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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [436v] (875/1814)
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.
620
PERSIA
Further
conces
sions
bridges ; and, according to the reports that I received, the rolling
stock consisted only of a dozen uncovered trucks and one loco
motive, driven by an African negro, which had either blown up
or broken down, and traffic was at an absolute standstill. The
original project was to continue the line from Amol with a horse
tramway to the foot of the mountains. Whether anything will ever
be made of a further
projection
Any method by which the earth’s curved surface may be transposed (or projected) on to a flat surface.
is doubtful, owing to the steepness
of the mountain range that supervenes. Haji Mohammed Hasan
the Master of the Mint, is evidently a man of some energy, as the
large works, with machinery for timber-cutting and sugar extraction
which he has set up at Amol, testify. But that he is qualified to
be the pioneer of successful railway enterprise in Persia is open to
serious doubt.
At the time of my visit in the autumn of 1889, a Russian
named Palashkofski, of the Transcaucasian Railway, was on the
hunt for railway concessions, and was said to have
succeeded in procuring one for a line from Gazian on the
Enzeli lagoon to Resht. I have heard nothing further of
the project which, I imagine, has found its way to the well-filled
limbo of the Persian still-born. Soon after, in 1890, two Russian
contractors, M. Raffalovitch, formerly Persian Consul at Odessa,
and M. Poliakoff, appeared upon the scene, and advanced a colossal
scheme of railroad and custom-house monopoly. Lines from
Julfa via Teheran to Bunder Abbas, from Julfa to Mohammerah,
from Julfa to Teheran, and from Teheran to Meshed, are said to
have been successively discussed. The negotiations did not even
reach as precocious a stage of development as have so many of
their predecessors; and the disappointed contractors finally retired
with nothing better than a concession for a mont-de-piete or a
national pawn-shop on a large scale in their pockets. This insti
tution has since opened its doors at Teheran, and besides lending,
undei takes banking business also; being evidently designed as a
soit of Russian counterblast to the British Imperial Bank.
The narrative which I have here compiled of the history of
i ailway concessions in Persia will have given some idea of
Summary ^ ie °t )S t ac ^ es with which such undertakings have to
of impedi- contend. The reactionary party in Persia, with whom
merits i «/ x ,/ ?
the mullahs usually side, are opposed to any innovation
which may tighten the grip of Europe upon their country, and
hasten the end of their lengthy but inglorious reign. Even if
>“ 0
tw
f „ tlie long
,ill have shown*
msjorhy of fh® in
cisl l y profitable y
This, it
the rei
3 iniinera
the
the countr
have to t
America*
himsel:
with tl
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 [436v] (875/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000052> [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