Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [393v] (789/1814)
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.
PEKSIA
548
Mussulmans, but of eight hrans upon Christians ; and an equivalent
scale on whatever live stock they possess. Generally speaking, the
position of the peasants may be said to depend upon the character
of the agha, or landlord, who is responsible to Government for the
taxes up to the fixed assessment, and who either exacts or renounces
his pound of flesh as his inclination determines.
The number of Armenians resident in Azerbaijan is inferior to
the Nestorians, but is yet considerable. The census is
Armenians , , n
calculated
as follows:—
Families
Families
Maku
300
Parados! or Beranduz
180
Kotur
100
Karadagh .
1,000
Khoi
400
Maragha .
120
Salmas Plain
. 1,200
Miandoab .
80
Somai and Chara
100
Suj Bulak .
60
Urumiah .
400
Tabriz
740
Sulduz
100
Ardebil
35
Total
.
4,815
The Armenians
being less prolific, less
gregarious,
and 1
stay-at-home than the Nestorians, it is recommended to compute
their families at an average of six persons, which will give a total
of 28,890 ; or, together with the Nestorians, a grand total of 72,890
for the Christian population of Azerbaijan. The Persian Arme
nians are a less attractive and an even less reliable people than
the mendacious, but peaceable Nestorians. They travel a great
deal, and pick up revolutionary ideas, and are disposed to deceit
and turbulence. The local head of their church is an arch
bishop at Tabriz, who throws what obstacles he can in the way of
the Christian missions; whilst the Catholicos of the entire
Armenian church is located not far from the frontier, in Russian
territory, at Echmiadzin. The Armenian question is, however,
so much a Turkish and so little a Persian one, that I do not feel
called upon to say anything more about it here. I shall have
occasion to speak of the people again, when dealing with Julfa.
From the Nestorians and Armenians it is an easy and natural
transition to turn to their hereditary foes, the Kurds. It is a
Kurdistan s ^ ran ^ e ca P r i ce of fortune that should have located in
this quarter of the globe, in immediate neighbourhood,
two, nay, three communities of men, alien to each other in cha
racter, race, and religion, whose juxtaposition is fraught witA
endless and irremediable strife, whereas, had they been separated,
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 [393v] (789/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213845.0x0000c4> [accessed 8 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
![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎393v] (789/1814) Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎393v] (789/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0800.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)