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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [448v] (899/1814)
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.
PE ESI A
638 PE ESI A
to assign so modest a term to the sorrows of those who might
embark upon so desperate an undertaking.
I have discussed the various suggestions for Indo-Mediterranean
railways in this chapter, because in every scheme that has been or
Conclusion Can be put forward > Persia > b 7 its geographical position,
plays a prominent part, and because the future of Persian
railways is consequently endowed with a more than local import
ance. Not only is this the case, but, behindhand as Persia now
is, it is conceivable that an impulse or a direction may be im
parted to future developments by her initiative ; and it is, there
fore, in the highest degree desirable to frame an opinion about’
railroad policy in that country with a view to all contingent
relations. In my circuit of the Persian borders I have indicated
in outline the more feasible of the many schemes that have so far
emanated from the brains of those who wish well to Iran either
for her sake, or, as is more frequently the case, for their own.
The backward and ill-developed condition of the country, the
absence of security in certain parts, the opposition of Russia,’and,
above all, the want of patriotism or enterprise on the part of the
Persian Grovernment, are obstacles with which even the most
promising of these piojects will have to contend. They may re
tard the commencement of operations, they may defer financial
profit to a late period. Nevertheless, railways in Persia, if a
questionable metaphor may be permitted, are in the air. From
the Cabinets of statesmen it is but a short step to the desk of the
contractor and the workshop of the engineer. That a country
affecting a high civilisation can permanently resist civilisation’s
choicest
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
and most powerful means of influence is out of
the question . 1 When even China has already constructed a short
railway, and contemplates a grand trunk line several hundred
mi es in ength, the kingdom of a sovereign who has three times
overrun Europe by rail can hardly linger behind. It will be as
impossi. e 01 Persia to pursue a policy of exclusion in this respect
as it is m another sphere of action for Japan to remain faithful to
,, ‘ A m °. re mat ® ri ‘ l1 impulse may be communicated by the high price of grain in
able U g C1 ,' eS ’ and else y hel - e ^ the waste of crops, both arising from the lament-
a e dearth of transport. At Damghan barley was recently selling at 8 Ttram per
K^vin? J m 90 e To! r e CU1Tent PriCe is 60 Meanwhile at Kum and
1800 it w-l P11 ? 'n °r d i kmm ’ bUt th ® re are no means of transporting it. In
Raid J ! f 7 I" r P r ° fitable t0 ex P° rt 00 ™ from Sultanabad by camel to
.Baghdad, and thence to London.
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 [448v] (899/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213846.0x00006a> [accessed 20 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