![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎432r] (866/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0878.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎432r] (866/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [432r] (866/1814)
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.
613
‘^Producing
to great ’ ’
^account
e Persian
er Asiatic, to an Irf
e to avoid fore
lle East, the military^
1 ^ct, it seems
ack and
c °asiderecl asjJ
m
^gtk.
ied by Russian officers, I;
> efficient instrument of
Seers or by officers acting in
lution of Fortune's wheel k
ritain will ever enlist lit
baijan or tlie hardy
3. If these are fated to kti
will be neither from (M
v their pay. Butitmf
ith, from the Persian^
1 other Lurs on the#
■d-coats in the defence#
osed to agree w:
CHAPTER XYIII
RAILWAYS
It came on made highways, from far cities towards far cities ; weaving them,
like a monstrous shuttle, into closer and closer union.
Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, bk. ii., cap. ii.
There, methinks, would be enjoyment more than in the march of mind,
In the steamship, in the railway, in the thoughts that shake mankind.
Tennyson, Lockdey Hall.
Haying previously discussed the subject of roads, present and
prospective, in Persia, I now pass to the question of railway
extension, and the conditions that favour or retard the
interest in undertaking’. Every prominent man in Persia, from the
railways gp a p downwards, professes to be keenly alive to the
importance of introducing railroads into the country, and can only
return to the question why they are not forthwith commenced the
ambiguous but stereotyped rejoinder that ‘ there are obstacles in
the way. 5 The Grand Vizier assured me that he regarded the
opening of railways in the country as the only method by which
Persia could repay the debt of gratitude she owed to Europe foi
the hospitable entertainment of the Shah. He said that when,
upon his recent return, he exchanged the splendid lines of Em ope
for the abominable tracks that lead from the Persian frontier, he
almost wept at the contrast. I received similai assurances o
sympathy or support from the Governor-General of Khorasan, t le
Ilkhani
The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran.
of Kuchan, the royal princes, and every minister with
whom I conversed. How then comes it that with this consensus
of favourable opinion no progress is made, and that the rai roa s
of Persia are still limited to two short lines of a few miles m en £ ^
which are detached undertakings and not parts of a general sc e * ne ‘
The geographical configuration of the country affoi c s m
some clue to a reply. Every railway from the coast must per orce
P hysical climb from tbe sea level to that of the elevated plateau,
obstacles v ing f rom 3,000 to 4,000 feet m height, which con
stitntes the bulk of Persia, and upon which all the gieat citie ■
placed. The passes conducting to this plateau aie common y o
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 [432r] (866/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x000049> [accessed 6 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