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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [829r] (1674/1814)
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.
■nrri ^
r d is
REVENUE, RESOURCES, AND MANUFACTURES
523
Va niarij
t me ntion ei j i,
5of ^c»;
s oaa and
)er of
mines of „ m
^ ® S ^, used t 0
n Persian
ld tin (it i s
on any
in Persia. Ik
which a later
me very greatly
lat the
ertain no
The ii
Their worth
int upon the
it of mule or
;own market,
y of the Per-
chinery, ani
^ of obstacles
i credit, P
s so as both
[f the more
can be co 11 '
either to
that ^
luctsofP^
»d»ce « # ^
classes, viz., silk, woollen, or cotton tissues, and artistic fabrica
tions. 5 Broadly speaking, factories, as the term is understood and
Manufac- used in Europe, do not exist in Persia; and the multiplica-
turcs t p on ail( p economy of labour-force, by the employment
of steam-power, or even of water-power, is hardly known. The
country has indeed been famous in times past for its industrial and
artistic products, and, even in the decadence of native ingenuity,
consequent upon the importation of cheap European substitutes,
still retains traces of the ancient skill; but these manufactures
were then, as they still remain, the output of private workshops,
■or the production of particular schools. In no country have I
found trade more localised, not merely by the cheapness in a
particular neighbourhood of the primary substance, but also by
long tradition and local custom. Almost every town of any size
can boast its own speciality, which it is impossible to procure
•elsewhere. Associations of workmen, or a species of elementary
guild, exist in every manufacturing centre; and by these are
regulated the habits and customs of the trade.
Of the textile fabrics, by far the most important and best
known are the Persian carpets, which have attained so wide a
celebrity that the upper-class householder in England or
America is rare who does not think the acquisition ol
such an article, whether genuine or spurious, an indispensable
testimony both to culture and to civilisation. Who that has once
.seen them can ever forget the imperishable colours, mellowed
but rmeffaced by time, the exquisite designs, and the predominant
grace, of the genuine old Persian carpet ? And who that has ever
made such a study does not experience a pang at sight of the
modern usurper that so frequently claims to bear the honoured
name ? The true Persian carpets have always been, and still are,
entirely hand-made, being stretched on frames, either upright or
horizontal, and, among the nomad tribes, being invariably worked
by the women. 1 The varieties are considerable, and are marked by
the strongest individual characteristics, so much so that it is im
possible to mistake the products of different provinces or districts.
1 The men receive the orders, buy the wool, and get it dyed according- to pat
tern ; the women and girls do the work, three or four being employed upon a
carpet of ordinary size. Every stitch is separately woven, a good carpet contain
ing 10,000 stitches to the square foot, the very best 40,000. A single loom will
.give three or four carpets of ordinary size in the year; slow weavers vvill spend
one or two years over one carpet.
•Carpets
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 [829r] (1674/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00004b> [accessed 10 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