![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎444r] (890/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0902.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎444r] (890/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [444r] (890/1814)
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
635
tlle
c °nsui t %
; C tw e ; %
, at c Wit
’ lf tter e is a
! Uttomai1 officials
lous S M it i s
the question of _
rests throil gtTnr]nsi
:ain what the Port,
ubt myself
idvocated almost sot
be invulnerable k l«
gly whether this dll
railway. Not only,hi
India, without conii
.ave pointed out, ignore I
of Asia Minor, wliclls
of Urfa, Diarbekr, M
3 ross a lengthy and Iff
ail way would be pe ® 1
itly provide a most i*.
than has ever been anticipated; and the receipts at the two ocean
termini would not avail to compensate for the utter lack of
intervening receipts. I hazard the statement that the returns
from merchandise would be small, because I do not see how it
could pay any trader to incur the heavy additional expense of
railroad carriage, as well as the risks and delays of one, and
possibly of two, transhipments en route, in order to save four or, at
the most six, days in the voyage from England to India; and
that the returns from passenger traffic would be equally insignifi
cant, because I know that travellers to and from India, whether
soldiers, or civilians, or ladies, or infants, want as much air and
physical stimulus as they can get, and would by no means consent
to be cooped up for days in stifling railway carriages, exposed to
the dust, and heat, and fatigue of a long journey over such a
country. If I were a shareholder in the P. and 0. Company, I
would not, except for the possible loss of the mails, be in the least
alarmed at the competition of such a railway.
These are the principal objections which appear to me to
disqualify and condemn the scheme of a Euphrates Valley railway
to India. Since the construction of the Suez Canal, the
Summary nee q jp or guc ] 1 an alternative route has to a great extent
ceased to exist. Without desiring to embark upon larger political
theses, I would venture to say that, in keeping a firm hold upon
Egvpt, and a safe watch upon the Suez Canal, and in quickening
and cheapening the maritime service between England and India,
are to be found far preferable methods for ensuring rapidity
of communication between the two parts of the empire in time of
danger.
I have hitherto discussed the Euphrates Valley railway in its
Syrian and Mesopotamian sections, terminating on the threshold of
the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. I must not omit, however, to notice
ofpeTan that schemes have been projected for continuing the line
oontinua- of rails by land for the entire distance to Kurrachi.
tion One of these schemes contemplated the construction of a
line along the northern or Persian shore of the Gulf, from, say,
Mohammerah, via Bushire, Lingah, Bunder Abbas, Jask, and
Gwadur, to Kurrachi. Such a plan seems to me to be destitute ot
even the most elementary recommendations, and to fail far more
conspicuously if subjected to the fourfold test that I have pre
viously applied, than even the Euphrates Valley scheme. It would
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 [444r] (890/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000061> [accessed 10 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