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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [175r] (352/1814)
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.
MESHED
175
on the north-west. From Kelat a branch line runs to Deregez
Time is further a single wire from Meshed to the frontier outpost
Telegraphs ° ^ ar akhs, on the Russian border ; but this is usually
Token or interrupted, and Sarakhs is, as a rule, cut off
rom communication with the capital. This line has been linked
“,! * ® P ^ Q ? ent y ear ( 1891 ) with Russian Sarakhs, on the other side
of the Tejend, where there is a military outpost of Russia; the
pomt of junction being in the bed of the Tejend. This brings
„ 68 ed lnt0 telegraphic connection with Ashkabad and Merv and
further exemplifies the Russian ascendency. There is, at present
no telegraphic connection between Mbshed and the south • but a
wire as been talked of from the capital to Birjand. The main
line between Meshed and Teheran, 570 miles in length, consists
o a sing e wire, via Nishapur, Sebzewar, and Shahrud. Though
it belongs to the Persian Government, it is subsidised and main
tained for them by the Indo-European Telegraph Department, who
keep an inspector at Shahrud and two signallers at Teheran and
Meshed This staff is inadequate for the maintenance and service
of the line, and it is out of order on several days in each month
the Persians were apt at first to invest the telegraph offices with
the sanctity of a
bast
(Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location.
, and cases have occurred at Meshed and else
where where the premises have been so claimed by fugitives from
pursuit or persecution—the underlying idea being that the wire
ran directly from the Shah’s palace at Teheran, and that they
cou cl thus communicate at once with head-quarters.
In conclusion, I may say that the fanatical hostility to Europeans
and Christians for which Meshed was always said to be distinguished
Attitude a PP ear s to have completely disappeared. Precautions, it
“4s 18 trUe ’ are Sti11 observed b 7 tbe advice of the authorities ;
and it was one of the inconveniences of life and residence
there that one had to pass through the town on horseback pre
ceded and followed by an escort. This prevents the desultory stroll
and ‘ poking of the nose in every corner ’ which the European
traveller loves, but which is so foreign to the Oriental’s notion of
dignity and self-respect. During my residence of eight days in
Meshed I always moved about on horseback ; but I believe that
there was nothing in reality to have prevented me from wandering
v ither I would on foot, and in a few years’ time a European will
c oubtless be. as familiar a spectacle there and will excite as little
comment as in the streets of Bokhara or in the bazaars of Isfahan.
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 [175r] (352/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x00009f> [accessed 5 April 2025]
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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