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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [227r] (456/1814)
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.
FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN
265
which is rich in mineral deposits, there being a productive salt
mine, a neglected lead mine, and sandstone quarries within the
same area. The turquoises are found in a range of hills, consist
ing of porphyries, greenstones, and metamorphic limestones and
sandstones, at an elevation above the sea which has never exceeded
5,800 feet or fallen below 4,800 feet. They are obtained in one
of two ways, either by digging and blasting in the mines proper,
which consist of shafts and galleries driven into the rock, or by
search among the debris of old mines, and amid the alluvial detri
tus that has been washed down the hill-sides on to the plain. The
finest stones are now commonly found in the last-named quarter.
The mining, cutting, &c., give occupation to some 1,500 persons,
who inhabit the two principal villages of Upper and Lower Madan
and several small hamlets in the neighbourhood.
It is believed that in former times and under the Sefavi dynasty,
when Persia touched the climax of her wealth and renown, these
History of rnines were worked directly by the State. In the anarchv
and turbulence of the eighteenth century they were either
neglected or left to the villagers, who extracted from them what
they could. As order was re-established, control was resumed by
the Government, which throughout this century has farmed them to
the highest bidder. Abundant relics, however, exist of the reign
of ‘ every man for himself ’ that preceded. There was no system
or science in the working, and the clumsy and sporadic efforts of
individuals have resulted in the roofs and sides of most of the old
mines falling in and thus completely choking the most lucrative
sources of produce. Moreover, the march of science has itself
tended to make the work more unscientific, for gunpowder is now
used at random where the pick once cautiously felt its way; and
many of the stones are smashed to atoms in the process that brings
them to the light.
Gonolly relates that when Hasan Ali Mirza was Governor of
Khorasan the turquoise mines were rented for 1,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, and
Financial ^he rock-salt mine for 300
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
per annum. In Fraser’s
time(1821), 2,000 Khorasan
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
or 2,700h, wereasked
for the whole mines, and 1,300
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
for the principal mine. In
18^2, East wick says the rent was only 1,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 400Z. Ten
years later the Seistan Boundary Commissioners found the total
rent of all the mines to be 8,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 3,200^., though in 1874
Captain hlh/pier reported the figures to be 6,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 2,400/.
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 [227r] (456/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00003f> [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