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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [885v] (1787/1814)
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.
632
PERSIA
encourage political unrest or to facilitate intrigue. Most writers
appear to take it for granted that upon the death of the Shah a general
The convulsion will ensue, and in all probability a contest for
succession f-p e vacan t throne. It is even discussed which candidate is
to receive the suffrages of this or that party, which to be the Russian
and which the British nominee. Any disposition to encourage
false pretensions or to depart from the recognised canons of in
heritance is very much to be deprecated, as likely to plunge the
country into disorder and to give opportunities for aggression to
those who are so minded. If it were known that England and
Russia, the two strongest external powers, were resolutely united
in their support of the legitimate heir to the throne, though the
Shah were to die to-morrow, the security both of the Grown and of
the country would, I believe, be absolutely assured.
If I turn from the public to the private character of the people,
and proceed to draw any inference from their manners or behaviour
Persian as evinced in their every-day existence, I arrive at a con-
character elusion which, after a balance of contradictory items,
still leaves us just on the right side. The Persian character
presents many complex features, elsewhere rarely united in the
same individual. They are an amiable and a polished race, and have
the manners of gentlemen. They are vivacious in temperament,
intelligent in conversation, and acute in conduct. If their hearts
are soft, which is, I believe, undeniable, there is no corresponding
weakness of the head. On the other hand, they are consummate
hypocrites, very corrupt, and lamentably deficient in stability or
courage. They stand in the sharpest contrast to the peoples who
surround them, the truculent Kurd, the haughty Afghan, the sullen
Turk, the listless Hindu. With none of these do they share many
common characteristics. The physical conditions of their country,
and the possession of a separate faith, have accentuated a racial
difference that must always have been extremely marked. Whilst,
as individuals, they present many attractive features, as a com
munity they are wholly wanting in elements of real nobility or
grandeur. With one gift only can they be credited on a truly
heroic scale; and this, though it may endear them to the student
of human nature as a fine art, will excite the stem repugnance of
the moralist. I allude to their faculty for what a Puritan might
call mendacious, but what I prefer to style imaginative, utterance.
This is inconceivable and enormous. After being in Persia, one is
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 [885v] (1787/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x0000bc> [accessed 6 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