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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [806r] (1628/1814)
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.
Mo
Pj^atepm
ed ’ 8 P e Hiii
( T'p'«»4 v
le ‘apossibiiij
i Sh0uld H
lldbe »cli ne dto r
0n ^ourinP ers ;
ecei Pts as 5,000,0
greatly erring), a
a share
to be
emaininghalftob
:penditure, the large
have been notice!,
)st cherished feature?
nber of pensioners is
very man’s amhitk
ly pretext, while tk
or less permanent,
)on the death of the
jhase renewal, which
) the Shah in return
tte from the original
napping, for plenty
d keen is the compe-
gnment of the allow-
% l or opportunity h
therefore, the heirs
; hey have conciliated
a l candidate M
annuities carry ^
late Prime Hiu*
el-Mama^r;
s death, acct®^
REVENUE, RESOURCES, AND MANUFACTURES 485
a great number of annuities in his own hands. By the judicious
manipulation of pecuniary and other influences, his son, a mere
lad, succeeded to the titular enjoyment of his father’s office (though
the actual duties were vested in another person) and consequently
to the greater portion of these emoluments. People in the position
of a mustofi have great opportunities of such illicit diversion, by
which thev freely benefit themselves or their relatives. One such
individual was found to have secured a large number of annuities
for his own son, by representing him as a number of different
persons in different places with every possible combination of his
real name, e.g. Mullah Ali, Mirza Ali, Ali Agha, and Ali Khan.
These annuitants are mere drones and bloodsuckers, and are a curse
to the State.
The system of taxation which I have described as prevailing in
Persia is obviously faulty in the extreme. It is both inequitable
A1 .in its incidence, and vicious in its operation. In the
present first place, almost the entire taxation of the kingdom falls
upon the agricultural class, and among them with heaviest
burden upon the humbler grades of the ryots, or peasants. Indeed,
we may say that land and foreign commerce are practically the
only commodities taxed. Towns and cities, urban property in
general, and native wealth or trade, contribute scarcely any share
to the revenue. There is no such thing as an income tax, or
house tax, or property tax on the occupying householder. Even
the large sums that are wrung in the shape of bribes or presents
from the richer nobles and officials are in no sense a tax upon
wealth, but are confessedly added to the totals which the tax-
collector is required to levy from the people, the confusion of
government offices in Persia (the governor being administrator,
judge, and tax-gatherer in one) facilitating the operation. Under
the abominable system of farming the unhappy cultivator pays a
sum which has even been said to equal the legal assessment over
again, the excess above the official scale merely going to fill the
pockets of embezzling officials and spendthrift grandees. These
latter maintain enormous establishments, and live in the lap of
luxury, without contributing one penny directly to the revenue.
If the sums at present raised in taxation were really paid into the
exchequer, instead of providing a series of mudakhils, increasing
in geometrical progression as the higher ranks are reached, an in
come would be forthcoming quite sufficient to pay for the public
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 [806r] (1628/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00001d> [accessed 9 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