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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [301v] (605/1814)
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.
380 PERSIA
of Teheran. Three centuries ago it was a mere village ; hut its
admirable position and the imjDroved communication both with the
Barfurush ca l :)ital ancl tlie sea ? liave com kined to make it the most
considerable town on the Caspian sea-board. Little more
than a century ago (1771) Gmelin found it a poor place in no
wise resembling a capital. And yet Fraser, in 1822, would have
us believe—the sole instance, so far as I know, in which his judo--
ment was seriously at fault—that it had grown within that space
of time into a great city, as frequented as Isfahan, and with a
population alleged to consist of 300,000, but accepted by him as
200,000 persons. He went into positive ecstasies over ‘ the
spectacle of a city purely mercantile, governed by a merchant
with no khans or nobles, peopled entirely with merchants, me
chanics, and their dependents, and prosperous and happy far beyond
any in Persia.’ The people were as respectful and polite as their
town was admirable, and the bazaars, a mile in length, were as
excellent as the town . 1 Twelve years later Fraser returned to find
that the scourge of the plague had fallen in the interval upon this
earthly paradise of cities, and that the fanciful population of the
previous decade had fallen to 30,000. Since then it has partially
recovered, although it is to be feared that the halcyon days of
Fraser’s imagination will never return. Napier, in 1874, reported
its population as 50,000 (a greatly exaggerated estimate), its streets
as clean and well paved, its shops as well built, and its bazaars as
full of European goods. The town is situated in the level country
about halfway between the base of the mountains and the sea, and
though surrounded by rich rice, sugar, and cotton plantations, is
so buried in forest trees as to be invisible from the exterior. In
the summer it is almost deserted by its inhabitants, who fly to the
mountains. On an island in a small lake or tank between the town
and the river stands a dilapidated villa belonging to the Shah.
The Russians keep a Consular agent here to superintend their trade
with the Caspian. There has for long been a considerable number
of Jews resident in Bariurush, where they are engaged in retail
tiade. A furious outbreak against them took place in 1866 and is
recoided by Mounsey . 2 It was suppressed by the vigorous action
of the Shah ; but public opinion prevented him from inflicting
condign punishment upon the authors.
1 Travels South of the Caspian, cap. vii.
2 Journey through the Caucasus, pp. 273-282.
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 [301v] (605/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00000c> [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