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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [502r] (1016/1814)
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.
FROM TEHERAN TO ISFAHAN
41
Die European merchants have their quarters in these caravanserais
01 in buildings opening out of the main bazaar • and many was
the business colloquy, attended with coffee and pipes, and pro
tracted by interminable haggling, at which I assisted as an amused
spectator.
In spite of its physical decay Isfahan is still the second largest
trading emporium in Persia, yielding supremacy only to Tabriz.
Trade En & lis k e y e is gratified by the sight of English
trade marks or figures on nine out of every ten bales of
merchandise that pass on camel, donkey, or mule j and inquiry
elicits the satisfactory fact that Manchester is still the universal
clothier of Isfahan • and that though this city marks the northern
limit of undisputed British commercial predominance, yet that
ascendency is both firmly secured and shows signs of increase
rather than of diminution. Erom the fact that the principal
European houses of business in Isfahan bear foreign names—I
allude to the firms of Ziegler and Hotz—it has been erroneously
inferred that British enterprise has supinely allowed the trade of
the city to pass into other hands. No more incorrect induction
could be made. Both these firms, as well as the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
Trading Company, who have a representative in Isfahan, trade
almost exclusively in English goods; and the considerable profits
accruing from their transactions find their way in the last resort as
wages into the pockets of Lancashire artisans. It is a further
evidence of the importance of British mercantile interests in
Isfahan that Lord Salisbury has recently taken the wise step of
appointing a British Consul to that place, his choice having fallen
upon Mr. J. B. Preece, for many years one of the leading officers
of the Indo-European Telegraph, than whom no better selection
could possibly have been made.
The imports into Isfahan, the vast majority of which come
from Bushire, may be classified as follows in the approximate order
T , of their bulk :—Manufactured cotton goods, almost wholly
and from Manchester and Glasgow; copper sheets from
■CN jpOI*ljS
London, tin and zinc from India and Java, woollen stuffs
and cloths from Austria and Germany, loaf sugar from Marseilles
and Hamburg, raw sugar from Java and Mauritius, via Bombay;
tea from India, China, and Java ; candles from England, Holland,
and in a less degree Russia; crockery from England, glass from
Austria, oil and a few prints from Russia. By far the most
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 [502r] (1016/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000011> [accessed 5 April 2025]
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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