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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [503r] (1018/1814)
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
43
of Isfahan, exaggerated and conflicting accounts have been given
of its population. . In 1784-5, Ferrieres-Sauveboeuf actually named
Population as the total. In 1810, Malcolm reduced this
character t0 200 > 000 ’ but m tlie Previous year Morier had doubled
it to 400,000 ; although the value of his own figures,
as veil as their correspondence with contemporary calculations, are
betrayed by the figures which he gave only two years later, in 1811,
when, at the veiy same time that he returned a census of 60,000,
Ouseley, a member of the same party, mentioned 200,000. Any
I ei sian will piobabl^ §ive the last-named total at the present day *
but it is reduced by competent authorities to a maximum of not
more than 70,000 to 80,000, although the city and its trade have
recently experienced an undoubted revival. Amid their own
countrymen the Isfahanis enjoy an unenviable reputation alike for
cowaidice and morals. Ihey are inordinately vain of their city and
of themselves, and in a country where lying is a fine art, are said
to be incomparable artists. Their niggardliness and closeness in
business matters are illustrated by a story told by Mrdcolmd which
has been crystallised into the saying that ‘ The merchant of
Isfahan will put his cheese into a bottle, and rub his bread on the
outside to give it a flavour.’ Cowardly though the people are
alleged to be, they have also acquired a reputation for petty
disorder ; and the lutis of Isfahan are justly regarded as the biggest
blackguards in Persia.
Isfahan is also one of those places where a spirit of religious
intolerance prevails or can easily be excited, its victims being as a
Court 1U ^ e J ews ? who are here treated with great contumely ;
the Babis, whose numbers are vastly on the increase, and
against whom sallies are frequently stimulated by the mullahs ;
and in a less degree the Armenians and other Christian com
munities, who require to conduct themselves with circumspection.
The arrogance of the clerical order has been very much augmented
since the fall from high estate of the Zil-es-Sultan, as described in
a previous chapter. When at the zenith of his power he main
tained a style at Isfahan, and ruled with an autocratic independence
that kept these unruly gentry in order ; but, in his present con
tracted state of authority, he courts support or popularity wherever
he can get it, and fawns upon those whom he once despised. A
Sketches of Persia, cap. xiii. Compare also Morier’s Adventures of Haji Paha,
passim.
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 [503r] (1018/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000013> [accessed 2 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