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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [191r] (384/1814)
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.
POLITICS AND COMMERCE OF KHORASAN
203
offensive and quiet; and no trace remains of tlie condition of affairs
described by Malcolm at the end of the last century, when the
chiefs maintained themselves in practical independence, and their
subjects were noted for valour . 1 The Khan provides a contingent
of 150 cavalry.
ISTorth of Tabbas is the small district of Turshiz, also with a
mainly Arab population, and under a Governor responsible to the
Turshiz Governor-General at Meshed. Turshiz is famous for its
fruit, which is incomparable, and for its silk, which the
disease, that wrought such havoc inGilan, fortunately failed to touch.
It is also reported to have turquoise mines, greatly inferior to those
of Nishapur.
Turshiz is really in the third, not the second, line of support; for
between it and Turbat-i-Sheikh Jam occurs the district of Turbat-i-
Turbat-i- Haideri (Tomb of Haider), which is of some strategical
Haideri importance, as being situated upon the line of advance of
any army advancing from Herat by Khaf upon Meshed with a view
of cutting off communication between the capital and Seistan. It is
peopled principally by Karai Turks, but also by Beluchis, and a
century ago was brought to a pitch of extraordinary power and
prosperity by a very remarkable ruler named Ishak Khan, who was
said to be as good a merchant as he was a soldier, and as accomplished
a student as he was an administrator, and who drew from his semi
independent province a revenue of 100,000 ^. 2 Like most of their
neighbours the people of Turbat-i-Haideri have said good-bye to the
days of fighting and freedom, and are now completely subdued by the
Persians. Their country, like Turshiz, is rich in mulberries and
orchards; but was terribly decimated both by Turkoman ravages
and by the great famine. Turshiz and Turbat-i-Haideri com
bined contribute two infantry regiments to the armed strength of
Khorasan, which will be noticed presently.
The two interior heluks of Persia which are not concerned, even
in a secondary degree, with frontier problems, are those of Nishapur
and Sebzewar. Their governorships are comfortable berths, which
are usually bestowed upon some Persian prince—Nishapur, for
1 History of Persia, vol. ii. pp. 143, 144. Mir Husein Khan was then the
chief of the powerful ruling Arab family, and, with a population of only 30,000,
sustained an army of 2,000 horse and 6,000 foot.
2 Malcolm {History, vol. ii. p. 148) says 100,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 200,000Z. But as
he frequently speaks of a
toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
elsewhere as equivalent to 1 £, I think that the
latter total must be halved. Even this estimate is probably exaggerated.
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 [191r] (384/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x0000bf> [accessed 1 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