![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎435r] (872/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0884.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎435r] (872/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [435r] (872/1814)
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.
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tV 1 '*
tie Elburz
Woingthe
tlu rtj--three. %
ie Eersian Go*
" 111161,684 ProDiisd
ns ^ 0n ) American 1
vei 7 near ly obtai;
ut was ’
uniGnt were on
3 from the Upper Ini
me to nothing, fc
firm or English repr»
ny doubt as to
inspired. This
ssionary on a large $A
eoncessions for
HAIL WAYS
617
"ant were ii'
iloinetres^
ft
One, however, of the Boital group of grants, in itself the least
intrinsically important, did eventually struggle into the light of
gl h day. Among the concessions obtained was one for a
Abdul small Decauville railway from Teheran to the famous
miiway shrine of Shah Abdul Azim, situated about six miles
south of the city. The remains of this distinguished saint repose
beneath a gilded dome, and are said to be visited by over 300,000
pilgrims yearly from Teheran, the easy distance from which renders
the sanctuary a favourite place of holiday as well as religious re
sort. The Decauville project came to nothing, and some of the rails
are said to be still lying where they were landed at Bushire. The
concession, however, was sold to a Belgian syndicate, under the title
of La Societe des Chemins-de-fer de Perse, who saw in this opening
the starting-point of what might possibly become the much-talked-
of trunk line of the future from North Persia to the Gulf. The
capital of 2,000,000 francs was subscribed in Belgium, an additional
three millions having since been raised by the issue of bonds in
order to meet the heavy outlay, and to purchase a tramway con
cession ; the engines were built in Brussels, and brought in pieces,
via Batum and Baku ; the rails came partly from Belgium and
partly from Russia, and were transported at a terrific cost (I was
told 4?. for* each pair) from the Caspian to Teheran. The station,
platforms, offices, and workshops were constructed on a scale worthy
of the terminus of a possible future main line from the capital to
the south ; an eighty-centimetre gauge was adopted, and in July
1888 the line was opened by the Shah.
Its early progress was impeded by an unhappy accident, which
arrayed against it the superstitious hostilities of the native popula-
Its success fi° n - A Persian leaving the train at Shah Abdul Azim
or failure w pp e was gt ill i n motion fell on the rails and was run
over and killed. The crowd immediately attacked the engine-
driver, a Russian, who defended himself with a revolver, but was
savagely knocked about and hurt. The ill-feeling thus aroused has
since been allayed; but the traffic has not answered to the ex
pectations formed of it, and financially the speculation is believed
to be a failure. There is, of course, no goods traffic whatever on
the line, while the distance is too short to render its advantages
for passenger traffic obligatory, the Persian pilgrim or hoi a)
maker who has the entire day at his disposal prefeiring to ta
things leisurely and to ride to and from the shrine on his on *
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 [435r] (872/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x00004f> [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