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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [382v] (767/1814)
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.
PERSIA
528
the coffee-shops of Stambul. A few years ago Russia endeavoured
to stimulate the growth of cotton in Azerbaijan for her own supply
by distributing cotton-seed gratuitously to the native cultivators •
but the climate is less propitious in this province than in other
parts of Persia. With reference to the figures of exports given
above, and in mitigation of the disparity existing between them and
the imports, it should be mentioned that there is a large contraband
trade across the border both with the Russian and Turkish pro
vinces, which escapes the Custom-house altogether; and that the
total value of exports is probably half as much again.
Although the figures that I have cited seem to indicate a con
siderable volume of trade, complaints have long been heard in
Present Tabriz of the difficulties and small profits of business,
and future This arises principally from the vicious system of very
long credits, which is a time-honoured institution in this market,
from the rapid and constant fluctuations in exchange, and from the
commercial morality of the Persian traders, which is as low as can
well be imagined. A fraudulent bankruptcy, easily achieved by a
bribe to the officials, or mullahs, is the favourite means of escaping
an irksome debt. No doubt trade would be much improved if
either of two roads which have been talked about for years were
constructed : (1) from Bayazid on the Turkish frontier (on the
Trebizond route), via Khoi to Tabriz, and thence to Kazvin, where
the main road would be struck to Teheran ; (2) via Ardebil to
Astara on the Caspian. Nothing has hitherto come of either of
these projects, although rumour is at this moment busy with their
extended execution. It is not safe in Persian politics, however, to
look much more than a yard beyond the end of your nose; and
therefore I shall say no more about them. The Manchester firm
of Ziegler’s is the principal European house of business in Tabriz.
As I have said, Azerbaijan is the recruiting ground of the
flower of the Persian army, if, indeed, the phrase can be used of a
Azerbaijan force that ordinarily presents so bedraggled an appearance,
troops j speak here, however, of the material, not of the methods
or results. Abbas Mirza collected in this province the entire army
which, although ultimately severely beaten, performed so creditably
in the opening engagements of the Russian campaign. At the
time of the war (1826) the Azerbaijan army consisted of 20,000
cavalry, 6,000 regular infantry, and 10,000 irregular infantry, the
second item being to a large extent drilled and in part officered
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 [382v] (767/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x0000ae> [accessed 5 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