Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [171v] (345/1814)
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.
168
PERSIA
30,000 Brians ( 8 , 570 ^.) each. The rest were petty money dealers.
The New Oriental Bank in Teheran kept an agent at Meshed;
but, as they have since parted with their business to
Money- the new Imperial Bank of Persia, the lattei ha\e taken
lending pi ace Khorasan, where there is considerable
scope for their transactions. A great many Russian rouble
notes (it is said 200,000) were in circulation in Meshed. An
English sovereign was worth 3
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
and krans, or, at the
normal rate of exchange, 19 s. 6 d. Indian
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
fetched their
full Indian value of Is. hd . 1
While at Meshed I enjoyed an interview with the Governor-
General of Khorasan. As I have already indicated, this high
official is one of the two surviving brothers of the Shah.
Governor 6 His name is Mohammed Taki Mirza, his title the Rukn-
Generai e d-Dowleh (i.e. Pillar of the State), and he was then
Governor-General for the third time, having filled the post at
intervals during the past fifteen years, and occasionally been super
seded or shelved, as some other aspirant had gained the ear of the
sovereign or been able to offer a higher bribe. 2 He had the reputa
tion of being a mild but timid individual, who shared the family
taste for saving, but temporises in politics. His chief minister
however, or Wuzir (Vizier), was reported to be a staunch partisan
of Russia, with whom his sympathies were notorious.
The Ark, or Citadel, in which the Governor resides, stands in
the south-west portion of the city, from which it is separated by a
large parade-ground or meidan. It is defended by a
p~k~
circuit of low walls and towers. Entering a gateway
between two towers, above which was a ludicrous daub or fresco of
the Lion and the Sun, we rode down a long vaulted corridor into
a large court. Here we dismounted, and, passing through an untidy
quadrangle with straggling flower-beds, crossed into an inner and
smaller court, where were a number of attendants and hangers-on,
by whom we were ushered into the diwari-khaneh, or reception
room, at the upper end.
Here the Governor came forward to receive us. He is short
1 No. 753 of the Diplomatic and Consular Reports-on Trade and finance.
1800.
2 The Rukn-ed-Dowleh has in the spring of the present year (1891) again
been ejected, (it is said because of his Russophil tendencies), and has been re
placed by Fathullah Khan, the Sahib Diwan, formerly Governor of lars under
the Zil-es-Sultan.
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 [171v] (345/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000098> [accessed 16 July 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
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