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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎192r] (386/1814)

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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(
POLITICS AND COMMERCE OF KHORASAN 205
Cavalry.— continued.
Deregez (Turks) ....
100
Kelat-i-Nadiri .....
150
Kain and Seistan ....
700
Tabbas ......
150
Various towns (Sebzewar, &c,)
400
Total . 4,675
Artillery ......
200
(20 light field guns in the Ark
at Meshed, 2 field guns at
Kelat, 6 mounted guns at Sarakhs.)
Infantry . . . . . 6,400
Cavalry 4,675
Artillery ..... 200
Grand Total . 11,275
Such is the alleged effective strength of the Khorasan army.
Properly drilled and decently officered, it might be a respectable
force. Under existing circumstances it cannot be spoken of with
out a smile.
I now turn to the commercial part played by Great Britain
and Kussia in Khorasan. For many years past Russia, though a
nation with no special commercial aptitudes, has con-
Commerce . % % % 1 ;
in Kliora- ceived the ambition of controlling the markets of Central
Asia. Inherited from Peter the Great, this idea has
been prosecuted with a vigour in striking contrast with the listless
ness elsewhere exhibited by the same people. It is now a cardinal
axiom of Russian politics in the East that commercial must pre
cede political control; and the institution of mercantile agents and
middlemen, the opening up of means of communication, and the
granting of special exemptions and preferences to goods on their
way to or from Oriental markets are invariable features of their
Asiatic diplomacy. Khorasan, lying in such near proximity both
to the Caspian, of which they possess the monopoly of navigation,
and to Transcaspia, which they conquered in 1881, has presented
a suitable field for these operations, and may be looked to as
typifying the high-water mark of Russian commercial success.
Before, however, I pass on to examine the present condition of
affairs, let me call attention to the fact, which I have never seen
Former recorded in this context, that the trade between Europe and
Side tith Kll0rasai1 is not of Russian but of British institution, and
Meshed that 150 years ago English merchants were the first who
endeavoured to open up that highway from the Caspian to Meshed

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 [‎192r] (386/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000c1> [accessed 3 April 2025]

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