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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [882v] (1781/1814)
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.
626
PERSIA
and Meshed and the adjoining
Residency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
at Baghdad are Indian,
both in appointment and pay; 1 as the Telegraph Department in
Persia is subordinate to the Indian, and not to the Home Govern
ment ; and as, in the event of British troops being required or t le
defence of Persia, Bombay, and not Portsmouth, would be the port
of embarkation. It is also true that the conditions of service and
life in Persia are more analogous to those of Hindustan than to the
customs of European courts or cities, that the Persian language is
more likely to be known by members of the Indian Civil or
Military Services than by Foreign Office attaches, and that the
latter are sometimes disposed to regard Teheran as a penal settle
ment, to be tolerated only with sullen mortification. It is, I think,
less true than may formerly have been the case, that Indian
interests in Persia are shelved or postponed in deference to the
needs of European diplomacy. On the other hand, while the above
considerations suggest a larger infusion of the Indian element than
at present prevails, I am strongly of opinion that the broad ques
tion of control must be decided in favour of Downing Street rather
than of Calcutta. The introduction into Persia of the electric
telegraph, the visits of the Shah to Europe, and above all the
menacing attitude of Russia on the north, have brought Persia
distinctly within the purview of European politics, and render it
impossible for British diplomacy in that country to be regulated
upon strictly Indian lines. The Persian Question has become a
branch of the great Eastern Question, that simultaneously agitates
the cabinets of London, St. Petersburg, and Constantinople. The
British Minister at Teheran must be in constant correspondence
with the British Ambassadors at the two latter capitals. The
presence of accredited representatives of the principal European
Powers at the court of the Shah is a further evidence of the extent
to which Persia has been lifted out of a purely Asiatic environment
and is now regarded as a piece upon the international chess-board.
I do not doubt that the Shah himself would regard it as an affront
fio his dignity were any proposal now made to restore the Teheran
- 1 The appointments at Bushire, Meshed, and Baghdad are the result of a
'curious sort of compromise between the contending parties. The nominations
are made by the Indian Government, but the appointments hail from the Foreign
Office. To exemplify the twofold arrangement the occupants of all three posts
are designated Itesidents or Political Agents in their relations with India, but
Consuls-General in their relations with Whitehall. This peculiar sj^stem works
well.
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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 [882v] (1781/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b6> [accessed 5 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