![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎291r] (584/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0595.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎291r] (584/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [291r] (584/1814)
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.
, blC ^ Pai'allelo,
^ re ha s luth ert0
often of ston e or
ma ^ a ®pness of
>urh°o(J are b .
two to three feet
6 mois ture ;and
relic of the days
' ® an g farsh (lit,
! communication
1 l ie wa s so much
e- From here it
places and cities
) a place named
composed of big
foot square, and
to from eight to
None the less it
ie monarch who
■ely disappeared;
odged, or tossed
ession of pitfalls
side of Astrabad
pass leading to
pass began what
bn in an easterly
ibout fifty mibs
[gth has it ever
dway gapes with
se-CJ&J
t
(5q\)
Jh-S*
, sV-r A o , ***+
v x r j **"2
THE NORTHERN PROVINCES
Reza, Who appears to have gracidiisly distributed his relations iiffv^j / ^
the places which lie could not patronise himself. This is situated^^^'" ^ ,
outside the walls on the north, a little to the west of the Ak Kaleh
gate. Six madressehs, or colleges, communicate a stinted and f , /?#-?
obsolete education to such pupils as take advantage thereof; but V / w* .
the vakf or religious endowments, in which the place is rich, sus- fe^ffa****- h
tain a dissolute crowd of mullahs and seyids, who appear to be a
curse to any spot which they afflict with their sanctity.
Soap boiling and the manufacture of gunpowder are the chief
local industries. The former is conducted in a very rude and
Local clumsy fashion, the potash employed being extracted
industries f rom a pi ant t p at g rows on t p e p an Es of the Atrek ; nor
is the article, when manufactured, of a character or quality that
has ever warranted exportation. Gunpowder is made of sulphur
brought from Baku, nitre from Meshed, and willow charcoal locally
procured. A certain amount of felt carpets are also made, com
pounded of a mixture of camel’s hair, goat’s hair, and sheep’s wool,
beaten together into a solid mass.
1 he abatement of Turkoman ravages has resulted in the
bringing under cultivation of a much larger area than heretofore
Peasant ffi® province of Astrabad. The soil is so extraordinarily
llfe productive that emigrants from a great distance, even
fiom Afghanistan, come and settle here. The climate is gentle ;
fuel is abundant; there is no lack of water; and the land has
merely to be scratched in order to produce a manifold return.
Wheat, barley, and rice are the chief crops; and the rent of land
under grain cultivation is only about 8 s. an acre. Partition of
property in equal moieties between the male and female members
of the family is here the law of landed inheritance ; and accord-
5 fh e several properties, not large at the commencement, have
shrunk into narrow plots, some fields of six acres having not less
than nine partner landlords. 4 This state of things,’ as Colonel
Lovett said in his Consular Report, 4 tends not only to impoverish
the country, but is a fruitful source of the indolence and apathy
that characterise the inhabitants of this province, and also accounts
for the rarity of handicraftsmen.’ Many of the villages encountered
m the forest or in the open clearings are curious places, surrounded
by impenetrable bramble hedges ; and the homesteads of the
peasants, 4 constructed of split poles, wattle, and mud dabbing,’
thatched or tiled, and elevated above the ground, suggest
r
IC^
■
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 [291r] (584/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000bf> [accessed 5 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