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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎178r] (358/1814)

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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ft
POLITICS AND COMMERCE OF KHORASAN
18 ]
Division
of the
spoil
tteprolite fl!lTvT‘ T ° f * ««*• “ »P»n
.evil^Sri™ 200 00^’ ^
o- min ; an was 20°,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , and 50,000 kharvars
Revenue z 7 ^ c ‘ 11 ^ /o ^ was 340,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , and 45 000
.154000/ r»n. 3 o„iwr i * 1889115 *** «539,000
also that the extortionary capacity of ft p 11 t l6 mCreaSe ’ and
organised and more keen. Government is better
. ° f 4 is .* ota1 ’ ac cording to a subdivision which is highly interP«f.
mg, and will afterwards come up for exnlanatin , i ,,, ‘T
S'? 900 / /0 . explanation, the Shah received
87 6 29 :r ( 2 t: 9uL> in «*. »<i ^ 200
( 2 , 6290 ) as the cash equ.valeat of his proportion of the
gram; a total of 27 , 543 /. from the province The
rem.„Kle, was absorbed in pay of troops and civil officials, pen-
_ Like every other post or office in Persia, the governorship is as a
in e so c to tie highest bidder, the price given by the successful
Govern- purchaser being a fair criterion of the estimated increase
.nt p 0V d ™ mutl0n in productiveness and consequent value,
f he Governor-General, who resides at Meshed, is usually a member
5 the "T fT 1 7 0r T e 0fficial 0f lligl1 standin g and distinc-
tioin Subject to his orders are a number of district governors or
chieftains, of differing power and influence, ruling over territories
that vary m size from hundreds to shires, and from shires to
piovmces. These as a rule owe their appointments to the Shah
even where the succession is hereditary in a single family, but are
responsible m the first place to his deputy at Meshed. Beneath
them again is a hierarchy of petty governors, headmen, and mayors
nominated by and responsible to their superiors.
It is m the multiplicity of rival claims and interests among
lese chieftains, m the variety of races beneath their rule, and
1 hharvar = 649 lbs.; 3| kharrars = (approximately) 1 ton.
- These figures correspond very fairly with those in the table, procured from
an independent source, which will be printed further on. There the revenue
« Khorasan is given as 508,268 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. in cash, 60,123 kharvars in wheat and
barley, and 12,424 kharvars in straw and rice.

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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎178r] (358/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000a5> [accessed 6 June 2026]

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