![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎883r] (1782/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1812.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎883r] (1782/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [883r] (1782/1814)
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
027
Legation to India, and I may add that the new work upon which
I have described the British Government as having entered in
Persia, viz., the resurrection of that country by the aid of British
■capital and brains, is one that takes its origin and receives its
direction from English, and not from Indian sources. I have,
therefore, no hesitation in saying that the Teheran Mission should,
in my opinion, retain its present character as a European appoint
ment, although some of the very pertinent objections, before
quoted, to the composition of the staff might be obviated, according
to the suggestion of the Parliamentary Committee, by a combina
tion of Indian with Foreign Office nominees. Some slight approxi
mation to such an issue has recently been attained in the appoint
ment of an Indian officer of great experience, General T. E. Gordon,
as British Military attache at Teheran.
In conclusion I turn from the rival policies of Russia and Great
Britain in Persia to Persia herself, and I proceed to the interesting
Impedi- question of her future in so far as it can be judged from
ments to the signs of the times, from the lessons of the past,
or from the character of her people. In what I have
written I have not deluded my readers as to the true condition of
that country. He is but a doubtful friend either to Persia or to
England who represents her as in a robust or satisfactory state
of health. Expectations can only be aroused and projects en
couraged by a false diagnosis that will recoil with disaster upon
both parties. Persia is neither powerful, nor spontaneously pro
gressive, nor patriotic. Her agriculture is bad, her resources
unexplored, her trade ill-developed, her government corrupt, her
army a cypher. The impediments that exist to a policy of reform,
or even to material recuperation, are neither few nor insignificant.
There can be no doubt that in the passage of time the natural
conditions of the country have changed. The thoughtless destruc
tion of timber and the waste of the existing water-supply have
very much diminished the general average of fertility. There is
less rain-fall than was formerly the case, and the long foot-slopes at
the base of the hills represent a detritus which the present volume
of water is powerless to sweep down and distribute over the
plains. The outward evidences of decay are numerous and pathetic,
and the casual traveller who sees everywhere spread around him
deserted towns and cities, abandoned bazaars, crumbling walls and
fallen towers, gardens relapsed into wildernesses, caravanserais in
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [883r] (1782/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b7> [accessed 2 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b7
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b7">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎883r] (1782/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000b7"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1812.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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