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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [376r] (754/1814)
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.
into
6gl011 is Hen
SS ° m6ti ^eoV
—epaC,
^ int o J
ltlla soil excellent,
" 'f meral Sources,
'■ ec a favoured po r .
' J wlien w e come to
applied to fch
emore open valle ys
b 7 narrow defiles
l ination is, with an
li-east, and passage
tengs or transverse
described in Nortli-
ater, but to primor-
mountains unite on
ters as the Zagros,
rn latitude of this
es of climate more
rt of Persia. The
ier is
ereas
excess
deligh
ed fo
equer
:xpos(
id we
rs in
port,
as
25 280 s<
THE NORTH- AVE ST ANH AA 7 ESTERN PROVINCES 517
miles. Colonel Stewart, now Consul-General at Tabriz, returns it
as 43,500, General Schindler as 35,000. The total population
is estimated at not far short of 2 , 000 , 000, 1 of which the
Populate ]£ urc [ s are reckoned at 450,000, and the Christians at
72,900 (Nestorians, 44,000 ; Armenians, 28,900). Owing in part
to the missionary establishments of the foreign churches, in part
to the staffs of the various consulates at Tabriz, and in part to the
mercantile importance of the latter city, there are now as many as
120 Europeans and Americans in the province. The name
Azerbaijan is said to be derived from Azer, fire, and baijan, keeper,
and to testify to the ancient predominance of the fire-worshippers
in this part of Persia. It is identical with the Atropatia or Atro-
patene of the classical writers.
In the tables which I publish elsewhere of the Persian Re
venue for 1888 to 1889, the contribution of Azerbaijan appears
at 786,142
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, plus 60,062 Idiarvars of grain, or a
and ex- total money value of 966,666
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, equivalent to
penditme 276,190?. On the other hand, the revenue for 1889 to
1890 appears in the Consular Report 2 as 385,674?. No two tables
of Persian accounts were ever found to agree ; and there is frequently
sufficient ground for divergence in the different bases upon which
the conflicting calculations have been framed. In this case the
figures in the earlier and smaller estimate are those of revenue
from taxes and customs only, and are calculated at the rate of 35
krans to 1?. The figures in the Consular Report contain other
items, as the following table shows ; and the recent remarkable
rise in silver having lowered the rate of exchange to 30 brans
to the 1 ?., they are counted at that rate :—
‘Maliat’ (including land tax in money, rent of Crown lands, tax £ s. d.
on cattle, and tax on trades), 750,000 .... =275,000 0 0
Tax in kind, 15,200 Itharvcbrs (kharvar = 1,000 lbs.) of grain =
6,785f tons. Value, at 15s. a kharvar of 1,000 lbs . . . = 11,400 0 0
7,000 liharvars of straw = 3,125 tons, at 6s. 6<7. a liharvar of
1,000 lbs = 2,275 0 0
Customs and octroi, 271,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
. . . . . . = 90,333 6 0
Passports, 20,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
= 6,666 13 0
Total . . 385,674 19 6
This total is not in itsel f by any means too severe a burden for
1 If this be correct, Azerbaijan must be by far the most thickly populated pro
vince of Persia.
Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 789, 1890.
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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- 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