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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [227v] (457/1814)
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.
The rent remained at 8,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
np till 1882, .when the Shah
very wisely thought that he could make a better bargain. In that
year he leased the mines for a term of fifteen years to the Mukhber-
ed-Dowleh, Minister of Education, Telegraphs, and Mines, the
rent to be 9,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
in the first year, and 18,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
in
each succeeding year. 1 The Minister took a few rich men into
partnership, and the versatile and accomplished Greneial Schindler,
whose services are enlisted for whatever work of regeneration is
contemplated (I wish I could say executed) in Persia, held the
post of managing director for one year. 2 This syndicate appears to
have found the system of working the mines itself unremunerative ;
for at the time of my visit I found that they had been sublet to the
Malek-et-Tajar, or head of the Merchants’ Guild at Meshed—the
enterprising speculator who had also undertaken the Kuchan road
—and who was paying a rent of 10,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 2,850L, per
annum as sublessee, himself subletting again to the villagers after
the immemorial fashion to which every tenant in turn seems com
pelled to come back. He had just had a smart dispute with some
of his own sublessees, who had discovered some larger and finer
stones than he had bargained for, and whose tenancy he had accord
ingly terminated by the abrupt method of confiscation. In the
past year (1890) the output of stones was estimated at not less
than 80,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 22,850L
It would be quite a mistake to suppose that by going either to
Meshed or to Mshapur, or even to the pit mouth, the traveller can
Purchase pick up valuable stones at a moderate price. Fraser tried
of stones seventy years ago, and was obliged to desist from the
attempt by the ruthless efforts made to cheat him. Every succeed
ing traveller has tried and has reported his failure. All the best
stones are bought up at once by commission agents on the spot and
are despatched to Europe or sold to Persian grandees. I did not
see a single good specimen either in Meshed or Teheran, though I
1 Benjamin {Persia and the Persians, p. 408), with his usual inaccuracy, says
80,000 dollars, or 16,000Z.
By far the best account of the mines is to be found in a report written by
him (and published in Diplomatic and Consular Deports, part ii., 1884). The re
maining travellers who have visited and described the turquoise mines of Madan
are J. B. Fraser (1822), Journey into Khorasan, cap. xvi., and Appendix to Travels
South of the Caspian, pp. 344-346; Alex. Chodzko (circ. 1838), Revue d’Orient',
N. de Khanikoff (1858), Memoire, %c., pp. 90-93 ; Colonel Yah Baker (1873), Clouds
in the East, pp. 166-71.
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 [227v] (457/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000040> [accessed 4 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