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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [852r] (1720/1814)
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
565
industries, they first issued a prohibitory decree against the Cau
casian transit trade. Merchandise was at once driven back to the
Trebizond route, the cost of freight by the Russian railway under
the plomb system 1 being so enormous as to be almost prohibitive. 2
The protective edict was subsequently modified, and for a time it
was rumoured that a free trade policy was again to be pursued.
But in 1883 all idea of the latter was finally abandoned, and the
transit of foreign merchandise through the Caucasus may be said
to have practically ceased.
For a few years after 1883 the Trebizond route did not appear
to profit as it might have been expected to do by the closure of the
competing channel, although it is uncertain how far the diminution
of traffic was due to the diversion of merchandise to the southern
or Gulf avenues of entry. Since 1887, however, the figures of
Anglo-Persian import and export have exhibited a steady rise, and
the total volume of trade between the two countries by this route
in 1889 amounted to 610,140L The route itself cannot be regarded
as a very favourable one for the operations of British commerce,
for, although no transit dues are levied by the Turkish Custom
house, 3 yet 500 miles of mountainous and, in winter, sometimes
impassable road supervene between port and market; and if we
contrast the distances by land or sea that require to be traversed
by the merchandise of the rival nations, it is astonishing that a
country handicapped so severely as is Great Britain can not only
share, but, as I have shown in my chapter upon Azerbaijan, can
almost control, the market-destination. The distance from Moscow
to Tabriz by the shortest route—viz., via Astara, on the Caspian—is
1 It is as follows : A sum, equivalent to the full value of the goods, has to be
deposited in the Russian custom house at the port of entry, and the goods are
then‘plombed.’ On reaching the frontier the 4 plomb ’ seals are examined, and
of these be intact, and the goods bear no evidence of having been tampered with
€ 7 i 7 'oute, certificates are granted by which the owner can get his guarantee-
deposit refunded. But it is obvious that the merchant thus incurs a double loss
of interest—on the capital sunk in his venture and also on the sum paid as
security.
2 The carriage of a piano from Marseilles to Teheran, via Poti, was £120
under this system, nearly the whole charge being incurred after entering Russian
territory. A photographic apparatus cost thirteen francs in transit from Mar
seilles to Poti, 180 francs from Poti to Teheran.
3 Lately the Turks have created a new difficulty, by insisting upon a second
verification of the goods at a deserted spot named Kizildizeh, where there is no
accommodat ion, and which is exposed to brigandage, in addition to the examination
at Erzerum.
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 [852r] (1720/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000079> [accessed 4 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