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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [340v] (683/1814)
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.
452
PERSIA
In a country where the judicial and executive functions of
government are so constantly combined and confused, it behoves
me to give some account of the law and its administra-
division tion—a subject to which I now turn. It is well known
of Law tliat tlie j aw i n Persia, and, indeed, among Mussulman
peoples in general, consists of two branches: the religious, and
the common law ; that which is based upon the Mohammedan
Scriptures, and that which is based on precedent; that which is
administered by ecclesiastical, and that which is administered by
civil tribunals. In Persia, the former is known as the Shar, the
latter as the Urf. From the two is evolved a jurisprudence which,
although in no sense scientific, is yet reasonably practical in
application, and is roughly accommodated to the needs and cir
cumstances of those for whom it is dispensed.
The basis of authority in the case of the Shar, or Ecclesiastical
Law, consists of the utterances of the Prophet in the Koran; of
the opinions of the Twelve Holy Imams, whose voice in
S i iar b
Ecclesias- the judgment of the Shiah Mohammedans is of scarcely
tical Law j n f er j or we ight; and of the commentaries of a school of
pre-eminent ecclesiastical jurists. The latter have played much
the same part in adding to the volume of the national juris
prudence that the famous juris consulti did with the Common Law
of Rome, or the Talmudic commentators with the Hebrew system.
The body of law so framed has been roughly codified and divided
into four heads, dealing respectively with religious rites and duties,
with contracts and obligations, with personal affairs, and with
sumptuary rules and judicial procedure. This law is administered
by an ecclesiastical court, consisting of mullahs, i.e. lay priests and
mujtaheds, i.e. learned doctors of the law, 1 assisted sometimes by
hazis or judges, and under the
presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
of an official, known as
the Sheikh-el-Islam, one of whom is, as a rule, appointed to every
large city by the sovereign. In olden days, the chief of this
ecclesiastical hierarchy was the Sadr-el-Sadur, or Pontifex
Maximus, a dignitary who was chosen by the king and placed
1 In Malcolm’s time there were only five mujtaheds in all Persia; but the
number is now much less restricted. A mujtalied must be the possessor of an
ijazeh or diploma from another mujtahed, who enumerates therein his own cie-
dentials, and states that the recipient is learned in the laws of Islam, and com
petent to expound and practise the same. Most of the mvjtaheds of P ersia
have received their diplomas from the most eminent jurists of Kerbela anc
Nejef.
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 [340v] (683/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00005a> [accessed 4 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