![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎111v] (229/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0240.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎111v] (229/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [111v] (229/1814)
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.
PERSIA
same time to co-operate in the amicable enterprise by constructi
a similar road upon their side of the boundary which should inwt
the Russian road, and eventually link Ashkabad by a carriageable
highway with Kuchan and Meshed. The Persian section of tl le
road was entrusted to General Gasteiger Khan, an Austrian
Engineer officer in the service of the Shah. Before the close of
1888 the Russian section, thirty miles in length, had reached the
frontier ; but the Persian, it is needless to add, had scarcely been
commenced and showed no signs of progress. Irritated at this
delay, and at the advantage presumed to have been gained by Great
Britain in the Karun Concession of 1888, Russia now put onthe
screw at the Persian Court • and, among the stipulations of a secret
agreement which has not been divulged, insisted upon the immediate
completion of the Ashkabad-Kuchan road. The Shah did not
relish the injunction, but was powerless to resist. General Gas
teiger Khan was relieved of his office, it being variously alleged
that he had quarrelled with the Governor-General of Khorasan, and
that he had been found secretly corresponding with the Russians •
and the contract was entrusted to the Malek-et-Tajar or Head of
the Merchants’ Guild at Meshed, who undertook to complete the
voik in a year at a cost of 13,000/., receiving in return a conces
sion of the rest-houses, wells, and collection of tolls along the route.
This was the situation when I travelled upon the road in the
beginning of October 1889.
Leaving Ashkabad in a southerly direction, the road strikes
acioss the plain towards the mountains. It is of uniform width,
Russian twenty-five feet, and, although near the town it was full
of holes, yet the gradients, even in the steepest parts, are
such as to render it easily available for the passage of artillery.
At a distance of eight miles it reaches the foot of the hills and then
winds up a lateral valley parallel to the axis of the main range of
the Kopet Dagh. Later on an ascent in zigzags commences, lead-
mg, at a distance of fifteen miles, into a narrow mountain- gorge,
at whose bottom is a stony torrent bed, empty when I passed it,
but evidently liable to a sudden rush of water in times of melting
snow oi flood. It must be economy rather than any practical
o ject that has induced the Russians to cross and recross this
torrent bed, not by bridges, but by a rough stone causeway built
lough the channel itself, and already in many places broken up
and sw ept away. A second series of zigzags leads, at about the
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [111v] (229/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000024> [accessed 8 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000024
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000024">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎111v] (229/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000024"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0240.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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