Lecture 2: Organized Part 2 PDF

Egypt as part of the Ottoman Empire. With the Ottomans’ defeat of the Mamluks in 1516–17, Egyptian medieval history had come full circle, as Egypt reverted to the status of a province governed from Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). Again the country was exploited as a source of taxation for the...

Egypt as part of the Ottoman Empire. With the Ottomans’ defeat of the Mamluks in 1516–17, Egyptian medieval history had come full circle, as Egypt reverted to the status of a province governed from Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). Again the country was exploited as a source of taxation for the benefit of an imperial government and as a base for foreign expansion. The economic decline that had begun under the late Mamluks continued, and with it came a decline in Egyptian culture. From the French to the British occupation (1798–1882) The French occupation and its consequences (1798–1805) The purpose of the expedition that sailed under Napoleon I from Toulon in May 1798 was specifically connected with the war against Britain. the French landed at Abū Qīr (Aboukir) Bay on July 1 and took Alexandria the next day. In an Arabic proclamation, Napoleon assured the Egyptians that he came as a friend to Islam and the Ottoman sultan, to punish the usurping Mamluks and to liberate the people. Muḥammad ʿAlī and his successors (1805–82) In May 1805 a revolt broke out in Cairo against the Ottoman viceroy, Khūrshīd Pasha. The ʿulamāʾ invested Muḥammad ʿAlī as viceroy. For some weeks there was street fighting, and Khūrshīd was besieged in the citadel. In July Sultan Selim III confirmed Muḥammad ʿAlī in office and the revolt ended. Muḥammad ʿAlī’s viceroyalty was marked by a series of military successes, some of which were attended by political failures that frustrated his wider aims. After the renewal of war between Britain and Napoleonic France in 1803, Egypt again became an area of strategic significance. A British expedition occupied Alexandria in 1807 but 6 failed to capture Rosetta and, after a defeat at the hands of Muḥammad ʿAlī’s forces, was allowed to withdraw. Muḥammad ʿAlī thus became effectively the sole landholder in Egypt, with a monopoly over trade in crops, although later in his reign he made considerable grants of land to his family and dependents. The monopoly system was extended in due course from primary materials to manufactures, with the establishment of state control over the textile industry. Muḥammad ʿAlī’s ambitious hopes of promoting an industrial revolution in Egypt were not realized, fundamentally because of the lack of available sources of power. These changes necessitated the training of officers and officials in the new Europeanized ways of working, and this in turn resulted in the creation of a range of educational institutions alongside the traditional Muslim schools. Much of the foundation work was done by expatriates, while missions of Egyptian students were sent to Europe, especially to Paris. One of these missions was accompanied by Rifāʿah Rāfiʿ al-Ṭahṭāwī (1801–73), who served as its religious teacher and later played the leading part in inaugurating the translation of European works into Arabic. He thus was a pioneer both in the interpretation of European culture to Egypt and in the renaissance of literary Arabic. The establishment of a government printing 1822 facilitated the wide dissemination of the new books. Renewed European intervention, 1879–82 The period of British domination (1882–1952) The British occupation and the Protectorate (1882–1922) 7 press in The revolution and the Republic The Nasser regime The Sadat rule: Nasser died on September 28, 1970, and was succeeded by his vice president, Sadat, himself a Free Officer. Although then viewed as an interim figure, Sadat soon revealed unexpected gifts for political survival. Sadat then used his strengthened position to launch a war with Israel in October 1973, thereby setting the stage for a new era in Egypt’s history. October War The Sadat era really began with the October War of 1973. The concerted SyrianEgyptian attack on October 6 should have come as no surprise, given the continuing tensions along the canal zone (although the War of Attrition had ended shortly before Nasser’s death), but the Arab attack caught Israel completely off guard. 8