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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [435v] (873/1814)
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.
'618
PERSIA
The cost of tickets for the single journey is two hrans, one kran
and one half-femw, according to the class, and the receipts, which
on festival days in summer have risen as high as from 200 to 500
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
(3^
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
equal 1£.), sink on ordiuary days in summer
to from ten to thirty
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, and in winter as low as from three
to five
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, and even less, in the day. The company pos
sesses four locomotives and twenty-one wagons, and employs five
European officials and sixty Persian workmen. The engines are
entirely driven by the latter. It is to be hoped that this company,
which must be applauded for its enterprise and for the excellent
character of its establishment, may ultimately procure a concession
for an extension southwards, or be able to part with its plant and
premises on favourable terms to some other company more lucky
in its fortunes. 1 In any case the ‘ Gare du Sud ’ is ready built at
Teheran, from which passengers in the twentieth century may be
able to book their seats for the Gulf.
Anxious to recoup itself for the losses thus incurred, the same
company in 1889 bought a tramway concession from the same
Teheran Boital, the lines of which, extending at present for a
tramway distance of about five miles through the streets of the
capital, were opened to traffic during my stay in Teheran. The
company already possessed 12 tram cars, and had ordered 36 more;
a stable of 150 horses, mainly from Russia; and a staff of 40 work
men. Unfortunately, the line had been badly laid, transverse
sleepers being employed, and the rails projecting considerably
instead of being laid flush with the street. It was contemplated
later on to continue the existing lines through the city to the
north, and possibly to extend them towards the mountain suburb
of Gulahek. I have since heard that the Teheran tramway service,
at which the Persians looked somewhat askance in its early days,
has proved a great success, and that it has been continued towards
the northern outskirts of the capital.
In the spring of last year, 1891, this company, which
now calls itself the Societe des Chemins-de-fer et Tramways de
New lines B erse / an( 3 is understood to be financed from Moscow,
has procured permission from the Shah to extend the
Shah Abdul Azim line in a south-easberly direction towards some
quarries of gypsum, limestone, slate, marble, and building stone,
A concession for the extension to Kum wa,s actually granted in 1888, but
had no results.
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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 [435v] (873/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000050> [accessed 27 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