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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [276r] (554/1814)
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.
TEHERAN
335
six Legations—those of Great Britain, Russia, France, Germany,
Austria, and Italy. A Belgian Minister Resident was also expected
at the time of my visit, and a Dutch Charge-d’Affaires had been
appointed by his Government. America sent a Minister Resident
for the first time in 1883. Most of these diplomats possess comfort
able residences situated in large and well-shaded compounds, similar,
though inferior, to that belonging to the British Minister. I could
not ascertain that, with the exception of the British and Russian
Ministers and the Turkish Ambassador, they have much, if any
thing at all, to do; and, to the majority of their number I should
imagine that the post offers itself either as an honourable exile or
as an interesting repose.
Teheran has been much abused as a capital. It has been
attacked for having no river—which is true, although of such
Advan- Persian cities as are better endowed in that respect it
tages and must be said that, during four-fifths of the vear, the river
disadvan- . j o j ?
tages as is seldom more than a streamlet. Lady Shell went so
capital far as to declare that, as a capital, it had nothing what
ever in its favour. I do not agree with these opinions. Looking
at the question mainly from a political point of view, I am disposed
to think that Teheran is about the best capital that Persia could
produce, and that Agha Mohammed Shah showed to the full his
statesmanlike foresight in selecting it as his seat of government.
The objections to the present site are mainly advanced on sanitary
grounds. The water supply is indubitably meagre and costly, an
attempt to divert the River Karij to the city having been abandoned, 1
and the entire needs of the population being dependent upon hanats
dug from the Elburz. Situated, moreover, in the hollow of the
plain, it is said that the infiltration of the surrounding moisture
causes malarial fevers, which have already produced an increase in
the recorded cases of typhoid. It is further said that the drainage
is atrocious, which is probably true of all Persian towns„ At
Teheran the system adopted has one advantage, which, if not con
ducive to health, is, at any rate, less obnoxious to the senses than
the paraded abomination of other Eastern cities. Each house is
1 This attempt was made by Haji Mirza Aghassi, the eccentric minister of
Mohammed Shah, who had a passion for public works, and it was successfully
executed. Upon his commencing a similar experiment with the Jajrud on the
Eastern side, the complaints of the villagers of Yeramin at the loss of their water
supply caused the works to be abandoned; as also were those of the Karij, after
the fall of the Haji.
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 [276r] (554/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000a1> [accessed 2 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