Egypt FROM AUTONOMY TO OCCUPATION: ISMAIL, TAWFIQ, AND THE URABI REVOLT
Gold mask of Tutankhamen, bearing symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt
Courtesy Boris Boguslavsky
Khedive Ismail, 1863-79
No ruler of Egypt, except Gamal Abdul Nasser, has provoked
such controversy in the West as Ismail. At the time, the antiIsmail view was held mainly by British administrators like Evelyn
Baring (Lord Cromer) and Lord Alfred Milner, who depicted him as
squeezing the peasants for money by oppressive taxation and the
whip, and "ruining Egypt" by his lavish spending and despotic
ways. Journalists and the American consuls in Egypt such as Edwin
de Leon held a more balanced view, arguing that Ismail inherited
an unfavorable Suez Canal agreement and a significant public and
private debt from his uncle, Said. They noted that although
Ismail spent lavishly, much of the money he borrowed from
European bankers was used for building or repairing the country's
infrastructure. They also pointed out that European bankers and
financiers loaned money to Egypt at usurious interest rates and,
when it seemed Egypt would be unable to repay the loans, urged
their governments to intervene to protect their interests.
Ismail's goals for Egypt were similar to those of his
grandfather, Muhammad Ali. He wanted Egypt to become virtually
independent of the Ottoman Empire, a political and military power
in the eastern Mediterranean and an economic partner of Europe.
Ismail achieved a considerable degree of independence from the
Porte (from Sublime Porte, the term for the High Gate that came
to be synonymous with the Ottoman government) by making large
payments to the Ottoman treasury. For example, in return for
increasing Egypt's annual payment to the Ottoman treasury from
£175,000 to £400,000, Sultan Abdul Aziz allowed Ismail to change
the rule of succession from the oldest surviving male heir of
Muhammad Ali to direct male primogeniture in his family. The
sultan also granted Ismail the formal title of khedive, which
elevated his standing to a position closer to royalty.
Ismail's attempt to make Egypt independent foundered
eventually because of the gap between the revenues the country
could produce and the expenses necessary to achieve his goals. He
attempted to generate more income by increasing agricultural
productivity, chiefly by bringing more land into cultivation
through expensive irrigation projects such as the construction of
canals and dams. During his reign, an additional 506,000 hectares
were brought under cultivation, representing a sizeable increase
in both production and income.
To service the cotton crop, which was the basis of Egypt's
prosperity, roads, bridges, railways, harbors, and telegraph
lines had to be constructed. During Ismail's reign, 112 canals,
13,440 kilometers long, were dug; 400 bridges were built; 480
kilometers of railroad lines were laid; and 8,000 kilometers of
telegraph lines were erected. Towns and cities were modernized by
the expansion of public services such as water distribution,
transport, street lighting, and gas supply. Public education was
reorganized and expanded, and a postal service was established.
The army and bureaucracy were expanded and modernized. In short,
Ismail undertook the construction of the infrastructure of a
modern state.
Ismail greatly expanded Egypt's revenues and exports during
his reign. But the country's prosperity was tied to the export of
cotton, whose price was set on a fluctuating world market, making
income uncertain. Moreover, Ismail's infrastructure development
entailed more expenditure than Egypt's income could provide, with
the result that he was obliged to contract foreign loans. These
loans, added to the expensive concessions that Said had made
concerning the Suez Canal, meant that by 1875 Egypt was £100
million in debt. In that year, Ismail sold his shares in the Suez
Canal Company, making the British government overnight the single
largest shareholder in the company. The sale of Ismail's shares
did not solve the country's financial problems, however, but
merely staved off the crisis for another year.
Data as of December 1990
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