History of Egypt During the Ottoman Era

History of Egypt During the Ottoman Era

Egypt became a part of the Ottoman Empire after Mamluk Egypt was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517. The conquest enabled the Ottomans to administer/govern Egypt as one of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire.  Officially, Egypt remained a province of the Ottoman Empire until 1914 although it had gained autonomy from the empire in the 19^th century and was practically controlled by the British since 1882.  The Ottomans had great difficulties in controlling Egypt mostly due to the influence and power of the Mamluks who were part of a military class that had ruled the nation for centuries. This means that Egypt was semi-autonomous until it was invaded by French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. Afterwards, the Anglo-Turkish forces were able to expel the French in 1801 leading to the rise of an Albanian military commander, Muhammad Ali Pasha who took power in 1805 and was able to establish a quasi-independent country. 

Under the leadership of Muhammad Ali, Egypt was formally a part of the Ottoman Empire although in practice, it was independent and even fought the empire twice from 1831-33 and 1839-41. As a result, the Sultan, who was the head of the empire agreed to make the country an autonomous vassal state in 1867. Egypt went on to be ruled by Ismail Pasha and Tewfik Pasha from 1867 to 1879 and 1878 to 1882 respectively until the British occupied the country in 1882. Nonetheless, the country remained a part of the Ottoman Empire until 1914 when it was officially proclaimed to be a British protectorate after the Young Turks joined the First World War fighting alongside the Central Powers.

The Early Ottoman Era

After the Ottomans had conquered Egypt in 1517, the Sultan of the empire, Sultan Selim I left the country under the administration of Grand Vizier Yunus Pasha. Later, the sultan realized that Yunus Pasha was running a bribery and exotortion syndicate and handed the country to Hayir Bey who had served as a governor of Aleppo during the Mamluk era and had played a key role in the Battle of Marj Dabiq where he helped the Ottomans emerge victorious. During the early periods of the Ottoman era, there was a fierce competition for power between the Mamluks and the servants/supporters of the Ottoman Empire who answered to the Sultan. One of the reasons why this was the case was that the register by which a significant percentage of the land was a fief of the Mamluks was not changed meaning that the Mamluks were able to continue being greatly influential in the country. As such, the Mamluk emirs were kept as heads of the 12 sanjaks into which the country had been divided.

During this time, the Sublime Porte had gained a reputation of changing Egypt’s governors after very short intervals, sometimes a year or less. When Hain Ahmed Pasha who was the fourth governor heard that Constantinople had issued orders for his execution, he tried to make himself an independent ruler. For instance, his name was placed on the coins used in the country. However, his attempts were opposed by 2 of the emirs who he hand put in prison but had managed to escape and tried to attack and kill him. They were not able to kill him as he had managed to escape injured but was soon captured by the Sultan’s forces and executed. In 1519, the Mamluks began to execute Arab Bedouin shayks such as Hasan ibn Mari and Shukr as retribution because the Bedouin had betrayed the Mamluks by working with the Ottomans.

1527 to 1610

1n 1527, the Ottomans carried out the first survey of Egypt because the former registries had been lost through fire. However, this survey was not used until 1605. The Ottomans divided the land in Egypt into four classes namely the fiefs, land belonging to religious institutions, land for use by the army and the sultan’s domain. During the early Ottoman rule, the army had gotten out of control because of the constant changes being made in the government. As such, in the early 17^th century, mutinies became increasingly common. For example, Ibrahim Pasha, the governor of Egypt was executed by the soldiers. The mutinies were motivated by the fact that a succession of pashas had attempted to put an end to the extortion known as the tulbah. The tulbah was a scheme used by the soldiers to force the inhabitants to pay the army fictitious debts leading to great resentment among the locals. 

In 1609, there was a break out of a conflict between the pasha who had some loyal regiments and the army. The troops chose a sultan and divided Cairo’s regions between them. However, they were defeated by Kara Mehmed Pasha, the governor who entered Cairio triumphantly in 1610 and went ahead to kill the ringleaders in the army and exile others to Yemen. Historians argue that the was the 2^nd Ottoman conquest of Egypt. Afterwards, Kara Mehmed Pasha implemented financial reforms that enabled different communities in the country to pay based on their means/ability.

17^th Century

The Ottoman Empire’s metropolis was going through a period of troubles that enabled the Mamluk beys to dominate Egypt’s government after they were were placed in positions of power in the treasury and were given total control over some provincial governments. Moreover, the Mamluk beys rose to influential positions in the army that enabled them to challenge the authority of the governors appointed by the sultan. As such, the Egyptians began to treat the governors with increasing disrespect. For example in July 1624, the Porte had issued orders to dismiss the governor, Kara Mustafa Pasha and install Cestic Ali Pasha as his replacement. The army officers went to the deputy of the newly appointed governor to demand that he pays the customary gratuity. Upon his refusal, the officers sent letters demanding that Kara Mustafa Pasha should continue to be the governor and not Cesteci Ali Pasha. As such, when Cesteci Ali Pasha arrived in Alexandria, he received messages from the deputation in Cairo that he was unwanted. He issued orders to have the leader of the deputation be imprisoned but the Alexandria garrison was able to attack the castle and free the prisoner. This led to the escape of Cesteci Ali Pasha and Kara Mustafa Pasha was reconfirmed as governor by Constaninople. In 1626, Baryam Pasha succeeded Mustafa Pasha.

The commanders of the Ottoman Egyptian army were locally appointed and often had strong ties to the Egyptian elites. As a result, a Mamluk emir, Ridwan Bey acted as the de facto ruler in the country from 1631 to 1656.  After Koca Musa Pasha was appointed as governor in 1630, the army decided to depose him, angered by his execution of Kits Bey, commander of an Egyptian force that had served in Persia. In 1631, Halil Pasha was appointed as governor from Constantinople. It became a tradition for newly appointed governor to demand fines as extortion from their predecessors under the guise of debt owed to the treasury. In addtition, the country also suffered from pestilence and famine. One of the greatest tragedies during this era was that pestilence led to the death of over 635,000 people in 1619.

1707 to 1755

By the eighteenth century, the Mameluk beys had become more important and had more authority than the pasha. The Mamluks had formed two factions Amir al-hajj and Shayk al-Balad. In 1707, a fight that lasted 80 days took place between the Fiqarites and the Qasimites, two Mameluke factions. As a result, Qasim Iywaz, the shaykh al-balad was killed and succeeded by his son Ismail. Ismail went on to hold the office for sixteen years. During this period, the pashas were changed constantly and were successful in reuniting the two factions of the Mameluks. In 1711, a fanatic religious preacher started to publicly oppose the practise of holding prayers at the graves of the Sufi saints, leading to a religious movement referred to as the ‘Great Sedition’ which was only crashed after 3 years. In 1724, Ismail was executed through a plot of the pasha leading to elevation of Shirkas Bey, who came from the opposing faction, to the Sheikh al-Balad’s office. However, he was quickly deposed by Dhu-l-Fiqar, a member of his own faction, and fled to Upper Egypt. After a short period, he returned with an army but died by drowning in one of the battles. On the other hand, Dhu-l-Fiqar was assssinated in his 1730 and was replaced by Othman Bey who was a general during that war. 

Othman Bey was forced to flee Egypt by a coalition of Ridwan and Ibrahim Bey who started massacring beys and others who were believed to be hostile to them. They went on to govern Egypt under the offices of Amir al-Hajj and Sheikh al-Balad in alternating years. One of the pashas tried to remove the two from office but failed due to the loyalty of their supporters who freed Ridwan and Ibrahim from prison, forcing the pasha to flee to Constantinople. One of the succeeding pashas staged a successful attempt to remove the two from power leading the the death of some of the beys. A short while afterwards, Ibrahim was assassinated in 1755 by a person who intended to come a bey. His counterpart Ridwan died as a result of subsequent conflicts. 

Ali Bey, who was a distinguished fighter who had managed to defend a caravan from bandits in Arabia pledged to avenge the death of Ibrahim, his former master. As a result, he spent 8 years gaining supporters and buying Mamelukes. This aroused the suspicions of Khalil Bye, the Sheik al-Balad who planned an attack on him in Cairo forcing Ali Bey to free to Upper Egypt. While in Upper Egypt, he met Salib Bey who also wanted to take revenge on Khalil Bey. The two managed to create a force that returned to Cairo and were able to defeat Khalil who was forced to flee to hiding Laifla. Eventually, Khalil was discovered and executed in Alexandria. As a result, Ali Bey was made Sheikh al-Balad in 1760 and went on to execute Ibrahim’s murderer. However, this execution led to resentment among the beys and Ali was forced to flee to Syria where he became a good fried of Acre’s governor, Zahir al-Umar. The governor managed to get the good will of the Porte and Ali Bey was reinstated as the Sheikh al-Balad. 

1766-1798

Ali Bey was forced to flee Egypt to Yemen after his ally, Raghib Pasha died. In the next year, he was informed that his faction in Cairo had enough strength to allow him to return. After his return, Ali Bey made 18 of his friends beys including Murad, Ibrahim as well as Muhammad Abu-l-Dhahab. He also used harsh measures to suppress the Bedouins of lower Egypt and disbanded all forces except those that were loyal to him. In 1769, the Porte demanded that Ali should deploy a force of 12000 men to fight in the Russo-Turkish war lasting from 1768 to 1774. After Constantinople suspected that Ali would reject the order, it ordered the pasha to execute him. Ali got information that his execution had been ordered and urged the beys to fight for their lives. As a result, Egypt declared independence and the pasha was ordered to leave the country in 48 hours. The Porte was unable to suppress Ali Bey who went on to use his allies to conquer the greater portion of the Arab Peninsula. In 1771, Ali had become powerful enough to strike coins in his name and issue orders for the mentioning of his name during public prayer. 

Abu-al-Dhahab managed to conquer Syria and negotiate alliances with Russia and Venice. He was able to take the key cities in Syria, including Damascus and Palestine  with the help of Zahir al-Umar who was Ali Bey’s ally. At this point, Abu-l-Dhahab held secret negotiations with the Porte and agreed to restore the Ottoman rule of Egypt. As such, he left Syria and marched on Cairo in April 1772 with his troops. Ali Bey sent a force of 3000 led by Ismail Bey to check his advance but they failed. Eventually, he decided to flee Cairo for Syria after his friend Zahir al-Umar promised him refuge. Abu-l-Dhahab went on to make himself Sheikh al-Balad and began to practise extortions which made the Egyptians long for the return of Ali Bey. In April 1773, Ali Bey sent a force of 8000 men to Egypt to dispose Abu-l-Dhahab. Although his forces were initially successful, they were completely defeated after the desertion of some officers and Ali Bey was captured, taken to Cairo and died 7 days later.

The death of Ali Bey made Egypt dependent on the Porte under the rule of Abu-l-Dhahab as the pasha and Sheikh al-Balad. The Porte then allowed Abu-l-Dhahab to invade Syria to punish Zahir al-Umar for his alliance with Ali Bey. He left Ibrahim and Ismail Bey, who had deserted Ali, as deputies in Cairo. After the conquest of many various cities in Palestine, Abu-l-Dhahab died and Isamil Bey replaced him as Sheikh al-Balad. However, a conflict erupted between him and Ibrahim and Murad. Ismail was driven out of Egypt by Ibrahim and Murad who adopted the earlier system of power sharing between the Amri al-Hajj and Sheikh al-Balad. Soon a conflict that threatened to escalate to war erupted between Murad and Ibrahim. The war was avoided when the Porte sent a force to restore the supremacy of the Ottomans in 1786. Murad Bey tried to resist but suffered defeat and soon he and Ibrahim were forced to flee to upper Egypt. On 1^st August, Cezayirli Gazi, a Turkish commander entered Cairo to restore Ottoman supremacy, restored Ismail to the position of Sheikh al-Balad and a new pasha was appointed. In 1791, Ismail Bey and a majority of his family were killed by a plague which raged in Cairo. As a result, Murad and Ibrahim Bey returned to their dual government and were still in power when Napoleon Bonaparte entere Egypt in 1798.

French Rule/Occupation

The French wanted to suppress the Mamluks and restore the Sublime Porte’s authority. As a result, whenever they conquered villages and towns, they required them to raise both the flag of the Republic of France and the Porte. During the Battle of the Nile, the French fleet was destroyed and their forces sent to Upper Egypt to capture Murad Bey failed. This made the Egyptians feel that after all, the French were not invincible. After a house tax was introduced on 22^nd October 1798, an insurrection began but was suppressed by Bonaparte with the help of Jean Bapstiste Kleber from Alexandria. In 1800 the French forces fought the Turks who wanted to restore Ottoman rule and were able to defeat them under Kleber. In the same year, Murad Bey died and was replaced by Osman Bey al-Bardisi. On 14^th June Kleber was killed by Suleiman al-Halabi. As such, General Jacques Francois took command of the French army. The French were eventually defeated by a coalition of British and Turkish forces and were forced to flee to Europe by 30^th August 1801.

Egypt Under Muhammad Ali

After the departure of the French, the Ottomans tried to destroy the power of the Mamluks. In spite of promises made to the British, the Ottomans ordered Huseyin Pasha to trick and kill the principal beys. As a result, the beys were invited to an entertainment event on board a Turksih ship which was later attacked. Some of the beys were injured and others killed. The British became very angry and threatened the Turks who then agreed to release the dead, imprisoned and wounded Egyptians to them. The beys who were imprisoned by Yusuf Pasha were also released after pressure from the British. Afterwards, a long civil war began between the Mamluks, Ottomans and the Albanians. The death of one of the Mamluks Al-Alfi enabled Muhammad Ali to take power over the Bedouins and defeat the Mamluks.

After acknowledging the power of the Ottoman Sultan over Egypt, Muhammad Ali began a campaign against the Saudis in 1811 which ended up in the captue of the Diriyah, the Saudi Capital in 1818 by his eldest son Ibrahim Pasha. During his absence, this representative in Cairo began the nationalization of land leading to mutinies which were suppressed through gifts to the leaders of the insurgents. State monopolies were also established to take control over the main products in the country.In 1820, Muhammad Ali began expanding towards Libya, Sudan and eventually Somalia. His rule faced various challenges including the Ahmad revolt of 1824 in Upper Egypt lead by Ahmed who declared himself to be a prophet. The revolt was crashed by Muhammad Ali who went on to impose order in the entire country.

In 1831, Ali began a war against the Ottoman sultan mainly because the sultan had refused to hand over Syria as promised in an earlier agreement. Under the leadership of his son Ibrahim, he was able to storm Acre on 27^th May 1832 and capture Resid Mehmed Pash on 22^nd December at Konya. Eventually, the sultan agreed to hand over Damascus, Itcheli, the pashaliks of Syria and the district of Adana to Muhammad Ali. As a result, Ali became the ruler of a nearly independent empire rangind from the Taurus Mountains to the Sudan. 

The imposition of Egyptian style of government in the new areas led to the revolt of the Sunni Arabs and the Syrian Druze. The revolts were quickly suppressed by Ali but succeeded in giving the Sultan hope that he could seek vengeance through the disaffected tribes. In 1839, the Sultan attempted to advance through the Syrian frontier but were quickly routed by Ibrahim. The success of Muhammad Ali made the European powers very nervous leading to their intervention during the 1840 Oriental Crisis where they defeated his army but did not remove him from power because of his opposition to the Ottoman Empire.

The European powers imposed a variety of restrictions on Muhammad Ali that made him their vassal. For instance, he was forbidden from maintaining a fleet and his army was limited to 18000 men. By the end of 1847, he had began to decline mentally and was no longer able to govern. As a result, the Porte acknowledged Ibrahim as the new ruler of the Pashalik but he died soon after in November 1848.

1848-1914

After the death of Ibrahim, his nephew Abbas I took over the government. Abbas initiated various reforms such as the end of the commercial monopolies system. The construction of the Alexandria-Cairo railway under the British also began under his rule. As a result of his opposition to European ways, he lived in seclusion until hew was killed by two of his slaves in July 1854. Abbas was succeed by his uncle Said Pasha, who was one of Muhammad Ali’s sons. During his rule, Said Pasha gave a concession to build the Suez Canal to the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps . Said Pasha died in January 1863 and was replaced by his nephew Ismail who was the son of Ibrahim Pasha. Ismail ruled Egypt from 1863 to 1879 as an extravagant king who went into bankruptcy and led to the occupation of Egypt by the European powers.

Ismail was deposed by the the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Amid II after pressure from the French and British governments which felt that Egypt had become increasingly lawless. He was replaced by his son Tewfik Pasha who was more pliable. In 1882, the British and the French sent war ships to Alexandria to support Tewfik who was under pressure and had been forced to flee to Alexandria by his own army. The army had began to take control of the government under Ahmed Urabi. By June 1892, the country had been taken over by the nationalists who rejected European domination had taken over the country. However, the British were able to defeat the army in September 1882 at Tell el Kebir and restored Tewfik back to power. The country remained under the occupation of the British until the Sultanate of Egypt, a British protectorate, was established in 1914 marking the official end of the Ottoman era in the country.