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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [350r] (702/1814)
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.
iou yh k 0D
? !| rds general
f e > not
, eadm gper S0
16 or gan, fi nd
a wi »e preli t
the (
an official
escribed.
Farliang-
employej
r ) was much read,
rantinople, but Was
0 coa tain somewtat
the King of Kings.
’ been started,
^ah, ^lirza Husein
- w bat he had seen
f a h ranco-Persian
'ured; a European
of ‘ La Patrie ’ was
first, and solitary,
'ened was found to
f them with absolute
side ; we are bound
We desire to serve
, We shall support
But we will never
er; we shall defend
We shall support
acts are contrary to
War upon abuses
Equity-thisisour
our entire care to
:he universal clia®
sounded like Sit
t- 0 f Elizabeth 01
e, was an icsok 1 "
seetbP^^'
INSTITUTIONS AND REFORMS 471
nil that Iran held most dear. It was at once expiated by the dismissal
of the guilty editor, and by the suppression of the offending organ.
The number from which I have quoted remains a unique curiosity
in the annals of journalism. The same minister established a
military magazine at Teheran ; but its existence was limited to
seventeen or eighteen numbers.
In 1885 a more orderly and semi-official paper was started in
the French language, entitled the c Echo cle la Perse . 5 It has since
ceased to exist. A journal was also published for a short time at
Tabriz, but soon expired. The Foyal College further undertook for
a while the publication of a scientific journal; but this, too, is
defunct. There have been other journalistic attempts, whose
epitaph required to be even sooner written.
Such is a brief record of the history and present condition of
the press in Persia. How far it entitles either its promulgators or
its patrons to the praise of enlightenment, every reader can judge
for himself. Anyhow, no alarm need as yet be felt, even by the
most tender susceptibilities, about the creation of a fourth estate in
the dominions of the Shah.
It may be imagined that in a country possessing the habits and
instincts that I have described, the currency has at all times pre-
The sented a fine field of operation for the devices of sovereigns,
comage governors, and ministers, and that any approach either to
science of management or stability of value has been conspicuous
by its absence. The fluctuations in the value of the monetary unit
have been enormous, and at the time of mv visit had touched
almost as low a point as has ever been reached. In Tavernier's
time, in the middle of the seventeenth century, a
toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
was equal
to fifteen French crowns or forty-six livres (a livre was about I«s. 6d.).
Chardin, a little later, under Shah Suleiman, gave the value of the
toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
as from forty-five to fifty livres, or ol. 10s. in English
money. Early in the following century Krusinski returned its
value as sixty livres or twenty crowns. Then came the overthrow
of the Sefavi dynasty, the invasion of the Afghans, the reign of
Nadir Shah, and the general anarchy and dislocation consequent
upon his death. At the beginning of this century, when security
had been re-established under the Kajar dynasty, Malcolm gave
the value of the
toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
as \l. Between 1820 and 1830 Eraser
valued it at 11 s. Since then the value has fluctuated, but with a
general inclination to fall. In 1874 the
toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
was worth ten francs
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 [350r] (702/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00006d> [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