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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎87r] (180/1814)

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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WAYS AND MEANS
41
From Akstafa to Jnlfa is a distance of about 250 miles. The
traveller will pass through the interesting town of Erivan, the
capital of Russian Armenia, and will be able to make the excur
sion to the Armenian ecclesiastical centre of Echmiadzin. At
Julfa he crosses the river in a ferry-boat to Persian territory, where,
after passing through the custom-house, he emerges upon the
system of chapar-khanehs, postboys, decayed horses, physical dis
comfort, and execrable track, which I have already described
between Resht and Teheran. The distance from Julfa to Tabriz
is about 80 miles, or, according to Persian computation, five
stages of 4 ■ farsakhs each, the post-houses and distances being as
follows :—
Xame of Station
Distance in Farsakhs
Approximate distance
in Miles
Julfa .......


Airandibil |
Galand Kay a j
5
20
Maraud ......
5
24
Sufian ......
5
17
Tabriz ......
5
23
Total
20
84
About Tabriz I shall have a good deal to say in a later chapter
upon the north-west provinces of Persia, to which I will refer
Tabriz to m y readers. The route from Tabriz to Teheran is the
Teheran second most travelled route in Persia, and has been
followed by a long succession of eminent voyagers, who have left
a record of their experiences extending over a period of two
hundred years. 1 The post stations and distances to Kazvin are as
follows, the concluding section of the road from Kazvin to the capital
having already been described :—
1 I only mention a few : Sir J. Chardin (1671), Travels into Persia, pp. 370-382 ;
M. Tancoigne (1807), Narrative of Journey into Persia, Letters xii.-xiv.; J. P.
Morier (1809), First Journey, cap. xiv.; Sir W. Ouseley (1812), Travels, vol. iii.
cap. xviii.; Sir E. K. Porter (1818), Travels, vol. i. pp. 251-306; J. B. Fraser
(1834), Winter's Journey, vo\. i. Letler viii.; Col. W. K. Stuart Journal
of a Residence, caps, v., vi.; Lady Shell, GlimjJses of Life, <$c., cap. vii.; A. H.
Mounsey (1865), through the Caucasus, Jr., cap. viii.; Mme. Dieulafoy
(1881), La Perse, pp. 66-119.

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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 [‎87r] (180/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x0000bb> [accessed 24 June 2026]

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