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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎104r] (214/1814)

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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TKANSCASPIA
75
fi(mres of cultivable area whicli have from time to time been
officially presented by the Russian authorities. First it was said
that 800,000 acres would be irrigated and fertilised ; then the
figures fell to 300,000 acres ; and the descending scale has even
touched at its lowest point, the humble total of 18,000 acres. The
last-named estimate is probably as much below the mark as the
others are above it. Nor, if the work be properly carried out,
does there appear to be any reason why considerable results should
not be .attained ; inasmuch as in the Middle Ages and down to a
century ago, when the forerunner of the new dam was destroyed
in war by the Bokhariots, it was owing to this and similar
irrigation works that the district of Merv won a repute for splendid
fertility unequalled in the East. Should a large extent of ground
be successfully reclaimed, it will of course admit of a greatly
augmented population, M. Poklefski being of opinion that the
entire oasis would support a total of 1,000,000 inhabitants. One
hundred families of Dungans (Chinese Mohammedans) and Taran-
chis (Turki Mohammedans) from Kulja have been transported
to Merv as an experiment in colonisation ; and it is said that
several hundred more families (presumably European) have been
engaged as settlers on the Czars estate. The only other tract
where irrigation, followed, it is hoped, by colonisation, is to be
undertaken on a large scale, is on the right bank of the Amu
Daria, between that river and the Zerafshan, where the Russian
Government is reported to be negotiating with the Amir of
Bokhara for the cutting of a canal from the Oxus.
Recent figures of the rolling stock now on the Transcaspian
Railway differ slightly; but the following totals may be regarded
Eollino- as approximately correct. There are from 120 to loO
stock locomotives upon the entire line, and a total of over
2,000 waggons, trucks, and cars of every description. The number
of cistern-cars for the transport of water or petroleum is said now
to be 150. These figures show that improvement is being made ;
although the standard that is required alike by commercial and
military considerations has not yet been reached. General
Annenkoff’s passion for economy and a plausible balance-sheet,
though excellent in their way, have somewhat retarded the proper
development of the railway.
A triple wire runs parallel to the line from the Caspian to
Samarkand, whence it is continued to Tashkent; whilst branch

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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 [‎104r] (214/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000015> [accessed 21 June 2026]

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