Manuscript of Persia and the Persian Question (Continued) [196r] (391/690)
The record is made up of 1 file (218 folios). It was created in 1890. It was written in English. 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
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ending September 30, 1889, my impression being
that wie figures^ wj^re they en- do so on the
side of depreciation, and that the totals, both of
bulk and value, may be reckoned at a rather higher
figure :— *
ENDING SEPTEM-
\
Exports from Persia for Year
ber 30, 1889.
Value In
Toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
*.
Opium 1,900,000
Cotton (raw) .. •• 600,000
Wool (unwashed) .. 64,000
Silk (raw) .. .. 1,300,000
Silk (cocoons, Ac.) .. 60,000
Asafoetida .. .. 280,000
Gall nuts .. ». 100,000
Gum tragacanth .. 100,000
Leeches.. .. .. 1,000
Tobacco (tumbajfl .. 300,000
Tobacco (for pipe* and
cigarettes) ..
Carpets
Shawls .. .. ..
Raisins 160,000
Dried fruits, pista
chio nuts, Ac. ..
Saffron
Skins (goat and
sheep), untanned ..
Skins (goat and
sheep), tanned ..
60,000
300,000
35,000
250,000
60,000
20,000
10,000
Hides (cow and ox) ..
Calico prints ..
Rice
Turquoises
Wine .. •• ••
Horses
Cattle
Dates .. •• ••
Drugs .. ..
Dyeing and colouring
materials ..
Grain (wheat and
barley)
Provisions and stores
Rosewater .. ..
Woollen goods
Salt
Spices .. •• ••
Seeds
Sundries .. ..
Total ..
Value in
Tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
.
£ 0,000
10,000
1 , 000,000
20,000
1,000
60,000
10,000
25,000
30,000
90,000
200,000
20,000
50,000
100,000
10,000
103,000
26,000
160,000
7,442,000
/ (CXj2jLL
/ 2, , /
T now turn to the impojis,' the totals of which I
shall merely enumerate < m»4liiis^4wt!tiw) luiiriiig the
question of British and Russian competition and
the relative shares of the two nations, to m; 1 neitt.
Richly endowed though Persia, be with a wide
diversify of natural products and manufactuc&s,
it will have been noticed that she is singularly
deficient in those materials which, in the eyes' of
the West, constitute the necessities and still more
the comforts of civilized life. She makes little or
no sugar, she grows neither coffee nor and
yet she consumes enormous quantities of the first
and last, and a considerable quantity of the
second. Her own oil-wells being untapped, her
streets and houses are lit by Russian or American
kerosine. Though believed to possess the precious
metals in sufficient quantity to repay the work
ing, she imports all her silver and gold. As long
as her own copper and iron mines lie untested,
the one must be purchased in sheets, the other
in bars. It is a dismal reflection that, while every
district in Persia is reported to possess its copper
mine, a single cooking pot is made of the
native metal. Hardware, cutlery, glassware,
crockery, and porcelain—all these must be intro
duced into a country which can only work iron in
the rudest fashion, which makes no glass, and
which has all but lost the ceramic art. The
assumption of European tastes carries with it the
consumption of European wines, spirits, and
liqueurs. The Persians are eminently a race of
sportsmen, and for all above the middle grades
arms and ammunition must bo procured from the
West. Jewellery, clocks, and watches are a
further concomitant, if not a sine, qud non, of civi
lization. A Persian Minister or nobleman must
possess his victoria or his brougham, and who
ever heard of such a vehicle being built in the
country 1 Finally, there is the illimitable de
partment of dress, affecting both sexes and all
classes, from the Sovereign to the cultivator of
the soil. Silks, satins, and broad cloth are the
indispensable luxuries of the upper classes ;
prints, shirtings, and cotton fabrics are worn by
all. The humblest peasant is clothed from
Manchester or Moscow ; the indigo that dyes the
hood which his wife draws bo closely round hex
ill-favoured physiognomy has been shipped from
Bombay. Persia, in fact, from the highest to the
lowest grade, is absolutely dependent upon the
West ; whence, perhaps, it arises that she
struggles with such fanatical energy against an
influence of which she wears the external signs,
but which in her heart of heart she abhors »
The main feeding grounds of Persian needs are
Great Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Austria,
and India. Roughly speaking, the imports from
Great Britain may be said to consist of calicoes,
chintzes, white and gray shirtings, Mexican or
T-cloths, Turkey red twills, broad cloth, copper,
crockery, candles, arms, and ammunition ; from
Russia of cotton fabrics of every description,
sugar, oil, candles, lamps, glassware, minors,
c rockery, hardwar e, carriages and harnes s, tea
1
About this item
- Content
This file contains sections of the handwritten manuscript of the book Persia and the Persian Question by George Nathaniel Curzon. These papers come as part of the full handwritten draft of the book that comprises the shelfmarks Mss Eur F111/30-32. The printed edition of the book can be found in the file with the shelfmark Mss Eur F111/33.
Eventually published in 1892, the papers in this file cover the ancient and modern history, geography, and social and political aspects of Persia during the late nineteenth century when George Curzon temporarily lived in Persia. The manuscript also discusses the Russian and British presence in Persia and the author's views on the two countries' respective strategies in the country. The papers also include some of George Curzon's own travel writing while in Persia.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (218 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged by chapter as part of a handwritten manuscript.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the front cover of volume one (ff 1-220) and terminates at the inside back cover of volume two (ff 221-345); 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-344; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/32
- Title
- Manuscript of Persia and the Persian Question(Continued)
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:344v, back-i, back
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Copyright
- ©The British Library Board
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Attribution Licence