![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎211r] (424/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0435.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎211r] (424/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [211r] (424/1814)
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.
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THE SEISTAN QUESTION 243
as large as rivers, and a network of smaller ditches and dykes,
but also very frequently to run to waste in superfluous swamps and
lagoons. Let us, however, quote the opinion of eye-witnesses
upon the actual capacities of the soil. This is what Ferrier said
in 1845 :—
Seistan is a flat country, with here and there some low hills. One-
third of the surface of the soil is composed of moving sands, and the
other two-thirds of a compact sand mixed with a little clay, but very
rich in vegetable matter, and covered with woods of the tamarisk,
saghes, and tag, and reeds, in the midst of which there is abundant
pasture. The detritus and slimy soil which is deposited on the land
after the annual inundation of the Helmund fertilises it in a re
markable manner, and this has probably been the case from time
immemorial; at any rate, the number of ruins on the banks would
lead one to suppose so . 1
To this let me add the opinion of Sir F. Goldsmid :—
The soil is of proved fertility. Wheat or barley is, perhaps, the
staple cultivation ; but peas, beans, oil-seeds, and cotton are also
grown. Melons and water melons, especially the latter, are abundant ;
grazing and fodder are not wanting. By means of the canals in their
ordinary course, and by occasional inundations, a system of profuse
irrigation is put in force, which, with an industrious and a contented
population, should be productive of most extensive grain cultivation . 2
Finally, to both may be added the testimony of those who have
visited Seistan since the Boundary Commission, and who report
that its resources have already been wonderfully augmented, and
that its capacities of production under a more scientific system of
irrigation are enormous. The future of Seistan depends indeed
upon the application of hydraulical skill to the course and overflow
of the Helmund. The river now runs northward, and spends it
self in superfluous swamps. There is nothing in the lie or in the
levels of the land to prevent it from being turned southward, and
entirely devoted to cultivation.
Nor should a concluding but most important consideration be
forgotten. Though railways will not come in Persia with the head-
A link in rapidity that some imagine, and though it is not
larger desirable in many parts that they should, yet most of us
look forward to a time when there will be some more
rapid means of communication between the great cities and trade
1 Caravan Journeys, p. 426. 2 Journal of the R.G.S., vol. xliii. pp. 71, 73 .
r 2
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 [211r] (424/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00001f> [accessed 5 June 2026]
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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