Egypt MODERN EGYPT
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Dayr al Bahri, ca. 1500 B.C.
Courtesy Martha Hopkins
The Neo-Mamluk Beylicate, 1760-98
Most scholars of Egyptian history now agree that the
political and economic changes that occurred in the early
nineteenth century had their origins not in the French invasion
of 1798 but rather in events that occurred in Egypt itself in the
latter half of the eighteenth century. At that time, political
and military power was consolidated in the hands of the Mamluk
Ali Bey al Kabir (1760-66) and his successor, Muhammad Bey Abu
adh Dhahab (1772-75). Before 1760 a balance of power and separate
spheres of influence were maintained by the Mamluk beylicate,
which controlled the civil administration and derived its
revenues from the rural tax farms, and by the Mamluks, who
dominated the military and derived their revenues from the urban
tax farms and the customs house.
In 1760 Ali Bey gained control of the military and drove the
sultan's governor from the country. He issued firmans
(decrees) in his own name, redirected the state revenues to his
own use, and attempted to recreate the medieval Mamluk empire by
invading Syria. In addition, Ali Bey tried to strengthen
commercial ties with Europe by encouraging trade and attempting
to open the Port of Suez to European shipping.
Ali Bey ruled only briefly, but his successors, especially
Muhammad Bey, continued his policies. These two beys effectively
eliminated Ottoman control and repositioned Egypt at the center
of a newly emerging network of international relationships that
embraced the lands of the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea
coasts, and Europe. Thus, Napoleon Bonaparte did not "open" an
isolated Egypt to the West, nor was Muhammad Ali Pasha in the
nineteenth century the originator of the policies responsible for
Egypt's transformation. Only Ali Bey's dramatic expulsion from
the country and Muhammad Bey's premature death of a fever
prevented them from using the authority they acquired to carry on
those policies that are associated with Egypt's revival in the
nineteenth century.
Data as of December 1990
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