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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [361r] (724/1814)
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
493
Let me, however, describe Persian education such as it is. In
every town, city, and village in Persia there is some sort of school.
Primary I 11 I^ ie small villages it is often little more than a class
schools by a mu ll a ]i in the parish mosque. Here the
children are taught the Persian equivalent to the three P’s; i.e.,
they are taught the Persian alphabet, the rudiments of arithmetic,
and a parrot-knowledge of the Koran. By this phrase I mean
that they learn to read, I should rather say to pronounce,
the Arabic of the Scriptures, without the slightest inkling as to its
meaning. Though all arrive at the power of reading the Persian
alphabet, only a few attain to that of writing it. Hence the pride
with which anyone who can both read and write passably pre
fixes the title mirza to his name. Among this class primary
education is carried a step farther, inasmuch as it will embrace a
slight knowledge of the national poetry, and an acquaintance with
the art of rounded phrase and swelling trope, in which the
Persian imagination loves to expand its infantile wings. But,
as Dr. Wills says, in the majority of cases c the repeating from
memory of a few prayers and passages from the Koran, with some
verses of poetry, is all that remains to a villager generally of his
education.’ Elementary education is, however, very cheap in
Persia, the fees for attendance amounting only to from one to three
hrans (7d. to Is. 9d.) per month for each child.
There are no higher schools or grammar schools in Persia in
the English sense of the term. The only form of secondary educa-
Secondary ^ 0n °P en 1° H ie HiaSSOS, and that only to a limited sec-
education Don of them, is provided in the madressehs, or religious
colleges, which are frequented by candidates for the three learned
professions of the Church, law, and medicine. Here the curri
culum is one of a peculiarly straitened character, for, as every
Oriental believes that all human knowledge is summed up in the
obsolete patchwork of Mohammedan science, but little outer light
is permitted to dawn upon the inquirer’s mind. The study of the
text and commentaries of the Koran, deeper excursions into Persian
literature, an absorption of the sterile nonsense that passes for philo
sophy in the East, and a respectful attention to the discourses of
learned men—these are the duties and the results of madresseh
education. In every town of any size are one or more of these
establishments, many of them owning large incomes from endow
ments, and containing accommodation for tenfold the number of
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 [361r] (724/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000083> [accessed 11 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