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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [829v] (1675/1814)
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.
524
PERSIA
Among the latter the principal are : (1) the districts of Kain and
Birjand, in Khorasan, whose fabrics are very close in texture, of
high quality, and command good prices; (2) Sarakhs, where the
famous Turkoman carpets, of dull crimson and brick-coloured hues
and velvety surface, can be procured; (3) Kerman, where an
extraordinarily soft and well-wearing carpet is made, wholly of
cotton; (4) the district of Karadagh, in Azerbaijan; (5) the
district of Ferahan, whose capital Sultanabad is the centre of the
carpet trade of Western Persia 1 ; ( 6 ) Kurdistan, the fabrics of
which are known throughout Europe ; (7) lars and fchiraz, among
the best fabrics being those of Murg hab; ( 8 ) the glossy, long-
haired carpets made by the nomad Ivashkais of the same piovince.
Messrs. Ziegler and Co. and Messrs. Hotz keep Emopean xepie-
f sentatives at Snltanabad, to superintend the local pioduction,
which has in this locality been systematised and regulated,
very much at the expense alike of originality and excellence, the
introduction of aniline dyes, though strictly prohibited by the
Government, has had a lamentable effect in causing the neglect,
and in some cases even the loss, of native vegetable hues ; while
the necessity of rapid production, and of competition with the
cheaper fabrics of European looms, has all but killed individuality
of design, and has led to the monotonous reproduction of prescribed
patterns. It is a sad reflection that, on purchasing a modern
Persian carpet, the most elementary caution prescribes that one
should rub with a wet cloth to see whether the colour be fast
and that one never feels safe unless the purchase be unmistakably
old. In some places, particularly at Kerman, the manufacture is
pursued under very unhealthy conditions, the artisans being*
obliged to work underground in order to escape the dryness of the
outer air, while the elasticity of the threads is preserved by
moisture from vessels filled with water. Most beautiful among
the ancient Persian carpets of the Sefavean and even of later days
were those manufactured of silk, than which I do not think that
a more exquisite fabric has ever been woven by human hands.
Silk carpets can still be procured to order, according to any
pattern, size, or design ; but the prices are so high as to be pro
hibitive to any but wealthy purchasers (ranging from forty to
hundreds of pounds) ; and even here the application of a moistened
1 In this district there are, 150 villages, and some 5,000 looms, occupying, if
all engaged, about 10,000 persons.
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 [829v] (1675/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00004c> [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