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22-757: The Battle of Kassassin was fought at the Sweet Water Canal , when on August 28, 1882, the British force was attacked by the Egyptians, led by Amed Urabi Pasha . They needed to carve a passage through Ismailia and the cultivated Delta. Both attacks were repulsed. The Household Cavalry under the command of General Drury Drury-Lowe led the "Moonlight Charge", consisting of the Royal Horse Guards and 7th Dragoon Guards galloping at full tilt into enemy rifle fire. Their ranks were whittled down from

44-454: A poem "At Kassassin", say the battle began as it was getting dark. On September 9, Urabi seized what he considered his last chance to attack the British position. A fierce battle ensued on the railway line at 7 am. General Willis sallied out from emplacements to drive back the Egyptians, who at 12 pm returned to their trenches. Thereupon Sir Garnet Wolseley arrived with the main force, while

66-672: Is a peasant, usually a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa . The word derives from the Arabic word for "ploughman" or "tiller". Due to a continuity in beliefs and lifestyle with that of the Ancient Egyptians , the fellahin of Egypt have been described by some as the "true Egyptians". A fellah could be seen wearing a simple Egyptian cotton robe called galabieh ( jellabiya ). The word galabieh originated around 1715–1725 and derived from

88-629: The Al-Ismāʿīliyyah Canal , formerly known as the Sweet Water Canal or the Fresh Water Canal , is a canal which was dug by thousands of Egyptian fellahin to facilitate the construction of the Suez Canal . The canal travels east-west across Ismailia Governorate . It was dug to provide fresh water to the arid area, from Lake Timsah to Suez and Port Said . The canal facilitated the growth of agriculture settlements along

110-589: The Egyptian slang word gallabīyah . "Fellahin", throughout the Middle East in the Islamic periods, referred to native villagers and farmers. It is translated as " peasants " or " farmers ". Fellahin were distinguished from the effendi (land-owning class), although the fellahin in this region might be tenant farmers , smallholders, or live in a village that owned the land communally. Others applied

132-422: The 21st century. According to a 2014 study, its water quality is excellent for irrigation, and ranges from good to poor for drinking. Pollution nowadays is mainly a combination of upstream Nile discharge, treated drainage into the canal, and seepage from trash. Fellah A fellah ( Arabic : فَلَّاح fallāḥ ; feminine فَلَّاحَة fallāḥa ; plural fellaheen or fellahin , فلاحين , fallāḥīn )

154-543: The Arab elites to some extent used the term fellah synonymously with "indigenous Egyptian". Also, when a Christian Egyptian ( copt or qibt ) converted to Islam, he was called falih which means "winner" or "victorious". The Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge , wrote with regards to the Egyptian fellah: “...no amount of alien blood has so far succeeded in destroying the fundamental characteristics, both physical and mental, of

176-528: The Household Cavalry guarded his flank from a force at Salanieh. A total force of 634 officers and 16,767 NCOs and men were stationed at Kassassin before they marched on September 13, 1882, towards the main objective at Tell El Kebir where another battle was fought, the Battle of Tell El Kebir . The battle as described in the poem by Arthur Clark Kennedy, At Kassassin , mentions the battle began as

198-615: The Suez Canal, and it is particularly important for supplying water to the city of Port Said . Like the Suez Canal, it was designed by French engineers; construction lasted from 1861 until 1863. It runs through the now-dry distributary of the Wadi Tumilat , incorporating portions of an ancient Suez Canal that existed between Old Cairo and the Red Sea . The Ismailia Canal proper ends at Ismalia. Additional branches connect

220-467: The canal from Ismailia to Suez and Port Said. The Sweet Water Canal refers to a combination of the Ismailia Canal and its southern branch to Suez. In February 1862, after thousands of workers excavated 1.1 million cubic meters, the canal reached Lake Timsah. As soon as the fresh water reached the area, more labourers were hired for the Suez Canal construction project. The canal also allowed for

242-570: The day turned to evening. AT KASSASSIN RAINED on all day by the sun, Beating through helmet and head, Through to the brain. Inactive, no water, no bread, We had stood on the desolate plain Till evening shades drew on amain; And we thought that our day's work was done, When, lo! it had only begun. 'Charge!' And away through the night, Toward the red flashes of light Spurting in fire on our sight, Swifter and swifter we sped. 'Charge!' At that word of command, On through

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264-517: The easy transportation of materials and food with ferries traveling along its narrow ways. The Battle of Kassassin Lock was fought near Sweet Water Canal, on August 28, 1882. Less than 100 years later, the canal no longer provided clean, fresh water but was disturbingly polluted. During the 1950s when British soldiers were stationed in the area, some referred to the canal as an open sewer. Royal Air Force personnel were advised to avoid contact with

286-411: The enemy's ground, We knew not his force; But on, gaining pace at each bound, Flew man and horse. Burst on the enemy's flank, On through his gunners and guns, Swifter and swifter we sped; Over each bayonet-ranged rank, Earthward their dusky waves sank, Scattered and fled. They ran as a startled flock runs; But still we pursued o'er the plain, Till the rising moon counted

308-535: The fellahin were still leading humble lives and living in mud-brick houses, like their ancient ancestors. In 2005, they comprised some 60 percent of the total Egyptian population. In the Levant , specifically in Palestine , Jordan and Hauran , the term fellahin was used to refer to the majority native peasantry of the countryside . The term fallah was also applied to native people from several regions in

330-422: The loose-holding sand, On through the hot, folding sand, Through hailstorms of iron and lead, Swifter and swifter we sped. Thud! fell a friend at my hand; No halt, ne'er a stay, nor a stand. What though a comrade fell dead? Swifter and swifter we sped. Only the red, flashing light Guided our purpose aright; For night was upon us, around, Deceptive in sight as in sound. We knew not

352-570: The saddle, but still they charged headlong, ever forward. Sir Baker Russell commanded 7th on the right; whereas the Household was led by Colonel Ewart, c/o of the Life Guards. They captured 11 Egyptian guns. Despite only half a dozen casualties, Wolseley was so concerned about the quality of his men that he wrote Cambridge for reforms to recruiting. Nonetheless, these were the elite of the British army and, these skirmishes were costly. Legend and

374-399: The slain, And some hundred Egyptians lay dead. Oh! 'twas a glorious ride, And I rode on the crest of the tide. We dashed them aside like the mud of the street, We threshed them away like the chaff from the    wheat, We trod out their victory under our feet, And charged them again and again; For demons were loose on the hot-breathing wind, And entered

396-635: The souls of our men. A feverish delight filled our bones, Heightened by curses and groans— The mind taking hold of the body, the body react-     ing on mind. Ha! 'twas a glorious ride, Though I miss an old friend from my side, And sadness is mingled with pride. Still, 'twas a glorious ride— That race through the darkness, the straining, the      shock, The struggle, and slaughter by Kassassin lock. 30°34′N 31°56′E  /  30.567°N 31.933°E  / 30.567; 31.933 Sweet Water Canal Ismailia Canal or

418-581: The term fellahin only to landless workers. After the Arab conquest of Egypt , they called the common masses of indigenous peasants fellahin (peasants or farmers) because their ancient work of agriculture and connecting to their lands was different from the Jews who were traders and the Byzantine Greeks , who were the ruling class. With the passage of time, the name took on an ethnic character, and

440-418: The water and were warned that the canal was where deserters would end up. When the war became especially bloody, between national, Egyptian, resistance movements and British soldiers, from October 1951 to January 1952, the remains of some of the British soldiers who were tortured and killed, ended up in the canal. The Ismalia Canal remains the main source of drinking and irrigation water for many cities in

462-623: The ‘dweller of the Nile mud,' i.e. the fellah, or tiller of the ground who is today what he has ever been." He would rephrase stating, "the physical type of the Egyptian fellah is exactly what it was in the earliest dynasties. The invasions of the Babylonians, Hyksos, Ethiopians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Turks, have had no permanent effect either on their physical or mental characteristics." The percentage of fellahin in Egypt

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484-447: Was much higher than it is now in the early 20th century, before large numbers migrated into urban towns and cities. In 1927, anthropologist Winifred Blackman , author of The Fellahin of Upper Egypt , conducted ethnographic research on the life of Upper Egyptian farmers and concluded that there were observable continuities between the cultural and religious beliefs and practices of the fellahin and those of ancient Egyptians. In 2003,

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