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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [337r] (676/1814)
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.
■ms tn
,1 0 P re S
majority ^
stlce . shoul,
a ^ e never ]
L in Part t (
tlle most de
ni statioi
f of the r
^nropean cc
oished abilij
rare a post
1 governor has
lol(i or retinue
nade of society
ziei h as I have
father was an
-Minister who
^as the grand
ma Taki Khan,
^es a chance of
or the moment
)n is not to be
sdrich he may
• time, and to
id as a reason
tence, of this
official salaries
allowance is
expenses, and
f the official.
hil, it is well
vable that by
;ter, or by a
cred of iasti-
at the same
ie of govern-
j’t, therefore,
all aspire to
rone, and the
THE GOVERNMENT 445
treasury is administered in the present niggardly fashion, muda-
Irfiil remains an essential feature of public life in Persia, and no
reform is to be anticipated.
Although it might be thought that the existence of the pur
chase system on so extensive a scale would render long tenure of
Duration office rare, it is not as a rule found in practice that this is
m office case> The official in possession is in a far better
situation than the candidate who wishes to oust him, inasmuch
as he has at his easy disposal the means of increasing his annual
gift or purchase money to the Shah. Moreover, the test of good
governorship in Persia being, not the amelioration or contentment
or prosperity of the province, but the absence of highway robbery
and the punctuality with which the taxes and customs are paid into
the royal exchequer, personal merit plays a very small part in the
bargain between sovereign and deputy, and dismissal or degrada
tion by no means follows upon proven incompetence. Too often
it has happened that when complaints against an oppressive
governor have been manifold and just, the accused official has been
able, by the prompt addition of a few thousand
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
to his
annual money-offering to the Shah, to avert disaster and to con
tinue with impunity in his career of maladministration.
That which is known as mudakhil from the point of view of
the recipient, is classified as pishkesh, or gift (lit. that which
Pishkesh leads on or comes before), from the standpoint of the
donor. Every money-bribe, or gift, made to secure
a post or concession, to influence a judicial decision or to escape
punishment, falls under the head of pishkesh. This mysterious and
elastic term, which includes every form of donation, from the con
tribution paid in by a governor-general to the fine exacted from a
petty delinquent, may be roughly divided into two headings : (1) the
fixed, regular, and open payments, prescribed by usage and
never relaxed; (2) irregular or extraordinary payments, made
or extracted as the opportunity occurs. Among the former
the most conspicuous are the so-called presents made at the festival
of No Ruz, or the New Year, to the Shah. Every governor,
minister, chief of a tribe, or official of any rank, then makes his
offering, the minimum amount of which is determined bv custom,
and the maximum left to the means or ambition of the donor. As
Malcolm put it, to fall short of the accustomed sum means loss of
office, to exceed is increase of favour. In his day the sums thus
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 [337r] (676/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000053> [accessed 6 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