![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎294v] (591/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0602.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎294v] (591/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [294v] (591/1814)
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.
366
PERSIA
was this silk traffic that brought Persia into mercantile contact
with Europe, that prompted the interchange of embassies and the
framing of treaties in the sixteenth and later centuries, and that
made Persia wealthy and famous ; and since, moreover, it is only
recently that it may be said to have permanently declined, I shall
take advantage of this opportunity to give a short resume of this
interesting page of Persian history, only treating of the subject in
so far as relates to Gilan and Mazanderan, and reserving for a
later chapter on the Commerce of Persia, its international applica
tion in bygone ages.
The romantic story of the introduction of the silkworm from
China into Europe in the reign of the Emperor Justinian, about
TT . , 550 A.D., is one of the favourite anecdotes of historv The
History , . «
of Silk first mention of its cultivation in the northern provinces of
Persia that I have come across, is in the pages of the tenth
century pilgrim, El Istakhri, who travelled from Rhey to Sari, the
capital of Mazanderan, and spoke of the silk which was produced in
great quantity in the province called Taberistan, the ancient name
for the Elburz region in these parts. Three centuries later we learn
from Marco Polo that the merchants of Genoa, then at the height
of its commercial renown, had recently brought The Caspian
within the far-reaching sphere of their trade, and had begun to
export c the silk which is called Ghelle.’ In the middle of the six
teenth century the Moscovy Company, through its agents, Anthony
Jenkinson and others, made that courageous attempt to open up
a British Caspian trade through Russia, whose dramatic annals
I shall afterwards relate. It was the silk of Gilan in quest of
which they came. In the succeeding century the main channel
of export of this product was in Dutch hands from the Persian
Gulf. Early in the eighteenth century, Peter the Great, who fully
understood the part that commerce can be made to play in
schemes of imperial aggrandisement in the East, endeavoured to
divert the entire northern export into Russia, by an arrangement
with the Armenian traders of Baku. After a while this con
spiracy broke down and the Russians attempted the business
themselves. In 1725 Peter was about to enter into an engage
ment with a company of English merchants, being willing even to
invoke foreign aid in order to gain his end, when he sickened and
died. Then ensued the second brief, but gallant, experiment on
the part of a small band of English merchants, headed by Elton
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 [294v] (591/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c6> [accessed 25 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c6
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_100157213844.0x0000c6">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎294v] (591/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x0000c6"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0602.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