![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎851r] (1718/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1748.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎851r] (1718/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [851r] (1718/1814)
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.
COMMERCE AND TRADE
563
Persian
trade
arteries
Such being approximately the total value of Persian trade at
the present time, I pass to an examination of its local distribution
and of the shares in it that are claimed respectively by
Russia and Great Britain. Already, in dealing with
particular cities or provinces, such as Meshed, Tabriz,
Isfahan, and Shiraz, I have supplied a more or less minute account
of the existing mercantile situation; and in such cases will there
fore merely summarise the results, referring my readers back for
the details. In earlier chapters I have more than once found it
convenient to make the tour of the Persian frontiers in order to
explain with some system the various problems arising from their
position or configuration. Let me once again repeat the journey,
in order to elucidate the commercial status quo, pointing out at
each stage of my advance the relative fortunes and opportunities of
the two rivals. The number of principal trade arteries by which
merchandise flows into or out of Persia is seventeen, which may be
classified under the several zones of the north-west, the north, the
north-east, the east, the south, and the west. I will deal with each
in turn.
In the north-west zone are included the two routes from Europe
which converge at Tabriz, the largest distributing centre and city
N.W. zone in Persia, and from there follow a common line to Kazvin
zona ebl ' anc ^ Teheran. Of these one may be described as the
Tabriz line English line, the base of which is the Turkish port of
Trebizond, on the Black Sea. The other is the Russian line, and
starts from Tiflis, the capital of the Caucasus. The Trebizond
trade route was first initiated about the year 1830 by Abbas Mirza,
the son of Path Ali Shah and Heir Apparent to the Persian throne,
mercial No. 18), calculating the totals on the basis of the Customs returns, gave
the figures for 1881-5 as exports, £2,888,000 ; imports, £5,012,000 ; total, £7,900,000 ;
which total he increased to £9,875,000, by adding a proportion of one-quarter for
the trade of places from which no returns were forthcoming. In a later report
(Annual Series, No. 113) he gave the following impossible figures for 1885 :
exports, £4,366,109 ; imports, £5,768,352 ; total, £10,134,461. This total, however,
he somewhat reduced by adding 10 per cent, to the value of the exports, and de
ducting 10 per cent, from that of the imports, for these reasons: ( 1 ) because on
exports the Custom-house officers are in the habit of accepting the merchant’s de
claration of value without examination ; (2) because on the imports, the 5 per cent.
ad valorem is levied on the merchant’s price, which is largely in excess of what he
has paid to the Indian or European manufacturer. He, therefore, represented the
imports as roughly £5,250,000, and the exports as £4,000,000; or a total of
£9,250,000. The items of his calculation can be shown, however, to have been
exaggerated in every instance.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [851r] (1718/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000077> [accessed 3 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000077
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000077">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎851r] (1718/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000077"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1748.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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