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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [626v] (1269/1814)
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.
M -2
PERSIA
industry Ibsin^ likowis© under their direction. In both these
respects Yezd stands alone in Persia. No wars or rumours of
wars affect a place situated so far inland, no chajpaus or raids of
marauding nomads now sweep up to its walls; a permanent
garrison is dispensed with ; the mercantile instincts of the people
are even indicated in their preference for donkeys rather than
horses as riding animals; and the well-kept houses and crowded
bazaars sustain the impression of peaceful and busy opulence.
Silk-weaving was formerly the chief local industry, the mulberry
being cultivated in great abundance in the neighbourhood; and as
many as 1,800 factories, employing some 9,000 hands, were in
the middle of the present century engaged in the business. This
has, however, declined, for reasons elsewhere displayed, and its
place has been taken, particularly since the Anglo-Chmese wars
and the opening of Hong Kong, by the cultivation of the poppy,
2,000 chests of the opium extracted from which are now said to
leave Yezd annually. Among the remaining exports are cotton,
wool, carpets, felts, madder roots, henna, almonds, and pistachios.
The chief imports are English and Anglo-Indian goods from the
south, and Russian wares from the north. Cotton fabrics, prints,
copper, tin, lead, iron, drugs and spices, India and China teas
are among the former, and are shipped from Bombay to Bunder
Abbas ; Russia sends oil, candles, sugar, furs, crockery, and also
competes in piece-goods. A number of Russian Armenians are
engaged in the import and export trade with Russia, and in the
promotion of their country’s interest, which is further advanced
by a native Russian agent, who is a Persian merchant of high
position. British interests have never been similarly safeguarded;
although the appointment of a consular agent at Tezd would
result in a certain and lucrative extension to Anglo-Indian com
merce. Messrs. Hotz & Son and Ziegler & Co. have, however,
recently established agencies here. A great deal of merchandise
only passes through Yezd in transit to the bazaars of Meshed and
Sebzewar, and even of Kashan and Teheran.
In 1870 the revenue was reported as only 100,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
; but
in 1888 the government of the district was farmed for 250,000
_
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, and the customs for 47,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
. Prior to
and gov- the disgrace of the Zil-es-Sultan in 1888 , Yezd was one
ernment ^ mar iy governments subjected to his all but
sovereign sway. It was then separated from Ears, and was con-
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 [626v] (1269/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000046> [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