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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [801v] (1619/1814)
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.
476
PE ESI A
calls for corresponding calculation on the part of the merchants,
and brings about frequent changes in the routes preferred.
A similar illicit sort of compact is entered into between the
farmers and the merchants as the vernal equinox approaches. On
that date (March 21 , No Euz) there is, as I have previously shown,
a general shuffle of officials in Persia, from Governors of provinces
down to petty collectors of customs. A Consular Report from
Astrabad in 1882 thus stated what then occurs :—
Incumbents are uncertain whether they are to continue in office or
not, and are anxious to realise as much as they can. Consequently at
this period the Customs officials are willing to reduce the dues leviable,
and to take less than the legal tax. There takes place, therefore, at
all ports where goods are exported, a regular bargain between the
merchants and the Customs farmers. The former threaten, unless
considerable reductions are made, not to export their goods until the
new incumbent is nominated, and the latter endeavour to reduce the
dues as little as possible. Importers also bargain with the farmers as
to what abatement on the legal import duty the officials at the ports
may be willing to make, before deciding where their imports shall be
landed.
I append a table of the farm money, or sums received by the
Government for the customs during the last decade, and of their
equivalent, according to the prevalent rate of exchange, in pounds
steiling. In each case it must be remembered that quite 20 per
cent must be added, to make up the totals actually levied upon
trade.
V ear
G-overnmeiit
receipts
Rate of
exchange
Equivalent
1879- 1880
1880- 1881
1881-1882
1882- 1883
1883- 1881
1884- 1885
1885- 1886
1886- 1887
1887- 1888
1888- 1889
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
606,400
708,629
785,290
807,770
814,000
806,000
838,000
850,000
820,000
800,000
\ - 1
krans — £1
27|
274
27j
28f
29
301
33.i-
331
34
34
1
£
236.400
257.700
281,600
281.400
280.700
264,262
250,150
253,730
241,176
235,294
Of the 800,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
raised in the last named year by customs
294,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
were collected at Teheran, and the remainder at the
Gulf and Caspian ports and in the frontier towns. The revenue
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 [801v] (1619/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000014> [accessed 28 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