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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [351v] (705/1814)
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.
474
PERSIA
condition of Persian finance more effectively than tlie exorbitant
rate of interest cheerfully paid to native usurers. Legal interest
is limited by the Koran to twelve per cent.; but, in the middle of
the century, Lady Shell recorded that ‘ it seldom amounts to less
than twenty-five, and often reaches fifty, sixty, or one hundred per
cent.' For loans of ready money, native bankers could, till a year
or two ago, easily procure two per cent, per month, settled monthly
i.e. twenty-nine per cent, per annum. Private money-lenders ex
acted a good deal more.
Such, in outline, was the state of Persian finance when, in 1888
the Kew Oriental Bank Corporation decided to include Persia
New within the sphere of its Asiatic operations, and opened
Oriental branches or established agencies in Teheran, Meshed,
Tabriz, Resht, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Bushire. As a tradino*
company, dealing in a branch of commerce open to all, it required
no special concession from the Persian Government. Renting a
palatial building occupying one entire side of the Meidan-i-
Tupkhaneh in the capital, after only a year’s existence it already,
at the time of my visit, did a considerable business both there and
in the provinces. The Persians were beginning to understand the
meaning of a deposit account and the value of a fixed and certain
interest upon their savings. The bank paid two and a half per
cent, on current accounts, tour per cent, on those running for six
months, and six per cent, on yearly deposits. It had already
lowered the rate of interest on loans to twelve per cent., and was
lepoited to have lent money to the Shah at from six to eight per
cent. The Oriental Bank had also introduced and familiarised the
natives with a form of paper money, in the shape of cashier’s orders,
foi sums from five hrans upward, payable to the bearer, which en
joyed a considerable circulation in the capital. After an existence
of two years, the Persian branch of the Corporation was bought out
foi a substantial sum by the new Imperial Bank of Persia, which,
entering upon the scene under the most favourable auspices, and
with a wider ambition, rendered competition even less desirable
to otheis than to itself. The Imperial Bank now reigns supreme.
. ^ was 011 Janu ary oO, 1889, that the Shah signed the pre-
immaiy concession in favour of Baron de Reuter for the Imperial
ank of I ersia. I hat this concession was in some sort an amende
wnora 6' to that gentleman for the scurvy treatment he had
received m respect of the famous Reuter Concession of 1872, was
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 [351v] (705/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000070> [accessed 14 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