean palace in the corner of the Ark near the bazaar (i.e. the Russian
Minister). 1
Or with the remark of my own countryman, Dr. Wills, that
Our influence in Persia, thanks to ourselves, is next to nothing.
There are few resident British subjects who are really Englishmen.
England to the Persian is a mere phrase, Russia a power—a power to
bow down to and to fear. Russian subjects are protected. English
ones take their chance as a rule. . . . The Russian drill-sergeant and
Russian influence are paramount ; while England, her influence gone
and her trade a shadow, has fallen into contempt. 2
I do not know at what precise epoch these words were penned;
but I cannot conceive a more misleading description of the present
situation.
Apart from the actual estimation in which England and Eng
lishmen are held in Persia, and which dates from the days of Fath
British Ali Shah, and has been fortified by many friendly acts,
hold over ag f or instance, the large British contribution towards
Persia the Persian famine fund m 1871 £ -2,the position occupied
by Great Britain in the south is such as to enable her to pursue
the above indicated policy of ascendency in the centre and southern
regions of Persia with every hope of permanent success. Her
naval power in the Mediterranean, her hold of a possible base in
Cyprus, her practical command of the Suez Canal, her possession of
Bombay and Kurrachi, and her undisputed supremacy in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, are conditions of preliminary advantage. Her con
trol of the markets of the entire Persian littoral from Gwetter to
Mohammerah, and of the inland towns and cities as far north as
Isfahan, is a second and not less valuable guarantee. But more
potent than either is the feeling that prevails throughout Southern
Persia, from the Persian Beluchis on the east to the Bakhtiari
Lurs on the west, that the power to which they must look alike
for the vindication of their manhood and the maintenance of their
freedom is Great Britain. I could give many instances of this
phenomenon that have come under my own notice. While Persia
1 Le Caucase et la Perse, p. 333.
2 In the Land of the Lion and the Sun, pp. 175, 182.
ssS«=c
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 [881r] (1778/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b3> [accessed 12 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