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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [853r] (1722/1814)
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.
COMMEECE AND TEADE 567
1 aspian ports, have placed the bulk of trade in Russia’s hands. She
approaches and supplies the capital by two routes from the Caspian ;
Northern the first, the principal caravan entry into Persia from the
Teheran 116 P ort of Resht 5 the second, from Meshed-i-Ser, a shorter
market but less organised, and on the whole costlier, journey. No
one can compete with Russia upon either of these lines; and they
give her a position in the Teheran market overwhelming in its
physical advantage. From the Englishman’s point of view, there
fore, it is satisfactory to read in the Russian newspapers loud and
reiterated complaints of the decline of her commercial influence in
the north. For my own part, I think that these jeremiads are as
uncalled for on the part of Russia as any exultation on the part of
England would be premature and unwise. From careful question
ing of those qualified to pronounce, I am led to believe that the
following is the actual condition of affairs in the Teheran market.
The import trade from the south, i.e. from the Gulf, which is
almost wholly English, has very largely increased in the last ten
years, and in certain goods enables our merchants to hold their
own against Russia in spite of the enormous advantages possessed
by the latter. Thus, in cotton goods the market is at present about
evenly divided between the two rivals, England having, perhaps, a
slight advantage. Austria claims the largest share of glassware
and woollen goods. Russia has almost the exclusive supply of
sugar, oil, and candles. The bulk of the trade is, of course,
Russian, though much of it is in cheap articles, that aggregate no
very imposing total. That Russia herself is dissatisfied with her present
position is shown by the symptoms which I have already mentioned
and by an exhibition of every variety of Russian goods that was
opened while I was in Teheran by the well-known Moscow firm of
Konshine, in order to attract local purchasers and to secure orders
from Persian traders in general. I afterwards read in the Russian
journals that the enterprise did not meet with the success to which
its excellence, both in material and selection, seemed to me to
entitle it; that the wares were too costly for the Persian taste;
and that the most gratifying transaction recorded was the sale of
a pair of decanters to the Shah. A feeling in Russia That her
mercantile supremacy in north Persia is imperilled, may tempt
her to undertake the construction of one of those'’northern railways
of which I have spoken in an earlier chapter. My own impression
is that, railway or no railway, in the bulk of imports she will retain
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 [853r] (1722/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00007b> [accessed 19 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