Mss Eur F111/159

The volume consists of printed copies of letters to and from Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, dated 4 January to 27 December 1900. The correspondence is mainly between Curzon and Lord George Hamilton, Secretary of State for India. It also includes correspondence between Curzon and Sir Arthur Godley, Permanent Under Secretary of State for India, and a few items of correspondence between Curzon and the Marquess of Salisbury, British Prime Minister. Letters to Curzon sometimes include enclosures in the form of letters and other documents which are printed in full. Enclosures in letters from Curzon are mostly not printed in full, usually only describing the author and recipient (where applicable), type of document (e.g. letter, extract of a newspaper) and the date. The letters were printed by the press of the Private Secretary to the Viceroy.

There is an alphabetical index of names, places and subjects on folios 5-22. The volume is then divided into two parts: letters to Curzon (folios 23-183), followed by letters from Curzon (folios 187-376).

The correspondence relates to a variety of subjects including:

• The Transvaal War [the South African War, also known as the Boer War or Second Boer War]
• The China War and China Expedition [the war of the Boxer Rebellion and the Gaselee Expedition]
• Famine in India
• Plague and plague policy in India
• The illness and death of Sir William Lockhart, Commander-in-Chief of India, and the next Commander-in-Chief
• Membership of the Viceroy’s Council
• Trials of soldiers for assaults upon ‘natives’ in India
• British policy in Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf
• A dispute between the United Kingdom and France over a coaling station at Muscat
• The claims of Turkey [the Ottoman Empire] and Germany in relation to Koweit [Kuwait]
• Russia’s proposal to enter into direct relations with the Amir of Afghanistan
• Russian military activity in Central Asia
• The distribution of Honours
• The British General Election.