Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [362r] (726/1814)
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 KEFOKMS
495
subjects as various as His Majesty the Shah, Andromeda, and
Landseer’s c Challenge.’ In the English classes, I also witnessed
dictation, composition, and translation, elementary illustrated
school manuals being employed, and the text-books in use being
‘ Robinson Crusoe ’ and ‘ Baron Munchausen,’ the latter of which I
thought a somewhat dubious selection. I was informed that the
majority of the pupils show an extraordinary aptitude for mathe
matics ; and that in the other departments they are quick and
receptive, but lazy. The chemistry branch has included the teach
ing of photography, and several of the best illustrations in these
two volumes are from photographs taken by pupils of the Royal
College.
I made inquiries about the management and discipline of the
college, and received the following replies. The institution is state-
Manage supported, and costs 30,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(8,500Z.) per annum , 1
ment and being under the direction of the Mukhber-ed-Dowleh,
discipline Minister of Public Instruction. It is open to all. Parents
are not required to procure any nomination, but only leave from
the head of the school. The pupils are entered at all ages, usually at
ten or eleven, and remain for a period of six or seven years. The
royal endowment, or foundation, consists in the free gift of two
uniforms, or suits of clothes, annually, summer and winter, daily
breakfast, a small premium as the reward of passing certain exam
inations, a medal on leaving, and sometimes nomination to a post
in the Civil Service. The hours of work are from 8 A.M. to 3 p.m. :
but there are frequent holidays for saints’ days, and a vacation of
some months in the summer, the working period not amounting to
more than six months of the year. I was informed that the boys
are more often idle than insubordinate. Punishments are assigned
by the class teacher, but require to be confirmed by the head master.
They are administered by a band of ferashes kept in attendance,
and differ considerably from the European pattern. The lowest or
simplest punishment is that of standing sentry with a shouldered
gun, which is regarded as derogatory to self-respect. Next in
order comes the cat-o’-nine-tails upon the back. Finally are ‘ the
sticks, oi bastinado, a specified number of which are broken upon
the soles of the feet. This, I heard, was the only punishment that
is really feared.
1 One of the teachers informed me, with a sigh, that the salaries frequently
remained for a long time unpaid.
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 [362r] (726/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x000085> [accessed 4 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
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