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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [800v] (1617/1814)
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.
474
PERSIA
jurisdiction. Down come his officers on the delinquents, and from
their pockets out conies the fine. If litigation ensues, so much the
better for the provincial exchequer; since every wheel of the
judicial machine will require constant greasing. Another device
is the introduction of prostitutes into a district where they were
previously absent. Using them as a decoy, the Governor suddenly
pounces down upon some wealthy merchant, giving a convivial
entertainment on the sly, and extorts a heavy blackmail as the
price of silence. These and many other expedients are devised by
the Governors, in order to meet the troublesome inquisition of the
Ministry of Arrears, which has a beautiful way of producing all
sorts of arrears, and deficits, and objections to provincial budgets.
No final acquittances can be obtained without considerable ^aim-
oil.
Such are the component items of the revenue, as nominally
raised by taxation upon land and labour. Scarcely distinguishable
2 , Re- therefrom is the rent paid to the State by the cultivators
Crown fr ° m C rown lands, which is fixed by immemorial custom
hinds as a certain proportion of the produce, determined by the
relative contribution of the two parties to the expenses of cul
tivation. In some cases the Government provides the seed, and
receives, in consequence, a larger fraction of the profits ; but in the
majority of instances the Crown is an absentee landlord, and no
more. The terms upon which the contract between the State and
its tenants is based appear to be reasonably favourable to the
latter; and, subject to the payment of rent, they are rarely dis
possessed. The revenue from the Crown lands is almost entirely
ear-marked, to satisfy the annuitants, of whom I shall presently
speak.
About one fifth of the mccliat or fixed revenue is raised by
Custom duties on the import and export of merchandise. In each
o. Cus- province, district, or town, these are farmed out to the
highest bidder, the sum paid by whom is matter of com
mon notoriety, as well as the surplus, amounting as a rule to
from 20 to 25 per cent., which he puts into his own pocket. Thus
the customs of Bushire for 1889—90 were sold by the Governor for
91,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, plus apisMesh, or bonus to himself of 5,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
.
The purchasei would then proceed to levy the 96,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
thus
required, plus the 20 per cent, profit demanded by his own inte-
lests. In other words, the sum actually raised would amount to
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 [800v] (1617/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000012> [accessed 23 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