![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎881v] (1779/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1809.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎881v] (1779/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [881v] (1779/1814)
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.
624
PERSIA
has been extending a forcible and unwelcome sway oyer the Beluchi
tribesmen on her eastern border, many are the petitions for pro
tection that have poured in upon the British Resident at Bushire.
There is not a traveller in the intervening regions of Kerman,
Laristan, and Bars who has not recorded similar and unsolicited
appeals; whilst in the west there is no prospect to which
Bakhtiari chieftains, bullied and maltreated by the Persian
Government, and Arab sheikhs, who have never professed more
than a lip loyalty to the Shah, look forward more keenly than that
of at once retaining and vindicating their independent nationality
under the a^gis of Great Britain. If Russian advance has some
times been solicited by the craven populations of Khorasan, a not
less genuine and a more creditable ‘ Gome over and help us ’ has
sounded in the ears of England from the warlike tribes of Southern
Iran. And vet, well assured as is the British position in Southern
Persia, and essential though it be that it should never be disputed,
I have positively encountered the argument that Russia should be
suffered, to come down to the Gulf, in order to provide ourselves
with a point of attack. Never previously had I heard of the
generalship which could admit the enemy to a secure lodgment on
the glacis of a fort, in order to have the luxury of marching out to
attack him.
There is one condition intimately connected with the mainten
ance of British prestige in Persia, about which a marked difference
Question of °f opinion prevails even among those who know, viz. the
the Lega- personnel and affiliation of the British Legation at
tion esta- 1 °
blishment Teheran. There are some who support the present
system, under which, although a large part of the expenses of the
establishment are borne by India, both the Minister and his staff
are appointed by, and are subordinate to, the Foreign Office in
London. There are others who contend that Persia, falling within
the category of Oriental nations, and her politics standing in a par
ticular relationship to those of India, the entire charge should be
cast upon the Indian Exchequer, with the corollary of making the
personnel and establishment entirely or mainly Indian in compo
sition and qualification. History affords illustrations of either
status from the time when, at the beginning of this century, the
East India Company and the Home Government quarrelled so
seriously about Persia, that their rival ambassadors, Sir. J. Malcolm
and Sir Harford Jones, were both on Persian soil at the same
tie process ^
1859, when, u
transferred tc
under the Se(
ter remained
Teteran Leg*
charge it has
been frequen
appointed to
Consular Ser
That, whil
authority, on
incline to the
the authority
responsible ac
the public in
the Persian i
State for For
the present c'
expense of si
Proportion of
Neverth
Teherai
complexion
Lxchequer.
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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 [881v] (1779/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b4> [accessed 22 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