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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [351r] (704/1814)
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.
INSTITUTIONS AND DEFORMS
473
stands. The Master of the Mint, however, who pays 5,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
a year for the concession, and is allowed to take five per cent.
seigneurage on whatever he coins, is not to be cheated of his sly per
sonal mudakhil in addition; and the actual proportion in the case of
the silver coinage w~as, in 1889, 89If in every 1 , 000 , in the gold
coinage 885f, the remainder being copper alloy. Originally this
individual paid a much larger sum for the concession, and realised a
handsome profit out of the copper currency. But, in consequence of
the scandalous depreciation, This prerogative was taken from him . 1
Owing principally to the great excess of imports over exports
which existed till within recent years, but which is now being
Circulation slowly redressed, gold may be said to have disappeared
of gold from circulation. Silver at one time became exceedingly
scarce. The Persian Government, becoming much alarmed, con
ceived the delicious idea of prohibiting the export of the precious
metals; but this design was, fortunately, not proceeded with. The
gold pieces nominally in circulation are coins of a quarter, half,
one, two, five, and ten
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
. To such a point had the apprecia
tion risen, that I found that one of the last-named coins, nominally
equivalent to 100 hums, could not be purchased for less than 145
krans in Teheran, a premium of nearly fifty per cent.
The abuses and drawbacks of the Persian monetary system, and,
indeed, of all mercantile transactions in that country, have long
Neecl of rendered the introduction of banks managed upon the
European European plan a sine qua non of any material improvement
on a large scale. Of the fluctuations in exchange and
scarcity of money I have already spoken. Another drawback was
the unequal distribution at any given moment of the precious
metals, and the enormous cost of the transport of specie, which
could only be carried at much expense on the backs of beasts of
burden. Merchants experienced the greatest difficulty and risk in
making remittances to Europe, Small cliques of native money-
jobbers controlled the market in the provincial towns. Native
capital was frightened away from any enterprise of public ad
vantage by the distrust attending all investment. Still worse was
the practice of hoarding pursued by every man of wealth, from the
Shah downwards. Nothing could demonstrate the retrograde
1 In December 1889, however, he procured a renewal of the right to coin
copper money for an experimental period of six months, and the farm price was
increased to'the rate of 25,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
per annum
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 [351r] (704/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x00006f> [accessed 8 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