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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [673v] (1363/1814)
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.
320
PERSIA
black, but sometimes grey. They wear the tall brown felt hat of
the ancient Persians, which is much more imposing than the
round-headed cap of the Bakhtiari and Kuhgelu Lurs.’ 1 These
various tribes were once on terms of perpetual enmity and con
flict ; but they now collide more rarely, their leading families
being united by marriage ties, and the veto of the State having
become less susceptible of defiance. Of the Kashkai Lurs I have
previously spoken in my chapter on the route from Isfahan to
Shiraz.
From the survey of Luristan and the Lurs inhabiting the
highlands, I now pass to the coast-plains and to an Arab popula
tion. The administrative title of Arabistan, literally the
Land of the Wanderers, is applied to a larger area than
that embraced by the plains alone, many of the Bakhtiaris being
under the jurisdiction of its Governor, whose official residence is
at Shushter. Nevertheless the title more correctly describes the
alluvial levels between the mountains and the sea, including the
respective plains of Dizful, Shushter, Hawizeh, and Ram Hormuz.
Its boundaries may be defined as a line from the Kerkhah River
to Mohammerah on the west, the Bakhtiari hills on the north, the
Shat-el-Arab and
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
on the south, and the Hindian
River on the east. This province is identical with the ancient Elam,
the classical Susiana, and the more modern Khuzistan. The latter
designation appears now to have fallen into disuse. 2 The present
administrative partition of the province is into eight districts,
subordinate to the Governor-General. These are Dizful, Shushter,
Hawizeh, Ahwaz, Mohammerah, Fellahieh, Deh Mullah, and Ram
Hormuz, which are respectively administered by a Persian Deputy-
governor or by a sheikh of one of the ruling Arab families,
appointed by the Government. In olden days they were all united
under the Yali of Arabistan, the Arab descendant of an illustrious
family of scyids^ who ruled at Hawizeh almost as an independent
prince, and shared the proud title of Yali with only three other
1 Proceedings of the R. G.S. (new series), vol. v. pp. 156-63. For other accounts
of the Mamasennis and the Kaleh Sefid, ride Colonel Monteith, Journal of the
R.G.S.y vol. xxvii. p. 113; (Sir) H. Layard, ibid., vol. xvi. pp. 25-6; Baron De
Bode, Travels, vol. i. pp. 229, 262-75.
2 Khuzistan is thought to be derived from the word Uwaja, signifying aborigines,
that occurs in the cuneiform inscriptions, and is, perhaps, also the origin of the*
Uxii of Strabo and Pliny. On the other hand, Mordtmann derives Khuzistan from
a Persian word meaning sugar-cane.
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 [673v] (1363/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x0000a4> [accessed 24 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