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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎374v] (751/1814)

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. .

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PEKSIA
514
CHAPTER XVI
THE NORTH-WEST AND WESTERN PROVINCES
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear.
Shakspeare, Macbeth, act iii. sc. 4.
Hie etiam cascos instare tumuitus
Saspe monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella.
Virgil, Georg. I. 465.
In passing to the North-Western Provinces of Persia, I am ap
proaching a part of my subject which, like the Caspian Provinces
Peculiar ^ ut for different and less purely physical reasons—has
FntereTtof s P ecial characteristics and a marked individuality of its
Azer- own. These reasons are in the main political, or allied
thereto. Azerbaijan is the province which, excepting
only Khorasan, has more often been violated by foreign invasion
than any other part of Persia. Not seventy years ago it was the
theatie of the last Russo-Persian war. Should that conflict ever
again be renewed, it is all but certain to be the scene of the initial
operations. Its northern borders march with those of the Russian
Trans-Caucasian dominions, and its capital is less than 100 miles
from the Russian frontier. On the west it is coterminous with
the teiritories of another Power with whom Persia is on worse
terms than with Russia viz. Turkey—and the borderland with
whom is to this day a matter of dispute and an arena of inter
mittent conflict. Nor is the political problem of Azerbaijan
cieated by actual contact or possible collision with Russia and
urkey alone.. The province contains within itself human elements
t at differentiate it from all other parts of the kingdom. Here,
a djRcent regions, are located the famous and formid-
a e Kurds, whose name has achieved a world-wide reputation as
synonymous with a state of anarchy and deeds of blood. Here,
e by side with these desperate tribesmen, are settled a large
population belonging to an ancient Christian persuasion, who have
attracted, to themselves the attention of Europe, and have fired
missionary enterprise alike of America, France, and Great

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎374v] (751/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00009e> [accessed 11 June 2026]

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