![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎338v] (679/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0690.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎338v] (679/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [338v] (679/1814)
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.
-.-—i m ii , m h' i 1 *
ssObbp
*Xi
448
PERSIA
Corrupt
adminis
tration
at suitable prices to bis courtiers, dividing with the delighted
tradesman the proceeds of the sale. Enough has perhaps been
said to give some idea of the system. Truly the maxim £ Render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s ’ stands in no need of being
pressed in a country where Caesar takes such very good care of
himself.
It is an obvious result of the administrative system which I
have described, and of the proud predominance of pislikesh, that
there is no guarantee, beyond the wisdom or the apprehen
sions of the sovereign, for the best men filling the right
places. So long as the gift of office is largely determined
by the length of purse, corrupt administration must prevail, and
honest men will go to the wall. Even if a good man gains an
appointment, the intrigues or the bribes of a rival behind his back
may oust him at any moment, and he falls because at Rome he
failed to do what the Romans do. Of the effect upon the governed,
who are the ultimate source from which the successive mudakhils
and the stipulated jpishheshes are drawn, I have already spoken.
But the country does not suffer only from the greed of officials in
respect of what they extort, but also in respect of what they with
hold. Sums of money are assigned from the Royal Treasury for a
definite public object—e.g., the payment of an army, the construc
tion of public works, the building of a bridge, the repair of a road.
These sums either never reach their destination at all, or only reach
it in sadly diminished volume, having been arrested on the way in
the pocket of some official responsible for the distribution. The
Shah, meanwhile, is quite unaware of, or is powerless to detect, the
embezzlement practised by his subordinates, upon whom, in the
absence of responsible supervision from above or free criticism from
below, it is almost impossible to keep a watch. The rapacity of the
entire official world being thus enlisted in the maintenance of the
existing system, it will easily be understood how stubborn a barrier
is opposed to any administrative reform, and how faint is the hope
that Persia will ever, unaided, work out her own salvation.
It is also to the peculation engendered by this system that
must be attributed the neglect, or the total absence, of public works
which so constantly arrests the traveller’s attention ni
public 1 ° Persia. AYhen I think over my long journeys, and recall
how many caravanserais, or bridges, or post-houses in the
entire country I saw in at all an efficient state of repair, I am bound
to say t
The sam
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YllCldT6S$£
invite m
in whos
appears
If anyw
signs of
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and th<
or to e
somewb
Persia <
tible re
railroad
dearth
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body el
hithertc
three ce
rich, bu
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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 [338v] (679/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000056> [accessed 2 April 2025]
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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