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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎333v] (669/1814)

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. .

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438
PERSIA
III. Inferior Towns and Dependencies
Burujird
Bostam and Shahrud
Kamareh
Asadabad
Administrative Division
Joshekan
Khar
Kharakan
Demavend
Talikan
Saveh
Firuzkuh
Taruni
I now come to that which is the cardinal and differentiating
feature of Iranian administration. Government, nay, life itself
System of in that country may be said to consist for the most part
anatr 6 of an interchange of presents. Under its social aspects
presents this practice may be supposed to illustrate the generous
sentiments of an amiable people; though even here it has a grimly
unemotional side, as, for instance, when, congratulating yourself
upon being the recipient of a gift, you find that not only must you
make a return of equivalent cost to the donor, but must also
liberally remunerate the bearer of the gift (to whom your return
is very likely the sole recognised means of subsistence) in a ratio
proportionate to its pecuniary value. Under its political aspects
the practice of gift-making, though consecrated in the adamantine
traditions of the East, is synonymous with the system elsewhere
described by less agreeable names. This is the system on which
the government of Persia has been conducted for centuries, and
the maintenance of which opposes a solid barrier to any real
reform. From the Shah downwards, there is scarcely an official
who is not open to gifts, scarcely a post which is not conferred in
return for gifts, scarcely an income which has not been amassed by
the receipt of gifts. Every individual, with hardly an exception,
in the official hierarchy above mentioned, has only purchased his
post by a money present either to the Shah, or to a minister, or to
the superior governor by whom he has been appointed. If there
are several candidates for a post, in all probability the one who
makes the best offer will win. Upon his appointment he receives
the kitabcheli) or official statement of the revenues of the province,
with regulations for its management. Henceforward it is his
business to collect the taxes, to see that the proper military quota
is forthcoming, and to administer justice. But there appears in
Persia to be a peculiar objection to a new assessment, no doubt
arising from the universal and legitimate fear that it can only
result in further exaction. Accordingly, the Jdtabcheh remains
obsolete and unaltered; but in bargaining for his post, thewonld-be

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎333v] (669/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00004c> [accessed 8 June 2026]

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