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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎81v] (169/1814)

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. .

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PERSIA
two practicable methods of travel in that country, viz. riding’
chajpar, i.e. by Government post—or riding with his own animals
Choice of anc ^ appointments by caravan. The former means rapid
means of if exhausting and sometimes painful progress ; the latter
sion. Cha- is attended with less physical discomfort, but is apt to
par riding ^ unutterably tedious, and, as the same animals must
be used day after day, unconscionably slow. In the one case
the traveller is an item or piece of animate baggage, who is trans
ferred from his starting-point to his destination with as much
swiftness as a succession of mediocre and sometimes abomi
nable steeds can manage to convey him, or as his own inclinations
or strength will permit. He transports his wherewithal on horse
back with him, he sleeps in chajpar-hhanehs, or post-houses, which
occur at regular intervals along the route, he carries his food in
portable shape or buys it on the way, he pays a fixed tariff' for
horses and accommodation, he diverges not one inch from the main
track, he seldom looks behind him, and he has but one appetite-
—viz. to get on.
The other plan involves much forethought and preparation—the
purchase of a camp and equipments, the hiring of a large number
Caravan- °f riding and baggage animals and of servants to look
after both, and all the responsibilities consequent upon
the superintendence of a numerous following. On the other hand
it leaves the traveller absolute discretion as to his movements and’
while it never allows him to hurry (for baggage animals canJoS-
trusted to do more than twenty-five miles on an average in the
day), it gives him unstinted liberty to dawdle. According to his
objects and tastes, therefore, the stranger will have very little
difficulty m choosing between the two. If he is anxious to go
‘“foil with him, if h, i, not inured to mnch riding, «
if he requires to move slowly and investio-,^ 8 , f
inncif oil if Um -i , b uvestigate or explore, and
there ore lj th.n” del ™?ld“ “p
being restricted to the chief lines of or i “ '"A™ 1 "’ tJ “
In either c.se he '' 0 °,,™“*“ • f will travel
speedier method as far as Teheran, where he can tl t ' :, “V
Ins plans as to the future; whilst if fo ^ make Up
at the capital to spnd rln t i i 6 Can P ersua( ^ e some friend
i a m am (courier) or a Persian ser vant
4W'

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎81v] (169/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x0000b0> [accessed 4 June 2026]

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