"(مخطوطة تتضمن ملاحظات لمرافقة خريطة لبلاد فارس (نشرتها الجمعية الجغرافية الملكية) ومقدمة كتاب حاجي بابا بقلم ج. ن. ك. لصالح ماكميلان في سنة ١٨٩٥)" [و‎‎١‎٢] (١٤٤/٢٣)

Notes to accom'pany the Map of Persia.
By Hon. G. Curzon, m.p.
A year and a quarter ago the Council of the Royal Geographical
Society consented, at my instance, and in continuation of a scheme
which they had sanctioned and (in the case of the map of Tibet) already
in part commenced, to order the execution of an entirely new map of
Persia. The reasons which induced them to take this step were, firstly,
the absence of anything like a reliable map of that country, embodying
the results either of recent travels by private individuals, or of the
more authoritative surveys conducted by emissaries of the British and
Russian Governments; secondly, the increasing interest that is felt in
the kingdom of the Shah, and the growing extent to which it is yearly
visited and explored by Englishmen; and thirdly, the command, of
which I was able to assure them, of as complete a collection as is pro
curable of the necessary materials. Influenced by these considerations,
the Council graciously acceded to my request, and placed in my hands
the execution of the proposal. Mr. W. T. Turner, f.b.g.s., whose
accurate and painstaking work has frequently appeared in the Society’s
‘Proceedings,* was specially retained to construct the map; and the
sheet to which these paragraphs stand in the relation of an explanatory
memorandum, is the result of our combined labours, which, if they are
often imperfect, and possibly sometimes—from the circumstances of the
case—inaccurate, have yet been conscientiously pursued, and with, I
would fain hope, a decided advance upon any previous map on the same
scale of the countries concerned.
The materials which I had collected, and of which a tabulated
catalogue will be appended, fall under four headings:—(1) Published
English maps, and, in the case of the sea-coast, Admiralty charts;
(2) similar Russian and German maps—of which the former, relating
principally to the regions bordering on their own dominions (the
Russian maps of the rest of Persia being as a rule very meagre and
inadequate), are the result for the most part of semi-official surveys;
while the latter are generally compilations from the most recent
materials, from whatsoever source derived; (3) maps constructed by,
or in the possession of the Intelligence Departments, both in London
and Simla, which have been most courteously placed at my disposal;
and (4) the surveys or itineraries of travellers, published either in
books or in the Proceedings of Geographical Societies, whether in
England or on the Continent.
As regards the preference assigned to this over that material,
surveys have of course invariably been preferred to reconnaissances,
and the more detailed to the less detailed or unscientific surveys ; later
material has naturally claimed a larger share of notice than earlier,
though cases have occurred where the labours of a remote explorer have
passed into quite undeserved oblivion, and have been found to contain
more minute and accurate information than the accepted commonplaces
of later maps. In the cases—how frequent I should hardly like to
confess—where our authorities have disagreed, the pros and cons have
not been lightly balanced before a decision was made.
The scale adopted is 60 miles to the inch, which is uniform with
that already applied to the Society’s large map of Tibet, still in course
of execution ; and which, while presenting a sheet rather larger than
Keith Johnston’s Atlas, can yet be folded into a size, handy both to the
traveller and to the student.
Of the scientific value of the work upon which all Persian carto
graphy has hitherto been based, it is undesirable that an incorrect
impression should prevail. No Persian survey has ever been made or
anywhere exists, in the same sense as it does, not merely in British
India, but in the contiguous countries of Afghanistan and Beluchistan,
to which the principles of a detailed survey by means of accurate
triangulation have been applied by British officers. There a number
and network of points and landmarks have been fixed, providing a
mathematical framework for all subsequent topography. It is not so in
Persia, No triangulation has been attempted here. The presence of