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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [237v] (477/1814)
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.
PERSIA
>
282
half of the ride to Shahrud is spent in winding in and ont of the
lower ranges that gradually dip into the plain of Shahrud, 1,000 feet
below Armian. The snowy crown of the Shah Kuh (King Moun
tain), the highest point of the Elburz between Shahrud and Astrabad,
had been before my eyes the whole day, and at its feet, I knew,
lay Shahrud. About eleven miles before reaching the latter, the
first view is caught of the level plain, some ten miles in width,
on which were visible three detached green clumps. The two
nearer were unimportant villages, the farthest and largest, nestling
at the very foot of the Elburz, was Shahrud. So buried in trees
is the town, that, after riding for some time between garden-walls
and orchards, I found myself in the main street, almost unawares.
I have already, in a previous chapter, dwelt upon the strategical
importance of the position of Shahrud. The town is a great meet
ing-point of roads, from Herat to Meshed, from Tabbas and
Turshiz, from Yezd, from Astrabad and Mazanderan, and
from the capital. It is situated in a plain, of whose fertility I could
form no just estimate in the month of November, but whose
productiveness and abundant water-supply are unquestioned.
The ftud-i-Shah (or King’s River) flows down the street outside
the chajoar-hhaneh, but at this season of the year was little
more than a rivulet, and reflected no honour upon its name. The
defensive properties of the place struck me as contemptible, and
appeared to be limited to a ruined citadel, and to two small mud
towers, perched upon a conical hill above the town. Shahrud is
celebrated for its local manufacture of boots and shoes, which are
said to be patronised by the Shah and the Royal Family; for the
redoubtable shabgez, or gherib-gez, which attacked O’Donovan here
but spared me ; and as an entrepot both of the local products
of Mazanderan and of Russian imports via Gez and Astrabad,
through the
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
of Russian and Russo-Armenian traders. 1
The Russian Caucasus and Mercury Company also keep an
agent in the town. Its population is said to be 5,000. There is a
Persian Telegraph-station here, and a wire to Astrabad, whence
there is further telegraphic connection by Chikishliar with Kizil
Arvat and Transcaspia—a line which is much used by the Russian
Legation in Teheran in communicating with Ashkabad.
I he opening-np of the new trade-route from Ashkabad, via Kuchan, to
bebzewar is reported to have already caused a considerable falling-off, or, perhaps,
I should rather say, transference, in the Russian trade with Shahrud.
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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 [237v] (477/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000054> [accessed 9 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