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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [848v] (1713/1814)
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.
558
PERSIA
immense reduction of distance by the Suez Canal route; to the
greater security that prevails in Persia itself, and to the corre
sponding spread of knowledge as to its needs ; to the exclusive
policy of the Russian Government, which, by shutting the northern
gates to every other power, has driven England to improve and
develop her southern means of access ; and, above all, to the vast
improvement in steam service and the cheapening of maritime
freights. 1 Where Manchester goods once entered Persia through
Turkey, they now are shipped direct from England or are reshipped
from Bombay. On the other hand, this traffic—the still improving
condition of which is demonstrated by the prosperity of the Gulf
ports, by the large profits made by mercantile houses, both Persian
and European, and by the annually increasing yield from customs
—is hampered by drawbacks greater than any that attend the
northern avenues of commerce. The climate of the southern sea
board is fearfully and wonderfully made. The distances between
port and market are enormous. The intervening passes are a by
word and a horror. That Anglo-Indian trade should successfully
vanquish these several obstacles, and should, in their despite, be
steadily extending its borders, is no mean proof of industrial
enterprise.
Such and so firmly rooted are the rival ascendencies on the
north and the south, Russian predominance in the one quarter being
The middle m et and balanced by British predominance in the other,
ground Between the two exists a middle region over which both
parties are emulously endeavouring to extend their sway, and the
destiny of which, as yet undecided, will supply, in a manner, a
touchstone of the respective capacities and probable future of the
combatants. Into the controversy that is there being wag’ed I
shall enter with the comfortable advantage of being able to show
that, thus tar, the British have made more extensive inroads into
the enemy’s ground than the Russians have into ours.
Before, however, I pass to this, which is, properly speaking, a
sub-section of the larger subject of Persian Commerce as a whole.
Total of ^ would wish to summarise the present condition and to
estimate, so far as possible, the total value of the latter,
so as to give some idea of the nature of that prize for
which British and Russians are contending. I have, in a previous
In 1870, the freight on iron-bars from London to Bushire was 69s. 6^. a ton.
In 1883, if had sunk to 30s., and is now less.
Persian
exports
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 [848v] (1713/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000072> [accessed 5 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