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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [855v] (1727/1814)
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.
572
PERSIA
etc. Thence the caravans ultimately reach Khorasan. Busline
is the starting-point of the principal caravan route in Persia, that
upon which I travelled, leading from the Gulf, via Shiraz, Isfahan,.
Kashan, and Kum, to Teheran. Lingah is the port of the Persian
province of Laristan.
I have already stated that this brisk and satisfactory condition
of trade is the all but exclusive growth of the last twenty years,
and is mainly to be attributed to the opening of the Suez
increase of Canal. I may here add, in closer particularisation, that
trade the extent of this growth may be judged from the returns
of the individual ports. In fifteen years, from 1873 to 1888, the
value of the imports and exports of Bushire increased by about
5,000,000
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
(one rupee = Is. 5^.). In a period of ten
years, from 1878 to 1888, the trade of Bunder Abbas increased to
a similar extent. In 1874 the customs of Bushire were farmed for
40,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, in 1889 for 99,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
; in 1874 those of
Bunder Abbas for 30,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, in 1889 for 53,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
-, in
1874 those of Lingah for 6,500
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, in 1889 for 12,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
.
I am glad to record my opinion that this growth is by no means-
exhausted ; but that the total volume of Anglo-Indo-Persian trade
by the Gulf may be expected to attain much larger dimensions in
the future.
In the seaports and surrounding districts British predominance
is of course unquestioned. Of greater interest is it to follow up
the caravan line as it penetrates further into the interior,
T ra d e of
Shiraz and and to discover how far the difficulties and cost of
carriage enable the superiority to be maintained, and
where the dividing line is to be traced between the spheres of
British and Russian control. Elisee Reclus says in his c Universal
Geography ’: 4 Russian competition has already monopolised the
trade of the northern provinces, leaving to the British dealer only
a narrow zone round about Bushire. 7 I am happy fco say that this
is conspicuously untrue. The yearly spreading radius of Anglo-
Indian trade extends from the Gulf ports even to the capital,
a distance of 800 miles, and has for some time absorbed the
intervening markets. Shiraz, at a distance of less than 200 miles
from the coast, is so entirely within the dividing line on the
1 The caravan route from Kerman to Meshed runs by Ab-i-bed, Kahwar,
Naiband, and Tun. From Bunder Abbas the total distance is 940 miles, and
occupies forty days for a mule, seventy-five days for a camel, exclusive of halts.
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 [855v] (1727/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000080> [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