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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [825v] (1667/1814)
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.
616
PERSIA
N ortli-
western
district
amount of ill-regulated activity has for some time prevailed, and
whose coal pits supply the present demands of Teheran. Mineral
deposits occur at many places along this range from beyond Kazvin
on the west to Tash, between Shahrud and Astrabad, on the east;
but the most productive areas lie to the north-west of Teheran,
between the capital and Kazvin, and to the north-east in the
direction of Demavend, and further east.
The North-western District contains a number of coal mines,
situated on the slopes about half-way between Teheran and Kazvin,
at the distance of a few miles to the north of the postal
road. Of these the best known are those of Abiek, Hiv,
and Feshend, extending along a strip of country thirteen
miles in length, and about 5,000 feet above the sea. All of these
mines have been, or are being, tentatively and clumsily worked
by native proprietors or by foreign lessees. The output of the
Abiek mines in 1888 was 2,000 tons, of the Hiv mines 9,000 tons.
The mine of Feshend has been leased by its native owners to a
small syndicate of foreigners, entitled La Societe de Charbonnage,
of whom the moving spirit is that Jack-of-all-Trades of Teheran,
M. Fabius Boital, and who have recently procured a concession for
a small narrow-gauge railway to transport their produce from the
pit’s mouth to Teheran. 1 The work that has hitherto taken place
in these mines has been abominably and wastefully conducted, the
modern Persians not having the dimmest notion of mining science.
They contain, however, useful seams of coal, easily accessible ; and
if properly worked with scientific implements and appliances, should
yield a largely increased production.
In the North-eastern District, the annual output of which has
hitherto been 4,000 tons, the best-known coal pits are those of Lar,
about forty miles from Teheran, where a number of shafts
have been clumsily worked for some time, averaging six
cwt. of coal per miner per day. It is understood that
the mines of Hiv and of Shemsek, in the Lar district, have been
acquired in part ownership by the Mining Corporation; and far
better results, as well as a larger native consumption, which is
North
eastern
district
1 The present annual consumption of coal in Teheran is about 15,000 tons. At
the mouth of the pit it costs 4 to 7 hr am a hharvar (649 lbs.), or 14 to 24 hrans a ton.
Thence it is conveyed on donkeys, mules, or camels to the city (the cost of trans
port being 30 to 32 krans a ton), where it pays 2 hrans octroi at the town gate, and is
sold in the bazaars at an average of 70 hrans, or 21., a ton.
.
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 [825v] (1667/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000044> [accessed 7 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