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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [759v] (1535/1814)
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.
432
PERSIA
Cathedral Rock, from its fantastic natural outline of pinnacles and
spires; and the entire coast line is here so strangely fretteu and
moulded by nature, that we are remincted ol Scott s description in
the ‘ Lady of the Lake :—
Their rocky summits split and rent
Form’d turret, dome, and battlement,
Or seem’d fantastically set
With cupola or minaret,
Wild crests as pagod ever deck’d,
Or mosque of Eastern architect.
Traces either of Portuguese or of some foreign occupation are
visible at Gwadur, in the ruins of a vast reservoir on the flank
of the hill overlooking the town ; while a rude archaic
Hist01 > rampart dominates the same elevation. Nor is it alto
gether unknown in English history. For here it was that, in
1613, Sir Robert Sherley, returning from his embassy on behalf
of the King of Persia to the Christian powers of Europe, in the
good ship c Expedition 5 (Captain Christopher Newport), and pro
posing to march overland to Isfahan, narrowly escaped a plot to
murder both himself and the whole ship’s crew, that had been
formed by the ‘Viceroy of Guader or Godel,’ who is elsewhere
described as ‘ a revolted duke from the Persians.’ 1 The port and
district are now governed by a Vali, or deputy of the Sultan of
Muscat. The circumstances under which the latter potentate
became possessed of the place occurred at the end of the last
century, when a free gift of Gwadur and its surroundings, as well
as of Chahbar, was made by Nasir Khan, the ruler of Kelat, to
Seyid Sultan bin Ahmed, of Oman, who had retired from Muscat
to the Beluch coast, after an unsuccessful attempt to oust his elder
brother, Seyid Said. From that period the place was ruled by
deputies of the reigning Sultan, until in 1871 Abdul Aziz, the
younger brother of the late Sultan, with whom he was perpetually
at war, on the occasion of one of his numerous exiles, installed
himself at Gwadur and seized Chahbar, which had lately been
occupied by local chieftains. The Persians, delighted at an
opportunity of asserting their authority over Chahbar, expelled
Abdul Aziz, who was also turned out of Gwadur by his brother;
and the latter port has since remained in possession of the reigning
Furchas’ Pilgrims, lib. iv. cap. 10.
i
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 [759v] (1535/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213849.0x000088> [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