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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [818r] (1652/1814)
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.
revenue,
RESOURCES, AND MANUFACTURES
507
sold for ten times that amount in Teheran. Isfahan manutacture
two moderate varieties, a white wine with a Muscat flavour, am
strong red wine of the nature of port. The Ye.d wme is said to
he°of very delicate «„«„,««
rough. Teheran produces a nasty wme, somewhat lesemb g
Burgundy ; but the entire vintage is fortunately absorbed m local
consumption. The Persians themselves are prohibited by the law
from making either wine or spirits, although the ngi o P 11- ^
manufacture appears to be conceded to a few great families. '
industry is almost entirely in the hands of Europeans, Armenians
Parsis, and Jews; but the appliances employed are of the rudest
description, and adulteration is resorted to on a very large scale.
The export of Persian wine is at present very trifling ; but, loo -mg
to the facilities and cheapness of manufacture, as well as to the
neighbourhood of suitable markets, the industry appears to be one
that is both capable of extension and deserving of encouragemen ,
even if we do not contemplate ever sitting down over a London
table-cloth to the discussion of ‘ the yellow weeping of the bhiraz
vine.’ The Shah seems to be of the same opinion, though perhaps
for more selfish reasons, having granted a concession to some
Europeans for the sole manufacture of wines and alcohols throng -
out the Persian dominions in 1889, from which he was to receive
an annual revenue of 7,000L, and which has since been brought
out by a company at Brussels entitled Societe Generale du Com-
merce et Industrie de la Perse.
Although the Persians are sternly interdicted by the Koran
from the consumption of alcoholic liquors, yet m pursuit of their
Spirituous maxim that if drink is indulged in at all, it had better
liquors hard drink, they- consume large quantities of abomin
able spirits, which, indeed, they prefer in the ‘ neat ’ state to the
choicest of wines. It is a mistake ever to hand to a Persian a
brandv flask, at least if you expect to see any portion of its
contents again. Baki, or arrack, a spirituous product of the grape
with aromatic flavouring, is very popular; but the estimate of the
annual consumption of wines and arrack in Persia as 8,000,000
gallons, and of the duties on wine and spirits brought into Teheran
as 25,000/, per annum, which was given in the prospectus of the
Concession, was purely chimerical. Another favourite intoxicant
is bang, a preparation from hempseed, which is used both for
smoking and drinking. Although I do not desire to advocate the
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 [818r] (1652/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000035> [accessed 25 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