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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [436r] (874/1814)
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.
RAILWAYS
619
3es tllU8 incurred, fc st:
concession from fc ^
extending at presertfu
through the streets oft
my stay in Teheran, 1
, and had ordered fa;
sia; and a staff of 40 it
teen badly laid, mi®
ils projecting consfa
■eet. It was contempt
s through the city to t
^ards the mountain
ie Teheran tramwaysei
3 askance in its early ^
ias been continued to^-
which exist in the hills in that quarter; bnt the line so ex
tended is nowhere to penetrate more than 30 kilometres from the
city, and is to be available for goods traffic only. Simultaneously
the ubiquitous M. Boital has received a concession for a similar
narrow-gunge line, not above 80 kilometres in length, from Teheran
to the Feshend coal mines in the Elburz, about half-way between
th e capital and Kazvin. These concessions are relatively insig
nificant, and have so far led to nothing; but in Persia any relaxa
tion of tradition or practice is deserving of welcome.
Persia’s second railway, which I have already had occasion to
mention in my chapter upon the Northern Provinces, is positively
the creation of native enterprise and the property of a
abad'Tmol native individual. Perhaps this may explain the fact that,
railway p or a p practical purposes, it is worthless, and at the time
of my visit could not be otherwise described than as a fiasco.
Teheran is at present approached by two caravan routes from the
Caspian that from ftesht, via Kasvin, which is a ten days’ march,
and that from the small port of Meshed-i-Ser, which is only seven
days’ march, but crosses a very steep country and offers at present
few facilities for transport. Twenty-four miles west of Meshed-i-Ser
is the roadstead of Mahmudabad, whence a track leads over a flat
country to the town of Amol, a distance of twelve miles, from which
point commences the ascent into the Elburz range, whose spurs
approach to within six miles of the town. Amol is only six days’
march from Teheran. It occurred to a Persian merchant, who is
Master or Farmer of the Persian Mint, that he might reasonably
swell the profits already derived from debasing the metal cuirenc)
by constructing a light railway from Mahmudabad to Amol, and
thus acquiring the monopoly of the shortest caravan approach to
Teheran, and, as a consequence, of the export and import trade to
and from the Caspian. The idea was praiseworthy, but the execu
tion fell short of the mark. At Mahmudabad he built a magnificent
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
and several shops. He began by employing Belgian
engineers and ordering Belgian rails; but here his entei prise
appears to have become exhausted. He failed to take any steps to
remove the bar at Mahmudabad, or to render it an accessible port,
he omitted to pay the Belgians, who withdrew in disgust ,
parted with his German engine-driver on the same grounds. e
line (of 4 ft. 8-| in. gauge), left in Persian hands, was badly engi
neered and abominably laid, with rotten sleepers and lie et\
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 [436r] (874/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000051> [accessed 26 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