Misplaced Pages

#78921

98-551: Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French architects who were commissioned by Khedive Ismail during his visit to Paris, and since then he wanted to make the Egyptian Kingdom capital better than Paris and to be the jewel of the orient. It was he who stressed the importance of European style urban planning in Cairo, to include broad, linear gridded streets, geometric harmony and modern European architectural style. It

196-414: A textile industry in an effort to compete with European industries and produce greater revenues for Egypt. While the textile industry was not successful, the entire endeavour employed tens of thousands of Egyptians. Muhammad Ali used contracts called concessions to build cheap infrastructure – dams and railroads – whereby foreign European companies would raise capital, build projects, and collect most of

294-559: A School of Medicine for women. Clot-Bey had been invited in 1827 by Muhammad Ali to found the Qasral-‘Ayni School of Medicine at the Army hospital of Abou Zabel which later transferred to Cairo. The Army Medical School had a difficult beginning with religious officials against dissection of corpses for anatomy lessons. The medical school for women would produce hakimas, "doctoress", to treat women and children. French women adherents of

392-724: A century, until the revolution of 1952 when King Farouk was overthrown by the Free Officers Movement led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser , establishing the Republic of Egypt . Muhammad Ali was born in the Sanjak of Kavala (modern-day Kavala ), in the Rumelia Eyalet , to an Albanian family from Korça region. He was the second son of a Bektashi Albanian tobacco and shipping merchant named Ibrahim Agha, who also served as an Ottoman commander of

490-598: A failed Ottoman invasion of Syria in 1839, he launched another invasion of the Ottoman Empire in 1840; he defeated the Ottomans again and opened the way towards a capture of Constantinople. Faced with another European intervention, he accepted a brokered peace in 1842 and withdrew from the Levant; in return, he and his descendants were granted hereditary rule over Egypt and Sudan. His dynasty would rule Egypt for over

588-510: A festival of unprecedented scope, most of it financed by the Cattaui banking house, from whom he borrowed $ 1,000,000, inviting dignitaries from around the world. These developments – especially the costly war with Ethiopia – left Egypt in deep debt to the European powers, and they used this position to wring concessions out of Isma'il. One of the most unpopular among Egyptians and Sudanese was

686-675: A finger of the right hand, so as to be unable to fire a rifle. Beyond building a functioning, industrial economy, Muhammad Ali also made an effort to train a professional military and bureaucracy. He sent promising citizens to Europe to study. Again the driving impulse behind the effort was to build a European-style army. Students were sent to study European languages, primarily French, so they could in turn translate military manuals into Arabic. He then used both educated Egyptians and imported European experts to establish schools and hospitals in Egypt. European education also provided talented Egyptians with

784-568: A fundamental role in reducing the incidence of smallpox during the 19th century by vaccinating approximately 600 children a month in the Civil Hospital. They checked and treated women, mainly prostitutes, for venereal diseases. Another important task was the "forensic examination" of women. In this respect, hakimas operated in a legal setting. Their examination was used as evidence in cases involving unnatural death, suspected premarital loss of virginity, or miscarriage. Although one task of

882-846: A means of social mobility. A by-product of Muhammad Ali's training program was the establishment of a professional bureaucracy . Establishing an efficient central bureaucracy was an essential prerequisite for the success of Muhammad Ali's other reforms. In the process of destroying the Mamluks, the Wāli had to fill the governmental roles that the Mamluks had previously filled. In doing so, Muhammad Ali kept all central authority for himself. He partitioned Egypt into ten provinces responsible for collecting taxes and maintaining order. Muhammad Ali installed his sons in most key positions; however, his reforms did offer Egyptians opportunities beyond agriculture and industry. A 2015 study found that Ali's economic policies had

980-465: A monthly allowance from the state. Graduates served at the Civil Hospital in Cairo or at health centres throughout Egypt. Some stayed at the school to serve as instructors. Marriages were arranged by the state to male doctors. Once married, hakimas were given the title of Effendi , the rank of second lieutenant, and a monthly salary of 250 piasters. Licensed hakimas treated women and children, providing vaccinations and delivering children. They served

1078-542: A much larger Ottoman force, to re-occupy Egypt following a brief French occupation that upended Mamluk dominance in Egypt. The expedition, aboard xebecs , landed at Aboukir in the spring of 1801. One of his trusted army commanders was Miralay Mustafa Bey, who had married Muhammad's sister Zubayda and was the ancestor of the Yeghen family. The French withdrawal left a power vacuum in Egypt. Mamluk power had been weakened, but not destroyed, and Ottoman forces clashed with

SECTION 10

#1732776505079

1176-425: A new cash crop . To help improve production, he expanded the land used for agriculture and overhauled the irrigation system, largely completed by the corvée , or forced peasant labor. The new-found profits also extended down to the individual farmers, as the average wage increased fourfold. In addition to bolstering the agricultural sector, Muhammad Ali built an industrial base for Egypt. His motivation for doing so

1274-449: A positive impact on industrialization in Egypt. The purpose of the law was to represent Muhammad Ali in his absence. Muhammad Ali's initial focus was on reforming the criminal law, passing his first penal legislation in 1829. By this time, Muhammad Ali was already moving towards an establishment of an independent state, which he first expressed in 1830, by creating a state of "law and order", where Christians within Egypt can be safe, which

1372-507: A series of political maneuvers, and in 1805 he was named Wāli (governor) of Egypt and gained the rank of Pasha . As Wāli , Ali attempted to modernize Egypt by instituting dramatic reforms in the military, economic and cultural spheres. He also initiated a violent purge of the Mamluks , consolidating his rule and permanently ending the Mamluk hold over Egypt. Militarily, Ali recaptured

1470-466: A sign of reform but Ali furthering his military goals. For example, their treatment of venereal diseases was intended to curb its incidence among soldiers and smallpox vaccinations increased the pool of potential soldiers by reducing childhood mortality rate. Furthermore, the hakimas allowed for increased state control over social life. This is observed in the use of hakimas to collect statistics on childbirth, either personally or through dayas, as well as in

1568-610: A small unit in their hometown. His mother was Zeynep, the daughter of Çorbaci Husain Agha, another Muslim Albanian notable in Kavala. When his father died at a young age, Muhammad was taken and raised by his uncle Husain Agha with his cousins. As a reward for Muhammad Ali's hard work, his uncle gave him the rank of " Bolukbashi " for the collection of taxes in the town of Kavala. Muhammad Ali later married his cousin Amina Hanim ,

1666-469: A state prisoner, until his death. According to TIME magazine , he died while trying to guzzle two bottles of champagne in one draft. He was later buried in Cairo . Although he ruled Egypt, where the common language was Arabic, Isma'il spoke Turkish best and could not speak Arabic. Nevertheless, under his reign, the use of Arabic in government gradually increased at the expense of Turkish, which had been

1764-472: A statement that he made in 1879: "My country is no longer only in Africa; we are now part of Europe , too. It is therefore natural for us to abandon our former ways and to adopt a new system adapted to our social conditions". In 1867 he also secured Ottoman and international recognition for his title of Khedive (Viceroy) in preference to Wāli (Governor) which was previously used by his predecessors in

1862-588: A thriving international trading community with well-developed markets throughout the Levant ; in addition, it would be a captive market for the goods now being produced in Egypt. Yet perhaps most of all, Syria was desirable as a buffer state between Egypt and the Ottoman Sultan. A new fleet was built, a new army was raised and on 31 October 1831, under Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian invasion of Syria initiated

1960-441: A unique number that identified their unit and their role within it, and officers were expected to use lists with these numbers to keep a close watch on the men and ensure every man performed his clearly assigned duty. This was particularly useful in identifying deserters who often fled in the chaos of massed movement, such as during forced marches or relocation to a new encampment. The soldiers were placed under strict surveillance in

2058-555: A wealthy widow. She was the daughter of Ali Agha and Kadriye (Zeynep's sister). After Muhammad's promising success in collecting taxes, he earned the rank of Second Commander under his cousin Sarechesme Halil Agha in the Kavala Volunteer Contingent of Albanian mercenaries that was sent to re-occupy Egypt following General Napoleon Bonaparte's withdrawal. In 1801, his unit was sent, as part of

SECTION 20

#1732776505079

2156-404: The de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely considered the founder of modern Egypt . At the height of his rule, he controlled Egypt, Sudan , Hejaz , the Levant , Crete and parts of Greece . He was a military commander in an Albanian Ottoman force sent to recover Egypt from French occupation under Napoleon . Following Napoleon's withdrawal, Muhammad Ali rose to power through

2254-678: The Anazeh in Syria and those bred in the Nejd . While his immediate successor had minimal interest in the horse breeding program, his grandson, who became Abbas I shared this interest and further built upon his work. Though Muhammad Ali's chief aim was to establish a European-style military, and carve out a personal empire, he waged war initially on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II , in Arabia and Greece, although he later came into open conflict with

2352-794: The Emperor Yohannes IV . In 1865 the Ottoman Sublime Porte ceded the African portion of the Habesh Eyalet (with Massawa and Suakin at the Red Sea as the main cities of that province) to Isma'il. This province, which neighboured Ethiopia, first consisted of a coastal strip only but expanded subsequently inland into territory controlled by the Ethiopian ruler. Here Isma'il occupied regions originally claimed by

2450-657: The Eyalet of Egypt and Sudan (1517–1867). However, Isma'il's policies placed the Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan (1867–1914) in severe debt, leading to the sale of the country's shares in the Suez Canal Company to the British government, and his ultimate toppling from power in 1879 under British and French pressure. The city of Ismailia is named in his honor. The second of the three sons of Ibrahim Pasha , and

2548-625: The First Turko-Egyptian War . For the sake of appearance on the world stage, a pretext for the invasion was vital. Ultimately, the excuse for the expedition was a quarrel with Abdullah Pasha of Acre . The Wāli alleged that 6,000 fellahin had fled to Acre to escape the draft, corvée, and taxes, and he wanted them back. (See also: 1834 Arab revolt in Palestine ) The Egyptians overran most of Syria and its hinterland with ease. The strongest and only really significant resistance

2646-587: The Nuba Mountains , and west and south Sudan, all incorporated into a foot regiment known as the Gihadiya (pronounced Jihadiya in non-Egyptian Arabic) which were composed of the recently defeated Shaigiya who now took service under the invaders in exchange for keeping their domains. Ali's reign in Sudan, and that of his immediate successors, is remembered in Sudan as brutal and heavy-handed, contributing to

2744-703: The Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II to depose Isma'il Pasha, and this was done on 26 June 1879. The more pliable Tewfik Pasha , Ismail's eldest son, was made his successor. Isma'il Pasha left Egypt and initially went into exile to Resina, today Ercolano near Naples , until 1885 when he was eventually permitted by Sultan Abdülhamid II to retire to his palace in Emirgan on the Bosporus in Constantinople . There he remained, more or less

2842-744: The Saint-Simonian social reform movement were living in Egypt during 1833–36 and studied or provided medical care under Clot Bey's direction. French sage-femme (midwife) Suzanne Voilquin writes of assisting during the cholera epidemic of 1834. Several of the French women contracted cholera and died. Ali's military and economic goals required a healthy army and population from which young boys could be conscripted. Venereal diseases, especially syphilis, were common among soldiers and smallpox outbreaks led to high childhood mortality rates. Clot Bey argued that female-provided health care for women and children

2940-528: The bastinado and the whip to control and punish the soldiers. Muhammad not only wanted his soldiers to be disciplined, but he also created many military codes to regulate the definitions of crime and punishment, this helped to create blind obedience to the laws. A large part of Ali's goal of a European-style military was through the creation of new labelling and organizational systems to identify soldiers, distinguish officers from enlisted men, structure units, and properly distribute salaries. Soldiers were given

3038-453: The 1919 failed assassination attempt on Egypt's last Christian Prime Minister, Youssef Wahba Pasha lay in wait for his target; and where several members of the resistance during the 1919 revolution met in the basement to organize their activities and print their flyers. Patrons included Egyptian Nobel Prize winner and nationalist novelist Naguib Mahfouz and the then-future president Gamal Abdel Nasser . There has been renewed interest from

Downtown Cairo - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-609: The Anglo-Egyptian-Ethiopian Hewett Treaty , when Bogos was given back to Ethiopia. The Red Sea Province created by Ismail and his governor Munzinger Pasha was taken over by the Italians shortly thereafter and became the territorial basis for the Colony of Eritrea (proclaimed in 1890). The jurisdiction of Isma'il Pasha from the 1870s until 1884 included the entire northern coast of Somalia, up to

3234-512: The Arabian territories for the sultan, and conquered Sudan of his own accord. His attempt at suppressing the Greek rebellion failed decisively, however, following an intervention by the European powers at Navarino . In 1831, Ali waged war against the sultan , capturing Syria, crossing into Anatolia and directly threatening Constantinople , but the European powers forced him to retreat. After

3332-602: The British government to inquire into the finances of Egypt, and in April 1876 their report was published, advising that in view of the waste and extravagance it was necessary for foreign Powers to interfere in order to restore credit. The result was the establishment of the Caisse de la Dette . A subsequent investigation in October by George Goschen and Joubert resulted in the establishment of joint Anglo-French control over most of

3430-621: The Egyptian army marched north into Anatolia . At the Battle of Konya (21 December 1832), Ibrahim Pasha soundly defeated the Ottoman army led by the sadr azam Grand Vizier Reshid Pasha. There were now no military obstacles between Ibrahim's forces and Constantinople itself. Through the course of the campaign, Muhammad Ali paid particular focus to the European powers. Fearing another intervention that would reverse all his gains, he proceeded slowly and cautiously. For example, Muhammad Ali continued

3528-456: The Egyptian government's finances. A further commission of inquiry by Major Evelyn Baring (afterwards 1st Earl of Cromer) and others in 1878 culminated in Isma'il handing over much of his personal estates' to the nation and accepting the position of a constitutional sovereign, with Nubar as premier, Charles Rivers Wilson as finance minister, and de Blignières as minister of public works. As

3626-634: The House of Cattaui. Judgments were given against the Khedive in the international tribunals. When he could raise no more loans, he sold the Egyptian and Sudanese shares in the Suez Canal Company in 1875 with the assistance of Yacoub Cattaui to the British government for £3,976,582; this was immediately followed by the beginning of direct intervention by the Great Powers in Egypt and Sudan. In December 1875, Stephen Cave and John Stokes were sent out by

3724-620: The Magnificent , was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France . Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha , he greatly modernized Egypt and Sudan during his reign, investing heavily in industrial and economic development , urbanization , and the expansion of the country's boundaries in Africa . His philosophy can be glimpsed in

3822-453: The Mamluks for power. During this period of turmoil, Muhammad Ali used his loyal Albanian troops to work with both sides, gaining power and prestige for himself. As the conflict drew on, the local populace grew weary of the power struggle. In 1801, he allied with the Egyptian leader Umar Makram and Egypt's Grand Imam of al-Azhar . During the infighting between the Ottomans and Mamluks between 1801 and 1805, Muhammad Ali carefully acted to gain

3920-542: The Ministry of housing, utilities and urban development. A major public town square in made internationally famous during the 2011 Egyptian revolution . One of Wust al-Balad's main streets, lined with vintage architecture from the late 19th and early 20th century European Beaux-Arts and Egyptian — Islamic — Moorish Revival styles. Another important Wust al-Balad street, with famous cafes and restaurants. A model of upper-class life in mid 20th Century Wust al-Balad,

4018-430: The Ottoman Empire. He used several new strategies to ensure the success of his new military. First new recruits were isolated from the environment they were used to. They began housing soldiers in barracks, leadership enforced a strict regime of surveillance, roll call was done several times a day, and corporal punishment used to ensure the new fighting force grew to become a strong disciplined military. The army often used

Downtown Cairo - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-513: The Ottomans when they had established the province (eyalet) of Habesh in the 16th century. New economically promising projects, like huge cotton plantations in the Barka delta, were started. In 1872 Bogos (with the city of Keren ) was annexed by the governor of the new "Province of Eastern Sudan and the Red Sea Coast", Werner Munzinger Pasha. In October 1875 Isma'il's army tried to occupy

4214-614: The Saudis began conquering parts of Arabia. This culminated in the capture of the Hejaz region by 1805. With the main Ottoman army tied up in Europe, Mahmud II turned to Muhammad Ali to recapture the Arabian territories . Muhammad Ali in turn appointed his son, Tusun , to lead a military expedition in 1811. The campaign was initially turned back in Arabia; however, a second attack was launched in 1812 that succeeded in recapturing Hejaz. While

4312-679: The Yacobian Building and its residents were fictionalised as a metaphor for Cairo's later deterioration in the award-winning novel The Yacobian Building . Groppi is one of the first and most famous ice cream shops in Cairo, located in Talaat Harb Square. It was founded in 1909 by the Swiss Groppi family, survived the nationalization movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and was owned by the Groppi family until 1981 when it

4410-583: The adjacent highlands of Hamasien , which were then tributary to the Ethiopian Emperor, and suffered defeat at the Battle of Gundet. In March 1876 Isma'il's army tried again and suffered a second dramatic defeat by Yohannes's army at Gura . Isma'il's son Hassan was captured by the Ethiopians and only released after a large ransom. This was followed by a long cold war, only finishing in 1884 with

4508-792: The balance of power in the East Mediterranean. On 20 October 1827 at the Battle of Navarino , while under the command of Muharram Bey, the Ottoman representative, the entire Egyptian navy was sunk by the European Allied fleet, under the command of Admiral Edward Codrington . If the Porte was not in the least prepared for this confrontation, Muhammad Ali was even less prepared for the loss of his highly competent, expensively assembled and maintained navy. With its fleet essentially destroyed, Egypt had no way to support its forces in Greece and

4606-498: The barracks. In order to accomplish this Muhammad Ali relied on the Bedouins to guard the troops that were sent to the training camps. Despite being hired to control the troops the Bedouins were actually a menace to the government who often had to use the army to control the Bedouins. In order to combat this the government slowly switched from using Bedouins to guard the soldiers and to capture deserters and instead attempted to set up

4704-568: The behest of Yacoub Cattaui his minister of Finance and close advisor, he refused to ratify the concessions to the Canal company made by Sa'id, and the question was referred in 1864 to the arbitration of Napoleon III, who awarded £3,800,000 to the company as compensation for the losses they would incur by the changes which Isma'il insisted upon in the original grant. Isma'il then used every available means, by his own undoubted powers of fascination and by judicious expenditure, to bring his personality before

4802-537: The campaign was successful, the power of the Saudis was not broken. They continued to harass Ottoman and Egyptian forces from the central Nejd region of the Peninsula. Consequently, Muhammad Ali dispatched another of his sons, Ibrahim, at the head of another army to finally rout the Saudis. After a two-year campaign, the Saudis were crushed and most of the Saudi family was captured. The family leader, Abdullah ibn Saud ,

4900-700: The cases where a hakima was used to examine a woman. In the 1820s, Muhammad Ali sent the first educational "mission" of Egyptian students to Europe. This contact resulted in literature that is considered the dawn of the Arabic literary renaissance, known as the Nahda . To support the modernization of industry and the military, Muhammad Ali set up a number of schools in various fields where French texts were studied. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi supervised translations from French to Arabic on topics ranging from sociology and history to military technology. In 1819/21, his government founded

4998-472: The champion of the people, Muhammad Ali was able to forestall popular opposition until he had consolidated his power. The Mamluks still posed the greatest threat to Muhammad Ali. They controlled Egypt for more than 600 years, and over that time they extended their rule systematically south along the Nile River to Upper Egypt. Muhammad Ali's approach was to eliminate the Mamluk leadership, then move against

SECTION 50

#1732776505079

5096-444: The countryside and the central government. This was shown in 1876 when the assembly persuaded Isma'il to reinstate the law (enacted by him in 1871 to raise money and later repealed) that allowed landownership and tax privileges to persons paying six years' land tax in advance. Isma'il tried to reduce slave trading and with the advice and financial backing of Yacoub Cattaui extended Egypt's rule in Africa. In 1874 he annexed Darfur , but

5194-467: The eastern coast at Ras Hafun in contemporary Puntland . The Khedive's northern Somali Coast territory was reached as far inland as Harar , although it was subsequently ceded to Britain in 1884 due to internal difficulties of Egypt. Isma'il's khedivate is closely connected to the building of the Suez Canal . He agreed to, and oversaw, the Egyptian portion of its construction. On his accession, at

5292-463: The economy, train a professional bureaucracy, and build a modern military. His first task was to secure a revenue stream for Egypt. To accomplish this, Muhammad Ali 'nationalized' all the iltizam lands of Egypt, thereby officially owning all the production of the land. He accomplished the state annexation of property by raising taxes on the ' tax-farmers ' who had previously owned the land throughout Egypt. The new taxes were intentionally high and when

5390-405: The ensuing departure of the upper classes, have left the splendor of its ornate edifices mired in decay. Lax enforcement of laws and regulations gave way to the entry of commercial establishments into the neighborhood, mostly with no regard to maintaining aesthetic harmony or preserving the historic buildings of Downtown Cairo. Now, most of the historic buildings within the area have been renovated by

5488-571: The expectation of internment from the beginning of the soldiers stay at the training camps in order to deter them from deserting the military in the first place. Muhammad Ali's first military campaign was an expedition into the Arabian Peninsula . The holy cities of Mecca , and Medina had been captured by the House of Saud , who had recently embraced a literalist Hanbali interpretation of Islam . Armed with their newfound religious zeal,

5586-502: The expense of the weakened imperial power, but scholars have noted that Muhammad Ali's rule was the first significant program of Europeanization of the military and its supporting institutions. Unlike Selim, he had dispatched his chief rivals, giving him a free hand to attempt reforms similar to those first begun by Selim III. Muhammad Ali's goal was for Egypt to leave the Ottoman Empire and be ruled by his own hereditary dynasty. To do that, he had to reorganize Egyptian society, streamline

5684-585: The first indigenous press in the Arab World, the Bulaq Press . The Bulaq press published the official gazette of Muhammad Ali's government. Among his personal interests was the accumulation and breeding of Arabian horses . In horses obtained as taxes and tribute , Muhammad Ali recognized the unique characteristics and careful attention to bloodlines of the horses bred by the Bedouin , particularly by

5782-412: The foreign sovereigns and public, and he had much success. In 1867 he visited Paris during the Exposition Universelle (1867) with Sultan Abdülaziz, and also London, where he was received by Queen Victoria and welcomed by the Lord Mayor . While in Britain he also saw a British Royal Navy Fleet Review with the Sultan. In 1869 he again paid a visit to Britain. When the Canal finally opened, Isma'il held

5880-432: The formation of a Western-trained elite. A national library was founded in 1871. One of his most significant achievements was to establish an assembly of delegates in November 1866. Though this was supposed to be a purely advisory body, its members eventually came to have an important influence on governmental affairs. Village headmen dominated the assembly and came to exert increasing political and economic influence over

5978-445: The government and the private sector since the 2000s to restore Down Town/ Khedival Cairo. The government has done mostly cosmetic work, repainting facades and replacing store signage. 30°02′51″N 31°14′18″E  /  30.04750°N 31.23833°E  / 30.04750; 31.23833 Khedive Ismail Isma'il Pasha ( Arabic : إسماعيل باشا Ismā‘īl Bāshā ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as ' Ismail

SECTION 60

#1732776505079

6076-402: The grandson of Muhammad Ali , Isma'il, of Albanian descent, was born in Cairo at Al Musafir Khana Palace . His mother was Circassian Hoshiyar Qadin , third wife of his father. Hoshiyar Qadin (also known as Khushiyar Qadin) is reported to be the sister of Pertevniyal Sultan , mother of the Ottoman Emperor Abdulaziz , who ruled from 1861 to 1876 and who also was deposed at the behest of

6174-411: The hakimas was overseeing childbirth, the majority of the population continued to use the dayas. Hakimas performed almost no deliveries and often were only called upon during difficult deliveries. However, dayas were required to have a certificate to perform deliveries, which could only be obtained from hakimas. They were also expected to report statistics on births to the hakimas. A significant issue

6272-474: The historian Eugene Rogan has observed, "the irony of the situation was that Egypt had embarked on its development schemes to secure independence from Ottoman and European domination. Yet with each new concession, the government of Egypt made itself more vulnerable to European encroachment." This control of the country by Europeans was unacceptable to many Egyptians , who united behind a disaffected Colonel Ahmed Urabi . The Urabi Revolt consumed Egypt. Hoping

6370-461: The intent of conquering the territory and subjugating it to his authority. Ali's troops made headway into Sudan in 1821, but met with fierce resistance by the Shaigiya . Ultimately, the superiority of the Egyptian troops and firearms ensured the defeat of the Shaigiya and the subsequent conquest of the Sudan. Ali now had an outpost from which he could expand to the source of the Nile in Ethiopia , and Uganda . His administration captured slaves from

6468-425: The island of Crete in exchange for his support in putting down the revolt. Muhammad Ali sent 16,000 soldiers, 100 transports, and 63 escort vessels under command of his son, Ibrahim Pasha . After Ibrahim sustained successive defeats in Greece (see Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani ) Britain , France , and Russia intervened to aid the Greek revolution as a check on Ibrahim's expansionist agenda which threatened

6566-458: The language of the ruling elite in the Nile delta during the hundreds of years of Ottoman rule. In the following decades, Arabic would further expand and eventually replace Turkish in the army and in administration, leaving Turkish to be used only in correspondence with the Ottoman Sultan in Constantinople. Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the Ottoman Albanian viceroy and governor who became

6664-428: The local elite, Mamluks and the ulama, weakening opposition to Muhammad Ali's reforms. In practice, Muhammad Ali's land reform amounted to a monopoly on trade in Egypt. He required all producers to sell their goods to the state. The state in turn resold Egyptian goods, within Egypt and to foreign markets, and retained the surplus. The practice proved very profitable for Egypt with the cultivation of long staple cotton ,

6762-537: The money went for the construction of the Suez Canal. About £46 million went to construct 8,000 miles (13,000 km) of irrigation canals to help modernize agriculture. He built over 900 miles (1,400 km) railroads, 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of telegraph lines, 400 bridges, harbor works in Alexandria, and 4,500 schools. The national debt rose from £3 million to about £90 million, in a country with 5 million population and an annual treasury revenue of about £8 million. Isma'il launched vast schemes of internal reform on

6860-402: The need to reform and modernize the Ottoman military , along European lines, to ensure that his state could compete. Selim III, however, faced stiff local opposition from an entrenched clergy and military apparatus, especially from the Janissaries . Consequently, he was deposed and ultimately killed in 1808. Muhammad Ali shared some traits with common warlords seeking to gain the upper hand at

6958-476: The new system of mixed courts , by which Europeans were tried by judges from their own states, rather than by Egyptian and Sudanese courts. But at length the inevitable financial crisis came. A national debt of over £100 million sterling (as opposed to three millions when he acceded to the throne) had been incurred by the Khedive, whose fundamental idea of liquidating his borrowings was to borrow at increased interest. The bond-holders became restive, chief among them

7056-776: The operating revenue but would provide Ali's government with a portion of that revenue. Ali also granted Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin permission to build technical schools modeled after the Ecole Polytechnique . Additionally, by hiring European managers, he was able to introduce industrial training to the Egyptian population. To staff his new industries, Muhammad Ali employed a corvée labor system. The peasantry objected to these conscriptions and many ran away from their villages to avoid being taken, sometimes fleeing as far away as Syria . A number of them maimed themselves so as to be unsuitable for combat: common ways of self-maiming were blinding an eye with rat poison and cutting off

7154-548: The other Great Powers recognized him only as Wāli. Like all Egyptian and Sudanese rulers since his grandfather Muhammad Ali Pasha, he claimed the higher title of Khedive , which the Sublime Porte had consistently refused to sanction. Finally, in 1867, Isma'il succeeded in persuading the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz to grant a firman finally recognizing him as Khedive in exchange for an increase in

7252-526: The popular independence struggle of the self-proclaimed Mahdi , Muhammad Ahmad , in 1881. While Muhammad Ali was expanding his authority into Africa, the Ottoman Empire was being challenged by ethnic rebellions in its European territories. The rebellion in the Greek provinces of the Ottoman Empire began in 1821. The Ottoman army proved ineffectual in its attempts to put down the revolt as ethnic violence spread as far as Constantinople. With his own army proving ineffective, Sultan Mahmud II offered Muhammad Ali

7350-457: The practice of using the sultan's name at Friday prayers in the newly captured territories and continued to circulate Ottoman coins instead of issuing new ones bearing his likeness. So long as Muhammad Ali's march did not threaten to cause the complete collapse of the Ottoman state, the powers in Europe remained as passive observers. Despite this show, Muhammad Ali's goal was now to remove the current Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and replace him with

7448-701: The presence of his nephew, employed him in the next few years on missions abroad, notably to the Pope , the Emperor Napoleon III , and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire . In 1861 he was dispatched at the head of an army of 18,000 to quell an insurrection in Sudan , a mission which he accomplished. After the death of Sa'id, Isma'il was proclaimed Khedive on 19 January 1863, though the Ottoman Empire and

7546-535: The rank and file. Muhammad Ali invited the Mamluk leaders to a celebration at the Cairo Citadel in honour of his son, Tusun Pasha , who was to lead a military expedition into Arabia . The event was held on 1 March 1811. When the Mamluks had gathered at the Citadel, they were surrounded and killed by Muhammad Ali's troops. After the leaders were killed, Muhammad Ali dispatched his army throughout Egypt to rout

7644-540: The remainder of the Mamluk forces. Muhammad Ali transformed Egypt into a regional power which he saw as the natural successor to the decaying Ottoman Empire. He summed up his vision for Egypt as follows: I am well aware that the (Ottoman) Empire is heading by the day toward destruction... On its ruins I will build a vast kingdom... up to the Euphrates and the Tigris. Sultan Selim III (reigned 1789–1807) had recognized

7742-485: The revolt could relieve him of European control, Isma'il did little to oppose Urabi and gave into his demands to dissolve the government. Britain and France took the matter seriously, and insisted in May 1879 on the reinstatement of the British and French ministers. With the country largely in the hands of Urabi, Isma'il could not agree, and had little interest in doing so. As a result, the British, and French governments pressured

7840-429: The scale of his grandfather, remodeling the customs system and the post office, stimulating commercial progress, creating a sugar industry, building the cotton industry, building palaces, entertaining lavishly, and maintaining an opera and a theatre. Over one hundred thousand Europeans came to work in Cairo, where he facilitated building an entire new quarter of the city on its western edge modeled on Paris. Alexandria

7938-519: The sultan's son, the infant Abdülmecid . This possibility so alarmed Mahmud II that he accepted Russia's offer of military aid resulting in the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi . Russia's gain dismayed the British and French governments, resulting in their direct intervention. From this position, the European powers brokered a negotiated solution in May 1833 known as the Convention of Kutahya . The terms of

8036-476: The support of the general public. In 1805, a group of prominent Egyptians led by the ulama (scholars, savants) demanded the replacement of Wāli (governor) Ahmad Khurshid Pasha by Muhammad Ali, and the Ottomans yielded. In 1809, though, Ali exiled Makram to Damietta . According to Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti , Makram had discovered Muhammad Ali's intentions to seize power for himself. Sultan Selim III could not oppose Muhammad Ali's ascension. By appearing as

8134-448: The tax-farmers could not extract the demanded payments from the peasants who worked the land, Muhammad Ali confiscated their properties. The other major source of revenue Muhammad Ali created was a new tax on waqf endowments, which were previously tax-free. Through these endowments, personal income could be set aside for schools or other charitable purposes. As well as raising revenue to fund his new military, this tax took revenue away from

8232-534: The tribute, because of the Khedive's help in the Cretan Revolt between 1866 and 1869 . Another firman changed the law of succession to direct descent from father to son rather than brother to brother, and a further decree in 1873 confirmed the virtual independence of the Khedivate of Egypt from the Porte. Isma'il spent heavily—some went to bribes to Constantinople to facilitate his reform projects. Much of

8330-522: The western powers. Thus, Isma'il Pasha was ruling Egypt and Sudan for the entire period when his cousin, Abdulaziz , was ruling the Ottoman empire. After receiving a European education in Paris where he attended the École d'état-major , he returned home, and on the death of his elder brother became heir to his uncle, Sa'id , the Wāli and Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. Sa'id, who apparently conceived his safety to lie in ridding himself as much as possible of

8428-477: The wheels for the conquest of Syria were set in motion. Like other rulers of Egypt before him, Ali desired to control Bilad al-Sham (the Levant), both for its strategic value and for its rich natural resources; nor was this a sudden, vindictive decision on the part of Ali since he had harboured this goal since his early years as Egypt's unofficial ruler. For not only had Syria abundant natural resources, it also had

8526-554: Was a way Muhammad Ali was able to pull influence from Europe. He started gradually reforming the government in a way that increased his influence and reduced that of the Sultan. He implemented a police force (principally in Cairo and Alexandria) that combined public order and prosecutorial functions. Strict Shari'a rules of evidence were relaxed, and modern evidence, particularly autopsy reports, became increasingly important in investigations and trials. In 1832, Muhammad Ali allowed Antoine Clot , known as "Clot Bey" in Egypt, to establish

8624-469: Was also improved. He launched a vast railroad building project that saw Egypt and Sudan rise from having virtually none to the most railways per habitable kilometer of any nation in the world. Education reform increased the education budget more than tenfold. Traditional primary and secondary schools were expanded and specialized technical and vocational schools were created. Students were once again sent to Europe to study on educational missions, encouraging

8722-464: Was bought by Abdul-Aziz Lokma. One of the most renowned downtown landmarks, on the 29th of Talaat Harb Street, is the Café Riche which opened in 1908. At various times a meeting place for intellectuals and revolutionaries, the café witnessed many historically significant events over the 20th century. It is said to be where King Farouk saw his second wife, Nariman Sadek ; where the perpetrator of

8820-685: Was crucial to maintain a healthy population. He believed that the untrained local dayas (midwives) were unable to provide appropriate care and under Egyptian law, male doctors could not treat women. Clot Bey's solution was a school to train female doctors. The school of medicine for women followed a French model. The first two years of training provided Arabic literacy in order to communicate with patients. The following four included training in: obstetrics, pre- and post-natal care, dressing wounds, cauterization, vaccination, scarification, cupping, application of leeches, identification/preparation of common medicines. Students were provided housing, food, clothes and

8918-477: Was forced to withdraw. Ultimately the campaign cost Muhammad Ali his navy and yielded no tangible gains. In compensation for his loss at Navarino, Muhammad Ali asked the Porte for the territory of Syria . The Ottomans were indifferent to the request; the Sultan himself asked blandly what would happen if Syria was given over and Muhammad Ali later deposed. But Muhammad Ali was no longer willing to tolerate Ottoman indifference. To compensate for his and Egypt's losses,

9016-411: Was once home to the prosperous elite of late 19th and early 20th century Cairo. It is a relic of a bygone era – Egypt's belle epoque — and demonstrates the vision for developing Egypt. Yet decades of neglect by the neighbourhood's landlords and tenants following the burning of most of Cairo's buildings during the popular Cairo fire incident prior to the 1952 Revolution led by Gamal Abdel Nasser , and

9114-592: Was prevented from expanding into Ethiopia after his army was repeatedly defeated by Emperor Yohannes IV , first at Gundet on 16 November 1875, and again at Gura in March of the following year. Isma'il dreamt of expanding his realm across the entire Nile including its diverse sources, and over the whole African coast of the Red Sea . This, together with rumours about rich raw material and fertile soil, led Isma'il to expansive policies directed against Ethiopia under

9212-529: Was primarily an effort to build a modern military. Consequently, he focused on weapons production. Factories based in Cairo produced muskets and cannons . With a shipyard he built in Alexandria , he began construction of a navy . By the end of the 1830s, Egypt's war industries had constructed nine 100-gun warships and were turning out 1,600 muskets a month. However, the industrial innovations were not limited to weapons production. Muhammad Ali established

9310-401: Was put up at the port city of Acre . The Egyptian force eventually captured the city after a six-month siege, which lasted from 3 November 1831 to 27 May 1832. Unrest on the Egyptian home front increased dramatically during the course of the siege. Ali was forced to squeeze Egypt more and more in order to support his campaign and his people resented the increased burden. After the fall of Acre,

9408-399: Was reached in 1846. Contemporary and modern historians have viewed the creation of a school of medicine for women and the position of hakima as an example of modernization and reform for women under Muhammad Ali. Khaled Fahmy argues against this view. Fahmy states that, because the reasons for the creation of the school are primarily for the maintenance of a healthy army, the school was not

9506-402: Was recruitment of students. Egyptian culture at the time opposed the education of women. Therefore, the first students at the medical school were young slave girls. Slaves continued to be recruited through slave auctions as well as orphans from hospices. Despite the modest success of the school and its graduates, increasing enrolment remained a consistent problem, though the limit of 60 students

9604-687: Was sent to Istanbul, and executed. Muhammad Ali next turned his attention to military campaigns independent of the Porte , beginning with the Sudan which he viewed as a valuable additional resource of territory, gold, and slaves. The Sudan at the time had no real central authority, as since the 18th century many petty kingdoms and tribal sheikhdoms had seceded from the declining Sultanate of Sennar , fighting each other with Medieval weaponry. In 1820 Muhammad Ali dispatched an army of 5,000 troops commanded by his third son, Ismail, and Abidin Bey , south into Sudan with

#78921