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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [860r] (1736/1814)
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.
COMMERCE AND TRADE
m.
Exports from Persia to Kussia.
(1) Across the Caucasian frontier, and from P»aku and Astara.
Food
products
£510,811
Raw and half-worked
materials
131,692
(2) To Astrakhan.
£158,096 197,683
Animals
Manufactured
goods
Total
39,229
117,627
799,359
5
9,825
365,609
Total
£1,164,968
the transit
trade between
Persia a
Europe, via Russia, is returned as follows: imports into Persia,
2,568/., exports from Persia, 112,076/.; total, 114,644/. The
figures of imports show how completely the prohibitive policy
pursued by Russia in the Caucasus has choked off foreign
merchandise by that channel.
I cannot be positively certain, although I believe, that the
above-quoted returns include the Russo-Persian trade with Kho-
rasan by means of the Transcaspian Railway. Assuming that
they do, the total annual value of Russo-Persian trade is a little
over 2,000,000/., or about 1,000,000/. less than the estimated total
of Anglo-Indo-Persian trade. If we compare the respective situ
ations and advantages of Russia and of Great Britain with her
dependencies, including Hindustan, it cannot be denied that the
balance is extremely creditable to the latter.
That this great volume of trade should have grown up between
the Anglo-Indian peoples and Persia, is indeed a notable tribute
Obstacles ^ ie con li nu ed existence of those qualities and instincts
to foreign that have pushed this country to the front in the indus
trial competition of the world. For of Persia it certainly
cannot be contended, in spite of commercial treaties and consular
or ministerial protection, that the ways are made smooth for the
foreign merchant. Of the physical drawbacks to trade, such as
the absence of harbours, the character of the mule tracks, and, in
parts, the absence of security, I have repeatedly spoken. The
sudden and calamitous visitation of plagues, and the system of
farming and collecting the customs, are each in their way impedi
ments to the regular transaction of business. The corn trade is
frequently disorganised and hampered by capricious embargoes on
the export of grain, imposed in order to suit the whims or the
speculation of some provincial governor, and promulgated or
removed without the slightest regard to equity or to public con-
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 [860r] (1736/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x000089> [accessed 14 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