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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [235r] (472/1814)
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.
277
1
I
l
FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN
of the perils and the panics of their pious companions. A Persian
is a coward at the best of times: but a Persian pilgrim is a degree
Perils and worse than his fellows; and a Persian pilgrim in the
omthe vicinity of a Turkoman almost ceases to be a human being,
pilgrims There would be long delays and anxious rumouis at the
beginning; several false starts would be made and abandoned in
consequence of some vague report; finally the caravan would
venture forth, moving frequently at night, when the darkness
added to, rather than diminished, the terror, hirst would come
the matchlock men blowing their matches, and either marching
on foot or mounted on donkeys; then the genuine cavalry, with
flintlocks and hayfork-rests; next the great body of the pilgrims,
huddling as close as possible round the artillerymen and the gun,
which was looked upon as a veritable palladium, but of which it
is not on record that it was ever fired. Soldiers again brought
up the rear, and, wrapped up in dust, confusion, and panic, the
procession rolled on. The noise they made, shouting, singing,
cursing, praying, and quarrelling, signalled their approach for miles, ^
and, if they escaped, it was the positive worthlessness of the spoil
(for a Mussulman pilgrim leaves all his valuables behind him),
rather than the hazard of capture or the awe inspired by the
bodyguard, that was responsible for their safety. To their fearful
imaginations every bush was a vedette of the enemy, every puff
of wind that raised the dust betrayed a charge, every hillock con
cealed a squadron. Loud were the shouts and clamorous the
invocations to Allah, and Ali, and Husein, and all the watchful
saints of the calendar, when the end of the march was reached
and God had protected his own.
It is only just to add that, if the panic of a multitude was
despicable, the terrors of individuals were not unfairly aroused.
Taleg of Many are the tales that are still told of the capture of
capture isolated travellers or of small bands ; and there was scarcely
a single peasant in the villages in this strip of country that had
not, at some time or other, been pounced down upon in the fields
or at the water-springs, and who, if happily he were ransomed
after years of slavery, did not bear upon his person the lifelong
imprint of cruelty and fetters. Colonel Euan Smith is in error
in stating that it was upon this piece of road that M. de
Blocqueville, the French amateur photographer who had accom
panied the disastrous expedition against Merv in 1860, in order
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 [235r] (472/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00004f> [accessed 29 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