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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [355r] (712/1814)
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 REFORMS
481
exclusive construction of canals, kanats, and irrigation works of
every description; the first refusal of a national bank, and of all
future enterprises connected with the introduction of roads, tele
graphs, mills, factories, workshops, and public works of every
description; and a farm of the entire customs of the empire for a
period of twenty-five years from March 1, 1874, upon payment to
the Shah of a stipulated sum for the first five years, and of an
additional sixty per cent, of the net revenue for the remaining
twenty. With respect to the other profits, twenty per cent, of
those accruing from railways, and fifteen per cent, of those derived
from all other sources, were reserved for the Persian Government.
Such was the amazing document that fell like a bombshell upon
Europe just before the Shah started upon his first foreign journey
in 1873. 1
The subsequent history of this colossal but impossible under
taking is well known and may be briefly summarised. In the
its re- Shah s absence in Europe, time and opportunity were
scission giyen for the marshaling in hostile array of all the re-
actionary, or fanatical, or, as a Persian might say, patriotic forces
in the country. In England the Shah found that but a lukewarm
reception had been given to the scheme, the possible political
complications arising’ from which more than counterbalanced, in
the eyes of the British Government, and of public opinion in
general, the advantages which it conferred. But the coxtjp do cjvclcg
to the project was in reality dealt at St. Petersburg. Naturally
indignant at a concession which handed over to her rival the
entire resources of which she had long contemplated, or at least
coveted, the future reversion, and firmly convinced (the conviction
was utterly devoid of foundationj that the British Government
was at the back of Baron de Reuter and had insidiously inspired
the whole scheme, Russia adopted an attitude of resentment
mingled with menace, that, in the absence of any reassuring
counterblast from Downing Street, effectually frightened the Shah,
and settled the fate of the too precocious bantling of Baron de
Reuter. It did not much matter, in a country and with a govern
ment like Persia, what excuse was forthcoming to justify the
revocation that was decided upon; and when the Baron’s caution
money was, after the Shah’s return to Persia, rudely confiscated, on
the technical ground that the works had not been commenced
1 For an abstract of the Renter Concession, vide Appendix to Rawlinson’s work
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 [355r] (712/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000077> [accessed 7 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