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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [628r] (1272/1814)
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.
THE EASTERN AND SOUTH-EASTERN PROVINCES
245
and adds. ‘ Some morning the people of Kerman shall wake and
see the Saidi hills, north of the city, all white with tents, and then
they will know that the end has come.’ I understand, but I do
not admit the inference ; for there are those who will make it
their business to see pretty clearly that it is not from the northern
hills that the horsehoofs will descend.
r Ihe bazaars of Kerman, which are lofty and well-built, and its
caravanserais, which are numerous and handsome, 1 are worthy of
icle commercial and manufacturing reputation of the city.
The imports from Great Britain, India, and China are of
the same character as those already described in the case of Yezd.
Of local manufactures the chief are namcids or felts, most cunningly
and beautifully wrought; carpets of excellent colour and original
design, costing prices of from 10s. to 101 ., according to quality, per
square yard; and the famous Kerman shawls which resemble and
rival those of Kashmir. Of these the best, costing from 161. to
24£., are made of the hair or down that grows next to the skin of
the goat; the next quality are woven from the wool of a small
sheep, the neighbourhood of Kerman being celebrated for both
breeds, and producing either by its climate, its vegetation, or its
water, or by all combined, a quality and texture that cannot else
where be repeated. The shawls are made from patterns, not
painted, but learned by heart—a tremendous strain upon the
memory—and are manufactured in surroundings extremely in
jurious both to eyesight and health. The looms are set up in
filthy dark holes, without light or ventilation, where the artificers,
who are men and boys, work in a half-naked condition. In the
middle ages Kerman possessed a great reputation for the manu
facture of arms ; but this, like that of Meshed, is a thing of the past.
In 1810 Pottinger gave the revenue of the city as 25,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 25,000Z., and estimated that of the province as 50,000?.
Revenue more. In 1871, when the Mekran Boundary Commis-
Govem sioners were there, the provincial revenue was stated as
ment 3 10,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or 124,000?. The tables supplied to
me for 1888—89 return it, including Persian Beluchistan, as
290,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
. The government is now one of the highest rank,
1 In 1871 Colonel Euan-Smith reported 32 public baths, 28 caravanserais, 120
shawl factories, 80 cotton factories, and 6 really good carpet factories. In 1879
Gen. Schindler returned 42 mosques, 53 public baths, 5 madressehs, 50 schools,
4 large and 22 smaller bazaars, and 9 caravanserais.
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 [628r] (1272/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213848.0x000049> [accessed 17 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