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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [359v] (721/1814)
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.
490
PERSIA
will thereby be brought within twelve days by caravan of the Persi
Gulf, instead of the forty to fifty days that are the minimum now
occupied by beasts of burden following the familiar mule-track
via Shiraz from Bushire.
Lastly comes the heading of projected, discussed, or contem
plated roads, a class which, whatever the ingredient commodity i s
Projected always well-stocked in Persia. In my chapter upon
Azerbaijan, I hwe mentioned the long-talked-of, but as
yet uncommenced, roads from Tabriz via Ardebil to Astara' on the
Caspian, and from the Turkish frontier at Bayazid via Khoi to
Tabriz. The Shah is also willing to grant, or has already granted
concessions for wagon-roads from Teheran to Tabriz, from Tabriz
to Julfa, and from Zinjan via Hamadan to Burujird. It o^oes
without saying that all these roads, if constructed, would be of
great advantage to the undeveloped resources of the country*
although, in the present backward condition both of agriculture
and population, some of them might not produce an immediate
return, and others would be remunerative in different ratios
Political considerations will render some of these roads more
favourable to British, others to Russian, ambition. Broadly
speaking, roads from the north and north-west will benefit Russian
commerce, and, if it ever arise, Russian aggression; roads from
t le south and south-west will benefit British influence I prefer
however, not to regard this question from the outside-nation point
of view conceiving that the true interests to be regarded are
lose of Persia, and that to whatever schemes can be devised for
the amelioration of that country, both Eussia and England should
en a lelpmg hand, opposing no obstacles of a purely selfish
ciaracter but extracting in friendly competition whatever of
commercial advantage they can from that which is primarily
railroad If 1 ’ ^ hG eXtenSi ° n ° f roads ’ atld at a future date of
1 (for the latter vide Chapter XVIII.), that the energies of
Eo ? d - aU i friends of p ersia should be directed. They will be
policy dined to favoui the one or the other method, according
.^ eir conce pGon of the due rate of progress is slow or
i 6 n ^ or< j cau G°us spirit, whose motto is Festina lente, the
eternal Yavash of the Persian vocabulary, declares that he will be
en or f e time being with the repair or construction of good
cart roads between the various trading centres and from the sea-
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 [359v] (721/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000080> [accessed 10 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