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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [626r] (1268/1814)
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.
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THE EASTERN AND SOUTH-EASTERN PROVINCES 241
character, though receiving little but kicks and cuffs in return.
Their numbers have been variously reported as from 3,500 to
7,000 at diffeient periods in the century, confusion having been
habitual between the urban residents and the total inhabiting
the sui rounding distiict. 1 In the city they possess schools of their
own, a high priest, and a secular head, four fire-altars, which in
the pi udent obscui ity of private houses sustain the undying flame, 2
and seveial Toweis of Silence or places of exposure in the adjacent
hills. -A. few of them are naturalised British subjects, having come
fiom India, these aie ^eiy proud of the connection, which they
never cease to proclaim ; and their leading merchant, one Ardeshir
Mehreban, is a man of high repute. Nevertheless, in spite of
their riches and respectability, the community is one that has
always suffered, and is still exposed to, persecution. Severe
disabilities are inflicted upon them in the transactions of daily or
mercantile life. Some years ago a heavy poll-tax was imposed,
which drove many away ; 3 within the last twenty years a wealthy
Parsi has been murdered in the open streets at the instigation of
the mullahs, and his murderer has escaped scot-free; they are
compelled to wear sober-coloured garments, and may not ride, or
keep open shops, or possess high or handsome houses in the city.
When they purchase property, a higher price is exacted from
them than from Mohammedans; they are forced to conceal their
means, and to restrict their commercial operations for fear of
exciting hostile attack; while in the streets they are constantly
liable to insult and personal affront. In recent years an associa
tion has been formed for their protection by their co religionists
in Bombay.
It was about fifty years ago that the Parsis of Yezd began
that trade with India which has since reached such considerable
Yezd a dimensions, and has added to the always great com-
merciai mercial reputation of the city. They occupy a position
emporium here not unlike that of the Chinese compradors and
agents in the Treaty Ports of Japan, the bulk of the foreign trade
passing through their hands, and a good deal of the home
1 In 1879 General Schindler found 1,240 Parsis living in the city, and 5,240 in
22 neighbouring villages. Total, 6,480. ‘ Die Parsen in Persien,’ Zeit. d.M.G. 1882.
2 This is the allusion in Moore’s ‘ Yezd’s eternal mansion of the Fire.’
3 This jezieh or poll-tax, which was an occasion of much suffering, was finally
repealed by the Shah in 1882, mainly at the instance of the British Government.
YOL. II. R
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 [626r] (1268/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000045> [accessed 11 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