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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [336r] (674/1814)
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 GOVERNMENT
443
Exchequer. Thirdly, he must be ready to purchase a continuance
of the ever-precarious favour of his superiors ; and, lastly, not
knowing when he may fall, he must provide for himself against a
rainy day. Hereby is instituted an arithmetical progression of
plunder from the sovereign to the subject, each unit in the
descending scale remunerating himself from the unit next in rank
below him, and the hapless peasant being the ultimate victim. It
is not surprising, under these circumstances, that office is the
common avenue to wealth, and that cases are frequent of men who,
having started from nothing, are found residing in magnificent
houses, surrounded by crowds of retainers and living in princely
style. 4 Make what you can while you can ’ is the rule that most
men set before themselves in entering public life. Nor does
popular spirit resent the act; the estimation of anyone who, en
joying the opportunity, has failed to line his own pockets, being
the reverse of complimentary to his sense. No one turns a thought
to the sufferers from whom, in the last resort, the material for
these successive mudakhils has been derived, and from the sweat of
whose uncomplaining brow has been wrung the wealth that is
dissipated in luxurious country houses, European curiosities, and
enormous retinues. In one of Sir Lewis Pelly’s reports upon
Southern Persia, penned while he was British Resident at Bushire,
I have come across the following passage, which tersely depicts the
effect of this system upon the cultivators of the soil :—
One of the consequences of this system of farming is that the
agriculturist is called on for a much larger rent than the State receives
from him ; e.g. A. farms a governorship from the Shah for an amount
B. plus C. the douceur (the term ot the annual contract remaining a
constant quantity, while the douceur varies). A. in turn farms his
circle of villages, of which D. takes one circle. D. again sublets a
hamlet or one of his villages to E. who deputes F. to collect the rents.
Each, of course, expects a profit on his contract, and consequently the
agriculturist, instead of having to pay the amount B. which benefits
the State, is called upon for his share of B -f C, -!- D’s + E’s + F s
profits. He cannot pay. F. complains to E. and E. to A., who is
dunned for his contract sum from the capital. A. gives to his sub
farmers permission to collect the revenue by force. This is done ; next
year some of the peasants have fled, some of the land is lying waste.
The country, in brief, is revenued as if the Government were to end
with the expiry of the governor’s lease . 1
Report on the Tribes around the Shores of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. 1874
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 [336r] (674/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000051> [accessed 28 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