![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎293r] (588/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0599.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎293r] (588/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [293r] (588/1814)
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 NORTHERN PROVINCES
363
the silk spun, that first brought Persia within the range of Euro
pean commerce, and that made Gilan the most famous to foreigners
among Persian provinces. Well might Sir Anthony Sheriey, the
adventurous English knight-errant who entered the service of
Shah Abbas in 1600, write of it as follows:—
Gheylan is a country cut off from Persia with great mountaynes
hard to passe, full of woods (which Persia wanteth, being here and
there onely sprinkled with hils, and very penurious of fuell, onely
their gardens give them wood to burne, and those hils, where are
some faggots of Pistachios, of which they are well replenished) ; be-
tweene those hils there are certaine breaches rather than valleyes,
which, in the spring when the snow dissolveth, and the great abun
dance of raine falleth, are full of torrents. The Caspian Sea includeth
this countrey on the east, betweene which and the hils is a continuing
valley, so abounding in silke, in rice, and in corne, and so infinitely
peopled that Nature seemeth to contend with the people’s industry,
the one in sowing of men, the other in cultivating the land ; in which
you shall see no piece of ground which is not fitted to one use or
other, these hils also are so fruitfull of herbage, shadowed by the trees, as
they show, turned towards the sea, that they are ever full of cattell, which
yieldeth commoditie to the countrey by furnishing divers other parts. 1
Finally, above the wooded zone, rise the naked heights of the
mountains, covered with a scanty pasture, frequently veiled in mist,
4. Bare and with snow-streaks rarely absent from their summits,
mountains Thus from the steaming vapour bath by the sea’s edge to
the eternal frost and ice of Demavend, every gradation of climate
and atmosphere may be encountered, alternately enervating the
system and filling it with brisk vitality. In the upper ranges,
tremendous totals or rock-passes are met with, as stiff and neck-
breaking as any in Persia. In the open places of the forest zone
and on the slopes of the mountains above are the yeilaks, or summer
quarters, to which all the richer folk retire from the plains and low
lands in the heat, and to which the nomad villagers who are depen
dent upon herds and flocks, drive their cattle for summer pasture.
A very large proportion of the population is, therefore, migratory
m character; and with them are mingled other wandering tribes,
Population w ^ 10 ^ave become village-settlers, but whom the summer
heats tempt to wander again ; whilst in Gilan bands of
gipsies are not rare. Of the two provinces, Gilan is said to be
the damper, and its people less vigorous and brave ; but I cannot
1 Purchas’ Pilgrims, vol. ii. lib. ix. cap. 2.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [293r] (588/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c3> [accessed 4 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c3
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c3">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎293r] (588/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c3"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0599.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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