Part 41

_Moslem Authorities._--Arabic literature being cosmopolitan, and Arabic authors accustomed to travel from place to place to collect traditions and obtain oral instruction from contemporary authorities, or else to enjoy the patronage of Maecenates, the literary history of Egypt cannot be dissociated from that of the other Moslem countries in which Arabic was the chief literary vehicle. Hence the list of authors connected with Egypt, which occupies pages 161-275 of Suyuti's work, _Husn al-muhadarah fi akhbari Misr wal-Qahirah_ (Cairo, 1321 A.H.), contains the names of persons like Mutanabbi, who stayed there for a short time in the service of some patron; Abu Tammam, who lived there before he acquired fame as a poet; 'Umara of Yemen, who came there at a mature age to spend some years in the service of Fatimite viziers; each of whom figures in lists of authors belonging to some other country also. So long as the centre of the Islamic world was not in Egypt, the best talent was attracted elsewhere; but after the fall of Bagdad, Cairo became the chief seat of Islamic learning, and this rank, chiefly owing to the university of Azhar, it has ever since continued to maintain. The following composed special histories of Egypt: Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, d. 257 A.H.; 'Abd al-Rahim b. Yunus, d. 347; Mahommed b. Yusuf al-Kindi, d. somewhat later; Ibn Zulaq, d. 387; 'Izz al-Mulk Mahommed al-Musabbihi, d. 420; Mahommed b. Salamah al-Qoda'i, d. 454; Jamal al-din 'Ali al-Qifti, d. 568; Jamal al-din al-Halabi, d. 623; 'Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, d. 629; Mahommed b. 'Abd al-Aziz al-Idrisi (history of Upper Egypt), d. 649; his son Ja'far (history of Cairo), d. 676; Ibn Sa'id, d. 685; Ibrahim b. Wasif Shah; Ibn al-Mutawwaj, d. 703; Mahommed b. Dani'al, d. 710; Ja'far b. Tha'lab Kamal al-din al-Adfu'i (history of Upper Egypt), d. 730; 'Abd al-Qarun al-Halabi, d. 735; Ibn Habib, d. 779; Ibn Duqmaq, d. 790; Ibn Tughan, Shihab al-din al-Auhadi, d. 790; Ibn al-Mulaqqin, d. 806; Maqrizi, Taqiyy al-din Ahmad, d. 840; Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, d. 852; al-Sakhawi, d. 902; Abu'l-Mahasin b. Taghribirdi, d. 874; Jalal al-din al-Suyuti, d. 911; Ibn Zunbul al-Rammal; Ibn Iyas, d. after 928; Mahommed b. Abi Surur, d. after 1017; Zain al-din al Karami, d. 1033; 'Abd al-Rahman Jabarti, d. after 1236. Of many of the Mameluke sultans there are special chronicles preserved in various European and Oriental libraries. The works of many of the authors enumerated are topographical and biographical as well as purely historical. To these there should be added the Survey of Egypt, called _al-tuhfah al-saniyyah_ of Ibn Ji'an, belonging to the time of Kait Bey; the treatise on the Egyptian constitution called _Zubdat Kashf al-Mamalik_, by Khalil al-Zahiri, of the same period; and the encyclopaedic work on the same subject called _Subh al-Insha_, by al-Qalqashandi, d. 821.

Arabic poetry is in the main encomiastic and personal, and from the beginning of the Omayyad period sovereigns and governors paid poets to celebrate their achievements; of those of importance who are connected with Egypt we may mention Nusaib, encomiast of 'Abd al-Aziz b. Merwan, d. 180; the greater Nashi (Abu l-Abbas 'Abdallah), d. 293; Ibn Tabataba, d. 345; Abu'l-Raqa'maq, encomiast of al-Mo'izz, d. 399; Sari' al-Dila ('Ali b. 'Abd al-Wahid), encomiast of the Fatimite al-Zahir, d. 412; Sanajat al-dauh (Mahommed b. al-Qasim), encomiast of Hakim; 'Ali b. 'Abbad al-Iskandari, encomiast of the vizier al-Afdal, executed by Hafiz; Ibn Qalaqis al-Iskandari, encomiast of the Ayyubites, d. 607; Muhaddhab b. Mameti, encomiast of the Ayyubites, d. 616; Ibn Sana' al-Mulk, encomiast of the Ayyubites, d. 658; Ibn al-Munajjim, d. 626; Ibn Matruh, encomiast of the Ayyubites, d. 654; Baha' al-din Zuhair, encomiast of al-Salih, d. 656; Ibn 'Ammar, d. 675; al-Mi'mar, d. 749; Ibn Nubatah, d. 768; Ibn Abi Hajalah, d. 776; Burhan al-din al-Qirati, d. 801; Ibn Mukanis, d. 864; Ibn Hijjah al-Hamawi, d. 837. Poets distinguished for special lines are al-Hakim b. Dani' al, d. 608, author of the Shadow-play; and al-Busiri (Mahommed b. Sa'id), d. 694, author of the ode in praise of the prophet called Burdah. The poets of Egypt are reckoned with those of Syria in the _Yatimah_ of Tha' alibi; a special work upon them was written by Ibn Fadl allah (d. 740); and a list of poets of the 11th century is given by Khafaji in his _Raihanat al-alibba_.

The needs of the Egyptian court produced a number of elegant letter-writers, of whom the most famous were 'Abd al-Rahim b. 'Ali al-Baisani, ordinarily known as al-Qadi' al-Fadil, d. 596, secretary of state to Saladin and other Ayyubite sultans; 'Imad al-din al-Ispahani, d. 597, also secretary of state and official chronicler; and Ibn 'Abd al-Zahir, d. 692, secretary of state to Bibars I. and succeeding sultans; he was followed by his son Fath al-din, to whom the title "Secret writer" was first given.

In the subject of law Egypt boasts that the Imam Shafi'i, founder of one of the schools, resided at Fostat from 195 till his death in 204; his system, though displaced for a time by that invented by the Fatimites, and since the Turkish conquest by the Hanifite system, has always been popular in Egypt: in Ayyubite times it was dominant, whereas in Mameluke times all four systems were officially recognized. The eminent jurists who flourished in Moslem Egypt form a very lengthy list. Among the Egyptian traditionalists the most eminent is Daraqutni, d. 385.

Among Egyptian mystics the most famous as authors are the poet Ibn al-Farid, d. 632, and Abd al-Wahhab Sha rani, d. 973. Abu'l-Hasan al-Shadhili (d. 656) is celebrated as the founder of the Shadhili order; but there were many others of note. The dictionary of physicians, compiled in the 7th century, enumerates nearly sixty men of science who resided in Egypt; the best-known among them are Sa'id b. Bitriq, Moses Maimonides and Ibn Baitar. Of Egyptian miscellaneous writers two of the most celebrated are Ibn Daqiq al'-id, d. 702, and Jalal al-din Suyuti.

_European Authorities._--For the Moslem conquest, A. J. Butler, _The Arab Conquest of Egypt_ (Oxford, 1902); for the period before the Fatimites, Wüstenfeld, "Die Statthalter von Ägypten," in _Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen_, vols. xx. and xxi.; for the Fatimite period, Wüstenfeld, "Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen," ibid. vols. xxvi. and xxvii.; for the Ayyubite period, Ibn Khallikan's _Biographical Dictionary_, translated by M'G. de Slane (London, 1842-1871); for the Mameluke period, Weil, _Geschichte der Chalifen_, vols. iv. and v. (also called _Geschichte des Abbasidenchalifats in Ägypten_), (Stuttgart, 1860-1862); Sir W. Muir, _The Mameluke or Slave Dynasty of Egypt_ (London, 1896); for the Turkish period, G. Zaidan, _History of Modern Egypt_ (Arabic), vol. ii. (Cairo, 1889). See also Maqrizi, _Description topographique et historique de l'Égypte_, translated by Bouriant (Paris, 1895, &c.); C. H. Becker, _Beiträge zur Geschichte Ägyptens_ (Strassburg, 1902). (D. S. M.*)

Battle of the Nile.

(9) _From the French Occupation to the Rise of Mehemet Ali._--The ostensible object of the French expedition to Egypt was to reinstate the authority of the Sublime Porte, and suppress the Mamelukes; and in the proclamation printed with the Arabic types brought from the Propaganda press, and issued shortly after the taking of Alexandria, Bonaparte declared that he reverenced the prophet Mahomet and the Koran far more than the Mamelukes reverenced either, and argued that all men were equal except so far as they were distinguished by their intellectual and moral excellences, of neither of which the Mamelukes had any great share. In future all posts in Egypt were to be open to all classes of the inhabitants; the conduct of affairs was to be committed to the men of talent, virtue, and learning; and in proof of the statement that the French were sincere Moslems the overthrow of the papal authority in Rome was alleged. That there might be no doubt of the friendly feeling of the French to the Porte, villages and towns which capitulated to the invaders were required to hoist the flags of both the Porte and the French republic, and in the thanksgiving prescribed to the Egyptians for their deliverance from the Mamelukes, prayer was to be offered for both the sultan and the French army. It does not appear that the proclamation convinced many of the Egyptians of the truth of these professions. After the battle of Ambabah, at which the forces of both Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey were dispersed, the populace readily plundered the houses of the beys, and a deputation was sent from al-Azhar to Bonaparte to ascertain his intentions; these proved to be a repetition of the terms of his proclamation, and, though the combination of loyalty to the French with loyalty to the sultan was unintelligible, a good understanding was at first established between the invaders and the Egyptians. A municipal council was established in Cairo, consisting of persons taken from the ranks of the sheiks, the Mamelukes and the French; and presently delegates from Alexandria and other important towns were added. This council did little more than register the decrees of the French commander, who continued to exercise dictatorial power. The destruction of the French fleet at the battle of the Nile, and the failure of the French forces sent to Upper Egypt (where they reached the first cataract) to obtain possession of the person of Murad Bey, shook the faith of the Egyptians in their invincibility; and in consequence of a series of unwelcome innovations the relations between conquerors and conquered grew daily more strained, till at last, on the occasion of the introduction of a house tax, an insurrection broke out in Cairo on the 22nd of October 1798, of which the headquarters were in the Moslem university of Azhar. On this occasion the French general Dupuy, lieutenant-governor of Cairo, was killed. The prompt measures of Bonaparte, aided by the arrival from Alexandria of General J. B. Kléber, quickly suppressed this rising; but the stabling of the French cavalry in the mosque of Azhar gave great and permanent offence. In consequence of this affair, the deliberative council was suppressed, but on the 25th of December a fresh proclamation was issued, reconstituting the two divans which had been created by the Turks; the special divan was to consist of 14 persons chosen by lot out of 60 government nominees, and was to meet daily. The general divan was to consist of functionaries, and to meet on emergencies.

In consequence of despatches which reached Bonaparte on the 3rd of January 1799, announcing the intention of the Porte to invade the country with the object of recovering it by force, Bonaparte resolved on his Syrian expedition, and appointed governors for Cairo, Alexandria, and Upper Egypt, to govern during his absence. From that ill-fated expedition he returned at the beginning of June. Advantage had been taken of this opportunity by Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey to collect their forces and attempt a joint attack on Cairo, but this Bonaparte arrived in time to defeat, and in the last week of July he inflicted a crushing defeat on the Turkish army that had landed at Aboukir, aided by the British fleet commanded by Sir Sidney Smith. Shortly after his victory Bonaparte left Egypt, having appointed Kléber to govern in his absence, which he informed the sheiks of Cairo was not to last more than three months. Kléber himself regarded the condition of the French invaders as extremely perilous, and wrote to inform the French republic of the facts. A double expedition shortly after Bonaparte's departure was sent by the Porte for the recovery of Egypt, one force being despatched by sea to Damietta, while another under Yusuf Pasha took the land route from Damascus by al-Arish. Over the first some success was won, in consequence of which the Turks agreed to a convention (signed January 24, 1800), by virtue of which the French were to quit Egypt. The Turkish troops advanced to Bilbeis, where they were received by the sheiks from Cairo, and the Mamelukes also returned to that city from their hiding-places. Before the preparations for the departure of the French were completed, orders came to Sir Sidney Smith from the British government, forbidding the carrying out of the convention unless the French army were treated as prisoners of war; and when these were communicated to Kléber he cancelled the orders previously given to the troops, and proceeded to put the country in a state of defence. His departure with most of the army to attack the Turks at Mataria led to riots in Cairo, in the course of which many Christians were slaughtered; but the national party were unable to get possession of the citadel, and Kléber, having defeated the Turks, was soon able to return to the capital. On the 14th of April he bombarded Bulak, and proceeded to bombard Cairo itself, which was taken the following night. Order was soon restored, and a fine of twelve million francs imposed on the rioters. Murad Bey sought an interview with Kléber and succeeded in obtaining from him the government of Upper Egypt. He died shortly afterwards and was succeeded by Osman Bey al-Bardisi.

On the 14th of June Kléber was assassinated by a fanatic named Suleiman of Aleppo, said to have been incited to the deed by a Janissary refugee at Jerusalem, who had brought letters to the sheiks of the Azhar, who, however, refused to give him any encouragement. Three of these, nevertheless, were executed by the French as accessories before the fact, and the assassin himself was impaled, after torture, in spite of a promise of pardon having been made to him on condition of his naming his associates. The command of the army then devolved on General J. F. (Baron de) Menou (1750-1810), a man who had professed Islam, and who endeavoured to conciliate the Moslem population by various measures, such as excluding all Christians (with the exception of one Frenchman) from the divan, replacing the Copts who were in government service by Moslems, and subjecting French residents to taxes. Whatever popularity might have been gained by these measures was counteracted by his declaration of a French protectorate over Egypt, which was to count as a French colony.

French evacuation.

In the first weeks of March 1801 the English, under Sir R. Abercromby, effected a landing at Aboukir, and proceeded to invest Alexandria, where on the 21st they were attacked by Menou; the French were repulsed, but the English commander was mortally wounded in the action. On the 25th fresh reinforcements arrived under Husain, the Kapudan Pasha, or high admiral; and a combined English and Turkish force was sent to take Rosetta. On the 30th of May, General A. D. Belliard, who had been left in charge at Cairo, was assailed on two sides by the British forces under General John Hely Hutchinson (afterwards 2nd earl of Donoughmore), and the Turkish under Yusuf Pasha; after negotiations Belliard agreed to evacuate Cairo and to sail with his 13,734 troops to France. On the 30th of August, Menou at Alexandria was compelled to accept similar conditions, and his force of 10,000 left for Europe in September. This was the termination of the French occupation of Egypt, of which the chief permanent monument was the _Description de l'Égypte_, compiled by the French savants who accompanied the expedition. Further than this, "it brought to the attention of a few men in Egypt a keen sense of the great advantage of an orderly government, and a warm appreciation of the advance that science and learning had made in Europe" (Hajji Browne, _Bonaparte in Egypt and the Egyptians of to-day_, 1907, p. 268).

British, Turks and Mamelukes.

Soon after the evacuation of Egypt by the French, the country became the scene of more severe troubles, in consequence of the attempts of the Turks to destroy the power of the Mamelukes. In defiance of promises to the British government, orders were transmitted from Constantinople to Husain Pasha, the Turkish high admiral, to ensnare and put to death the principal beys. Invited to an entertainment, they were, according to the Egyptian contemporary historian al-Jabarti, attacked on board the flag-ship; Sir Robert Wilson and M. F. Mengin, however, state that they were fired on, in open boats, in the Bay of Aboukir. They offered an heroic resistance, but were overpowered, and some killed, some made prisoners; among the last was Osman Bey al-Bardisi, who was severely wounded. General Hutchinson, informed of this treachery, immediately assumed threatening measures against the Turks, and in consequence the killed, wounded and prisoners were given up to him. At the same time Yusuf Pasha arrested all the beys in Cairo, but was shortly compelled by the British to release them. Such was the beginning of the disastrous struggle between the Mamelukes and the Turks.

Mahommed Khosrev was the first Turkish governor of Egypt after the expulsion of the French. The form of government, however, was not the same as that before the French invasion, for the Mamelukes were not reinstated. The pasha, and through him the sultan, endeavoured on several occasions either to ensnare them or to beguile them into submission; but these efforts failing, Mahommed Khosrev took the field, and a Turkish detachment 7000 strong was despatched against them to Damanhur, whither they had descended from Upper Egypt, and was defeated by a small force under al-Alfi; or, as Mengin says, by 800 men commanded by al-Bardisi, when al-Alfi had left the field. Their ammunition and guns fell into the hands of the Mamelukes.

In March 1803 the British evacuated Alexandria, and Mahommed Bey al-Alfi accompanied them to England to consult respecting the means to be adopted for restoring the former power of the Mamelukes, who meanwhile took Minia and interrupted communication between Upper and Lower Egypt. About six weeks after, the Arnaut (or Albanian) soldiers in the service of Khosrev tumultuously demanded their pay, and surrounded the house of the defterdar (or finance minister), who in vain appealed to the pasha to satisfy their claims. The latter opened fire from the artillery of his palace on the insurgent soldiery in the house of the defterdar, across the Ezbekia. The citizens of Cairo, accustomed to such occurrences, immediately closed their shops, and every man who possessed any weapon armed himself. The tumult continued all the day, and the next morning a body of troops sent out by the pasha failed to quell it. Tahir, the commander of the Albanians, then repaired to the citadel, gained admittance through an embrasure, and, having obtained possession of it, began to cannonade the pasha over the roofs of the intervening houses, and then descended with guns to the Ezbekia and laid close siege to the palace. On the following day Mahommed Khosrev made good his escape, with his women and servants and his regular troops, and fled to Damietta by the river. This revolt marks the beginning in Egypt of the breach between the Albanians and Turks, which ultimately led to the expulsion of the latter, and of the rise to power of the Albanian Mehemet Ali (q.v.), who was destined to rule the country for nearly forty years and be the cause of serious European complications.

First appearance of Mehemet Ali.

Tahir Pasha assumed the government, but in twenty-three days he met with his death from exactly the same cause as that of the overthrow of his predecessor. He refused the pay of certain of the Turkish troops, and was immediately assassinated. A desperate conflict ensued between the Albanians and Turks; and the palace was set on fire and plundered. The masters of Egypt were now split into these two factions, animated with the fiercest animosity against each other. Mehemet Ali, then in command of an Albanian regiment, became the head of the former, but his party was the weaker, and he therefore entered into an alliance with the Mameluke leaders Ibrahim Bey and 'Osman Bey al-Bardisi. A certain Ahmed Pasha, who was about to proceed to a province in Arabia, of which he had been appointed governor, was raised to the important post of pasha of Egypt, through the influence of the Turks and the favour of the sheiks; but Mehemet Ali, who with his Albanians held the citadel, refused to assent to their choice; the Mamelukes moved over from El-Giza, whither they had been invited by Tahir Pasha, and Ahmed Pasha betook himself to the mosque of al-Zahir, which the French had converted into a fortress. He was compelled to surrender by the Albanians; the two chiefs of the Turks who killed Tahir Pasha were taken with him and put to death, and he himself was detained a prisoner. In consequence of the alliance between Mehemet Ali and al-Bardisi, the Albanians gave the citadel over to the Mamelukes; and soon after, these allies marched against Khosrev Pasha, who having been joined by a considerable body of Turks, and being in possession of Damietta, was enabled to offer an obstinate resistance. After much loss on both sides, he was taken prisoner and brought to Cairo; but he was treated with respect. The victorious soldiery sacked the town of Damietta, and were guilty of the barbarities usual with them on such occasions.

The Mamelukes and Ali Pasha.