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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [821r] (1658/1814)
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.
513
^ tetnp e
>ouutry s ;' a I
'' '»*»??
isli , • ,0 ®«
■m r mgex p f
11
miDes m ^ *
t ff as °blig ei j to i
, ges ’ t0 ‘he j ea
1 Was commissi,
• v f° v iron worl
Aras (Araxe
did we cone
,re should exist t
nany farsakhs t
^1%, in 1836,
gine and a nnn
'ery large sum of
ron mines ofKar
2 Brass cannor
m Persian metal
,s become more witt
ppliances have slowlj
)us tliougli deplorahli
eto exploit the mineral
nd copper; whileth
the inquiries or eulo-
m to think that their
th whose spoils
r stories are related *
; s e deluded Onent*
old man of
Some Court ob
Leman, *
REVENUE, RESOURCES, AND MANUFACTURES
in his declarations that he had found the ore in a field while en
gaged in agricultural pursuits. In his excess ot pleasure, the Shah,
who already saw vistas of sturdy hammals staggering under sack
fuls of gold into his subterranean vaults, despatched a superior officer
with a large number of men, who, it being winter time, set about
clearing away the snow and digging a large trench. Meanwhile
a German prospector was engaged from Berlin, but, on his arrival,'
could find no gold. The original discoverer was then brought to
Teheran, examined by the Prime Minister, and, it is said, by the
Shah, and promised a large bonus as well as a pension if he could
indicate the auriferous locality. The poor old fellow had told all
he knew, and no pension in the world could elicit any more.
Small pieces of gold or auriferous quartz were afterwards discovered,
but the mountain, exhausted with this parturition, was left alone. 1
An incident scarcely less droll happened in 1885, when a piece
of ore from Azerbaijan was shown in the capital, and was found
upon analysis to contain 70 per cent, of silver. Again the Shah
had dreams of rivalling the Lydian monarch. Four generals and
colonels were despatched to inspect the scene of production.
Later it transpired that the specimen was a piece of scoriae that
had been stolen by one of the guards from the Loyal Mint.
Finally, in the spring of 1890 was formed a company, entitled
‘ The Persian Bank Mining Bights Corporation,’ with a capital of
Persian 1,000,000?. to acquire and work the mining rights conceded
Mining ne wly established Imperial Bank of Persia by the
Corpora- ^ < ^ #
tion Royal
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
of the preceding year. These rights in
cluded the monopoly of all such iron, copper, lead, mercury, coal,
petroleum, manganese, borax, and asbestos mines as belonged to
the State and had not previously been ceded to other persons.
Mines of the precious metals, and of precious stones (e.g. the
turquoise mines of Nishapur, which I have described in Volume I.,
and to which I shall therefore not again refer in this chapter) were
excluded. The term over which the concession extends is sixty
years ; it applies only to those mines the working of which is
commenced within ten years of 1889 ; and sixteen per cent, of the
net profits is the share exacted by the Shah. Immediately upon
the formation of the company, a staff of competent engineers was
1 This story is liberally embroidered and transmogrified by Madame C. Serena,
Hommen et Chosen en Perse, cap. xxviii. Vide A. H. Schmdler, Zeit. d. Gesell.f.
Erd. z. Berlin, vol. xviii.
VOL. II. L L
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 [821r] (1658/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00003b> [accessed 4 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