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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎229r] (460/1814)

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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(
invaders in the eighteenth century. The modern city is not a
century old, having been rebuilt and fortified by Ali Yar Khan of
Mazman, one of the rebellions governors in Khorasan in the reign
ot ath Ali Shah. A good deal of trade has latterly sprung up in
Sebzewar, for it is a considerable centre of cotton cultivation, as
uell as the local entrepot for the export of wool: and there is an
rmenian commercial establishment in the town whose occupants
trade with Russia vm Astrabad and Gez,> exporting cotton and wool
an sporting sugai and chintzes. A coarse cotton cloth is
manufactured m the bazaars, and rude copper pots are also fashioned
trom the produce of three mines in the neighbourhood, which are
reputed to be the richest in North Persia and the proper exploitation
o which is not unlikely to be undertaken by the Persian Minins'
Rights Corporation. Sebzewar is also said to be one of the strong-
holds of the Babis in North Persia.
Almost the only object of interest in Sebzewar to a stranger
lies, if a bull may be permitted, outside it. This is an isolated
Minaret “ 1 i naret call ed by the Persians (in their legendary vein)
KhosrugM A wllich stands four miles beyond the
. w i alls i of P res ent town on the west, but was no doubt
within the limits of the ancient city destroyed by Mohammed Shah
of kharizm That any one should ever have been mystified by this
tower, which has every feature of Arabic architecture about it.
rm P h b ? Ca rP t haS l0St the moS( l ue whicl1 it once adorned, is
difficult to believe. _ Riding out to inspect it in the early dawn
found the mountain crests both to the north and the south of
the town white with freshly fallen snow, the first of the winter
Glorious they looked as the rising sun shone on their glistening
caps, and flushed, the purples and reds of their lower skirts
. “AA ratber lrreveren %> bu t with some justice, compared the
minaret at a distance to a factory An East India Company trading post. chimney; but this illusion is
i

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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 [‎229r] (460/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000043> [accessed 4 June 2026]

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