THE, CAMBRIDGE,HISTORY OF

T,GYPT++

VOLUMI] 2

Modem Egypt, frour t 5r7to the end of

the twentieth century

)+

EDITED BY

M. \U. DALY

CaunnrDG[llNMrIl,Sl'llY PITESS

t1?t/

PTIBI,ISHID BY'TIIE PRESS SYNDICATE OI''IHE UNIVERSIl-Y OF CAMBRIDGE'l-he l)itt lluildirrg,'l'rurrrpingr.. Street, Car,bridge cBz rRp; Unitecl Kingclonr

CAMBRIDGE T'NIVEITSI-T'Y PRESSThe Eclirrbtrrgh Builcling, Canrbridge cBz 2.nu, Uniterl Kingdorn

l.rt t;:r://www.c up.ca rn. ac. u k4o $7est zoth Srreer, N1w V.or.!, Nr roorr_42rr, USA http://ww.w.cup.org

ro Starnford lload, Oakleigtr, IVlelbourne 1t66, Australia

@ Canrbridge lJniversity press r 999

l'lris lxrok is in.c.pyrighr. suhject to staturor.y exceptio. a,d to the provisi.,soI relevarrt collective li

ra k e p r a c e w i r rr o' r, r :T I liH ?:T;i :ff ; :: tT;',,i'i['Jl;l: :J,l';:Jll,

CONTENTS

++

Notes on contributors ixPreface xi

Nole on transliteration xiiiMap: Egypt, the Nilotic Sudan, and tbe Hijaz xit,

r Ottoman Egypt, r5z5-t6o9 rMICIIAEL \vIN'I'ER

2 Ilgypt in the seventeenth century

J A NI] IIATIIAWAY

3 ligypt in the e ighteentll centuryI)ANI I] I- CITECI]LI tIS

4 Culture in Ottoman Egypt 87

NELLY IIANNA

-5 The French occupation of Egypt, r798-r.8or t r3DAITITELL DYKSTRA

6 The era of Muhammad'Ali Pasha, r8o5- r848 r j9KHAI,ED FAIIMY

Egypt under the successors of Muharnmad 'Ali r8oF. ROBER'f HUNTER

'flre ligyptian ernpire, I 8o5*r 885 t 9l]IIASSAN ATIATIiI) IBI(AII IIlI

First published r998

Prirrted in Great Britain at the University press, Cantbridge

Typeset in Sabon 9.51 rzpt lcrl

A cataktgue record for this book is auailable frorr the Britisb Library

The Canrbritlge hisroq, of Egypr / general editor, M. W. Daly.

Irrcluttes lriHi.;;rp;,[;l references.Clontents: v. r. lslanric Egypt, 6 4o-t 57 r / editetl by Carl F. petry.

rsBN o f2r 47 r37 c: (hblr. Egypt - I Iistory. r. Daly, M. W. tr. perrry, Carl F., 1943_

,,,-i:::';:-,;l:: .,"

IsltNo 5zr 47Lrt t harrlhack

34

t9

vll

It.gypt irr tbe saenteetlh ce,thtry

ancl delayed the imperial troops' salaries; consequently, soldiery revolts' inparticular among the imperial Jauissaries, became increasingly contnton. Itt

the couutryside, inflatior-r conrbined with overpoprrlation to for:ce land-

holding cavalry officers and peasants off the land in what was clubbed the

Great Flight.s This upheaval coincided with a series of costly wars against

the Hapsburgs (r591-t6o6) that ended iu stalentate.5 To counter the

I-lapsburgs' firepower, the Ottotrans had armed peasants with lifles; in

consequence, firearms spread tlrroughout tl're countryside,T enabling dis-

possessed landholders to turn to briganclage and to offer their services as

rnercenaries. 'fhe resulting wave of lawlessness throtrghout Anatolia at rl-re

end of the sixteenth century has come to be known collectively as the ittlali(cela/i) rebellions.s

In brief, the Ottoman empire responded to the crisis of the late sixteenth

century by tr:anslbrming itself from a rnilitary conquest state into a bureart-

cratic state and bastion of Surrni lslam. ln this regard, Ottoman cotrtrol o[Egypt and the Hijaz, though aclrieved during an era of unprecetlented

territorial expansion, contribr"rred to the etnpire's new role by giving the

Ottoman sultan responsibility for the well-bcirrg of the lroly cities of Mecca

and Medina. Changes in court routine played their part, as well. lly the end

o[ the sixteenth century, the Ottornan court hacl grown more sedentary,

venturing less ancl less frequently outside the walls of Topkrpi palace inIstanbul. The sultan's increasirrg sequestratiotr gave other palace elemettts,

notably palace wonren and euttuchs, and various nrinisters, ot viziers, the

opportunity to establish their own power bases, whether within the palace,

ielsewheLe in the imperi:rl capital, or in the Ottotnau provirtces. All these

figures cultivated their own entourag,es, or households, which functioned as

competing loci of political and ecortornic itrflrrerrce.e

Ottoman nrilitary victories in the sevetrteenth century, particttlarly the

5 M.A.Cook,PopulationPressrneinRru'alAnntolit,r4So-t6oo(I-ondorr,NewYork,and Oxford, r97z); Suraiya Faroqhi, with Leila Erder, "l'opulatiorr Rise and l]all inAnatolia, r55o-r5zo," NlitlLlle F-asternStudies, r1(19791,1t2'45; F-aroqhi, part zo[Inalcik (ed.) with Quataert, Econontic and Socid flistory, 4)3-4r.

6 The tortuous cliplonracy is described by the I lapsbrrrg artrbassador Ogier Chiselirr tle

Busbectl irr'|'be'hr*ish Letters of Ogier Ghiselfu de Busbecq,etl. and trans. l-'1. S. Forster

(Oxford and London, 19681,64,79, zt4-t8. See also Irraleik, Clossical Age,4z-11.7 I {alil Inalcik, "The Socio-Political Effects of the t)iffusion of Fire-Arms in the Middte

[,ast," irr V. J. Parry and lvlalcolrn Yapp (eds.), Wor,'I'ecbnology and Society in the

Midtlle East (Lontlon, r 97 5 ); FIalil Inalcik, "lililita ry arrd Fisca I 'l'ransfortnation itr the

Ottonran linrpire, r6oo-r7oo," Arcbirnmt Otlorrrtttriann,5 (r98o), 286-88.8 lr,lustafaAkdaf,CeLrliisyanlan(t5so-r6o3i (Ankara,1951);Faroqhi,partzofInalcik

(ed.) with Quataert, Economic and Social History,433-+r; Suraiya lraroqlri, "RuralSociety in Anatolia and tlie Balkans during the Sixteenth Century," parts r arttl r,Turcica, 9 119771, t6t-96, and tr lr979l, ao1'- srt lnalcik, C/cssica I Age, 5o- 5t.

e l'eirce, T'be lnryerial llarenr, rS9-77i Metin Kunt, 'fbe Sultar's Seruaus: TlrcTransfonrntion of ()ttottrdrt Prouireiil Gouerunrctl, t I So- 155o (New York, r981),esp. chap. 5 anJ conclrrsion.

15

Egypt ir-r the seventeenth centr-rry

JANE HATHAWAY

++

i

Ottoman transfitnnatirtn and Egypt's changing role

The severlteenth century was an era of rnomentous change for all provirrceso[ tlre Ottoman ernpire, as the ernpire came t() the end of the phase o[contiuuous territt'rrial expansion that lrad stretchecl from the mid-lifteenthcentury through tlre late sixteenth century.r 'l'he end of this plrase o[exparrsion has until recently been construed as the onset of the Ottomanempire's decline.2 A critical reexarnination of the so-called decline paradigm,however, has lecl sonre historians of the Ottonran empire to abandon thenotion of an inrperial goltlen age under Srrltan Sulaynran I (r5zo-66), and tolecast the course o[ Ottornan history in terms of a late sixteenth-centuryfiscal arrtl nrilirary crisis followed by an adjrrstnrent of imper:ial priorities.3

'l he crisis of the late sixteenth century changed the character of Ottourannrilitary uranpower ancl land tenrrrc. (lonfronted with nrassive inflation,thotrglrt to have lesulted at lcast in prart from arr inllux of Spanish Americansilver,a tlre irnperial treasury debased rhe Ottonran silver cun'ency (aqcbal

I Foranoverview,see,forexarnple, IIalil Inalcik,partrof thlil Inalcik(ed.) withDonald(.!urtaert, An EcurtntiL'. and Socirtl Histu'y af the Ottouan Enrpire, t3oo-r9r4(Carrrlrritlge and New York, r994), rr-zz; IIalil Inalcik, lte Ottortr,rttl;,tnpire:T'heClassitnl Age, r 3oo- r 6oo, trans. Normal ltzkowitz antl Colin lnrber (l-ondon, r 973 ),z1- 40'

2 Sec, frrr exanrple, Inalcik, part r o[ Inalcik (erl.) with Qrrrtaert, Econonric ard SocialIlislory, zz-25; ltalcik, C/.rssrcal t\ge,4t-5zi Bernard [,ewis, The l)mergence oflvloJernTurkel,, znd ed. (Lonrkrn, Oxford, and New York, r968), zr-39.

I See,forexample,SuraiyaFaroqlri,partzof Iualcik(etl.)withQuataert, EcottotnicarulSocial llistory,4tl-r4,468-7o, 57L-7)i [.eslie P. Peirce, 1'be Inrperial l-Iarem: Genderoul SoueteiSn1,in the ()ttorttrtl Errpp'e (New York a,cl Oxford, i99t), r jl-8Jil)ouglas A. I Ioward, "Ottonran I{istoriography antl tlrc Literature of 'Decline'of tlreSixtcentlr and Seventeentlr Ceuturies,"./olrnil of AsiLrrr Ilistory, tz (r9881, 5z-77.{ ()rrrer Lutfi Barkan, "'fhe Price Revolutiou o[ the Sixteenth Century: A Turning Point intlre Ectrnornic I listory of the Near East," Intentilionil Jottrnal of lvliddle East Studies, G

(tgtsl, t 28.

)4

16 JANE TTATTTAWAY

conquest of Crete in 1669 and Mrrracl IV's recapture of Baghdad in r618,served chiefly to reinforce the eurpire's allthority in the eastern Mediter-ranean and to confirm its position of dorninance vis-i-vis the Shi'ite Safavid

ernpire in lran. lronically, lrowever, Ottonran military victories and defratsalike dealt a blow to Egypt's strategic position in the Mediterranean andRecl Sea. h r616, the Zaydi Slri'ite inranrs, who had enioyed a stronghokl in

northenr Yenren since tlre fourteenth cerrtury, swept southward, routing the

Ottornan forces frorn southern Yemetr after some fifty years of intermittentwarfare.l0 The Ottornans would not regaitr their foothold in Yemen untilthe rnid-nineteenilr centirry. Meanwhile, tlre weakening of Portugal's mari-time prowess drastically reduced tlre Porttrguese threat to Ottoman shippingin the l(etl Sea aud Indiarr Ocean and thrrs tlre need for Egyptian expeditionsagairrst the Portuguese. In t669, Ottoman forces Gnally took the Venetianfortress at Candia on Crete after a twenty-6r,e-year siege. Egyptian con-tingerrts continued to perform nropping-up ()perations and garrison dtrty on

Crete,ll while coffee fronr tlre Yerrreni port o[ Mocha revitalizecl comnrerce

in tlre Ilecl Sea and eastern Ntecliterrarrearr.l2 Nonetheless, the tlisengagement

of irrrperial armies frotn active conrbat in these theaters dirninished Egypt's

strategic irnportance in the region. Disengagernent also deprived Egypt's

nrilitary granclees of an outlet for tlreir follou,ers' military er-rergies. Tlreculnrination of this trencl canre with the clebacle at Vienna in r681, when the

armies of the Hnpslrurg erlpire ancl its allies broke the Ottoman siege of the

city ancl swept through a swatch of Ottonran territory stretching throughllungary to llelgrade. 'fl-ris rout restrltecl in a mass redistribution of Ottomansoldiery, rnany of whom sought their forrunes in tigypt. Under these altered

circtrursfances, ligypt's chief inrportance to the Ottom:rn ernpirc during tlre

seveuteenth centrlry shiftecl frorn tlrat of a staging area and source of militaryrranpower to that of leaclirrg supplier of revenue to thc imperial treasrrry anderluigrper of the anrrual pilgrimage caravan to the holy citics o[ Mecca andIt'leclina. The formatiou of ligypt's n.rilitary elite ancl rivalries within thatelite woulcl henceforth hinge on these tr,vo issues.

1"he transfor'rndtiotx of Egypt's ntilitary slils''l-he transftrrnlatiorls afoot irr tlre Ottoman capital ancl the Ottonran ernpire'sheartlancl hacl a proiound effect on ligypt's nrilitary society, whose demo-

1o On tlre Zaydi inranrs, see Fuad lshaq Klruri, Innnts ond Entit's: State, Religiott, tuulSeetsinlslam (Lontlon, r99ol,tzo;Paull)resch,'l-ribes,Gouernnrcnt,andHistoryitlYerreru (()x[ord, r9891, t98-99.

ll See, for exanrple, Istanlrul, Bagbakanlrk Osrnanh Argivi, lvliihinrrue clefteri, vol.99, uo.

75 (.r.n. rror/c.t. r589).r2 Arrtlr6 Raynrontl, Le (hire des .lnnissaires: L'Apogie de la uille otlottrttne sous lAbd al'

Ralnnm Katkbuda (l'aris, r995), 55-56.

Egypt in the seuenteentb ce'fittry 17

graphic cotnposition and politicrl rivalries- were already highly tlistinctive'

ifr., .onq,,.ring Egypt, Si,ltn,, S'li''' I had i,c.rporated t6ose tnenrbers o[

the Mamluk fories w1rn pr,fessecl l.yalty to t5e Ottomaus irrto the a<lnrinis-

trations of Egypt and Syria. Before he rettltned to lstanbrrl' tnoreover' lre

f"r,lon.d . ,-,-un.,lr.r, of 6efeated Mamltrks a,cl allowecl thern to reurain in'Bgypr.r, These rehabilitated N4amluk antirs cotrtirluc(l to ptrrchase rrrilitary

,tiu.r, ", nmr.riluks,fro,r the r:egio^ of the Clattcastrs. Later in tlre sixtee,th

century, perhaps to prevent the undtte infltrence of the rehabilitatecl

Mu,-,1l.,ks-a.r,l their .li.,rts, lhe Ottotlran governtlrerlt attetttptecl to "Otto-

manize" the rank of saniaq beyi itt lrgypt by limiting it to officers of the

ij1,u"rr1,"', reginrert and tlie recertly i.trotluced N{,tafarriqa reginrent, all

of whom were recruited from tlre inrperial palace.la Nonetlreless, it seerlls

likely that these Ottonran beys of Chavush and N{utafarriqa origin' like tlre

fornier Mamlrrk arnirs, purchasetl nmniluks from the caucasus for rheir

retinues. Thus, by the r61os, the C)ttonran traveler E'vliya Qelebi reports tlrat

there are many Circassians irr E'gypt'1

\Uhile Caucasian tmmlttks were evidently still flowing into llgypt' the

province was receiving an influx of nrilitary antl atttllinistrative pcrsonnel

frorn the otronran empire's Anatolian and Ilalkan regiotls. Tolvartl the

beginning of the seventeenth century, fl,eeittg ialali rebels and opportunistic

rnJrcenar"ies, as well as tlispossessed peasants, migrated to Egypt' Mauy

enrolled in the ligyptir,-, g"r'iso'-' forces as a mealls of securing regular

salaries while plying various petty tracles on the si(le. Sirnilar relocations

continuedtlrr.oughouttlrccentttry.[rrtlreearlyclecadesofthecentury,following the protracted wars against the llapsllrrgs' Egypt' like other

Ou.,*"ri p..rrin..., absorbecl a wave o[ denrobilizecl irnperial s.ltliery as

Qapt,tqltllari,ortroopsfr.orntheir.rrperialcapital,spreacltlrrotrglrorrttltei-pir..it A .unrber oi Arabic a.d Turkish chronicles speak ()f a qtrintet .f.o*ay .ol.ti..s fronr the iruperial capital who ran anrok in cairo clur:ing the

r66os.'l'lrey were known astltc an'ub, an Arabicizctl pltrral of the -ftrrkish

*ond znrbo, or ,.rebel."l7 Melnwhile, 1'ttrcophone btlreatlcrats of variotts

!r OntheOttomanco.questofl,igyptancl itseffects,seeMrrlranturadihnAhrnatl ibnlyas,

A), A"ror,rt of tl,e o/tonan ( Jnquest of F'g1'pt i!.the Yetr AII gtz (AD t t r5)' trarrs'

w. H. S"t,..r, (l-orrclon, rgrr); I[rIr lyas,Joruual 'l'uu bourgeois du Caire' trans'(]aston

Wiet, z vols. (Paris, r95 5)iJean-Lotl tlotqta Gran-tntont' l'es Ottomans' les Safartide s

)t'l"i,u lnir;,rrtr".nb,if, ivszt, t89',99, zo6-o7;P' lvl l{olt' Egvpt and the fettile

Cresceti, t5t6- tgzz: A Political Ilislory (lthaca, ry661' 11-45'rn MUlriur,r.i"fteri,vol.5,no.487 (t.n.9t7t/t'..s-. r564);vol. L9'11o.9 (nH'984/c't'

1576)' r*

" f'"iiyo C"t.fri , Et'liya Qelelti se)'ahatnantesi' etl Ahnled Cevdet' ro vols' (lstanbul'

r88tt-r938), Yll,7t7.rr ijf1l ;'frifitrry rn,i l:iscal Transfott,ation," 288-9r; tnalcik' Classical Age '.5r' .

" ;;t;,;;;, khl,u, nl-"u"'*"'ob rntu datulat Al 'Lltlmran ltin hit istattla'41i4'ba al-

sultattsdlinrKlrarr,lstanbttl,TopkapiPalaceLibrary'MSllazirtet6zl'f'osz9tfi;Nlrh",.nro.l ib, yusuf al-l iallaq, iarih-i httxr-t Krrbire, Istanbrrl [lniversity L.ilrrary,

i9Iti .l ANE rrA ItrAvAY

cthrric origitrs arrivecl ilr Clairo to sta[[ the provineial atLnirristration, an(l tlie()ftorrrarr B()vcrlr()rs frarrsJrorterl their o."vn siz,ablc ent<ttrragcs to C)airo.Scveral seventeeuth ce,,t,,i) g()venlors rvere tlispltchecl to Itgypt witlr largecorrrplerncnts of irrrperial tr()()[]s, rrrrrrrbering as nlany irs z,ooo, to perforurspecific rnissiorrs.ls -l'hcse tr(){)lls werc a nro{lcy crerv oI Arratolirrn'l'trrks;13:rlkarr yrrrrtlrs recnritctl tlrrough tlte tleusbirnrc, tlrc classicaI Ottonrannlelll()(l of collectirrg nort-lvluslinr boys frorrr concluerecl territriricsl irucl

vrrt iorrs l rrrkic arrd Krrrtlislr tribal levies.'llrcse rlenrographic changes occurre.-l zrl a tinre rvlrt-n [:',gypt's systent ()[

l,irril terrtrre antl rcverrrre allotnrent was untlergoirrg a grarlual yet prcfotrndtrans[or urati()n, rgairr cornparable ttr changes teking place irr tlie Ottouranerrrpire at large.'['he classical Ottonran lirrar systcnr, whereby a cavalryol:liccr rvas assigned the ustrfr:uct of a piece oI lantl in exclrarrge fol raisirrg a

ccrfirirr rrtrrnlrer of trool-rs, hatl rrevcr lreen extentled to l].gypt. In tlre eirrly

),ears ()i ()ttorrran nrle, taxes were collectcd clircctly lry functionariesaplroirrtetl lronr Istarrlrul, kn<lrvn as tttrritrs, lly the sevt:ntccnth cclltrtry, thesystcnr ()f orrtitts wtrs givilrg way to t:rx-falrtrirrg , or iltizanr, whcrcby oificialsarrrl local rrotables [rid at auctiorr 0nr.:.t)aLlrrl [or the right to collect thetaxes of :r giverr srrlrprovince, rlistrict, villlge, or urlran pr()perty or cr]ter-pr:ise. Irr tlris faslriorr, virtrrally every sigrrificant ol-lice, frorl cusforns rlircctor:to tlre govclnor o( l'lgypt, c?lnle to consist oI I tax-f:rrrn.l9

'l ax-farruirrg sprc:rrl througlrout rhe ()ltorn:ru errrlrirc antl, irrrlcerl, hirs

rviclcly beerr irrter-pretetl as a sign of tlre ernpire's tleclile.20 lrr llgypr, itseflect, irr atltlitiorr to tlecentrrlizirrg tax collection arrd tlrereby irrcreasirrg tlrepower of local figrrles, was to blrrr the status b:rrrier sep,rr'.rtirrg regirnt'rrtrrlofticers fron s"urjtq beyis.'l'ax farnring cleprived F.gypt of the logical rankrlistirrctiorrs betrvcen solrlicry irncl beys tlrat had prevarlerl under the N4arnluk

'r'v628, fos. t1L) ll; 'Alrtl al-Karirrr ilrrr'Alrrl al l{ahrrrlrr, I'arih.i hltsu, Istarrl>ul,Siile yrtrarriye l.ibrary, IllS Ilekirrrofln'Ali l)ashl 7o5, fos. 8ov-84v; Ahrrrad Qcle hi ibn'r\lrtl al ( ilrarri, tlruidl: tl-islrrral li nkt,t tiu,dlld ltlisr il Qdltirt nrit tl-tutrzara' ut al-luslrul,cJ. A. t\.'Abrl al I{ahirn ((iarro, r978), r6t. Akltbar tl runuruab re[ers ro thcrnas url arr,l Alrrrratl (,clclri ,s -rt. All,l lallaq, howe ver, uses rro eprrlrer rvlrile 'Alrd al-Krr irrr rclers to thc grorrp as tlre srrr.Dc (ll,rek of [rirJs).

t8 N,,r,rlrly (]ara l[rrahinr Paslrtr, wlro arrivctl irr Cairo in r 67o with u,ooo trxrps. See al'llallatl, l)rrrL i |tltstr'r Kabre, fos. zolv-zo5r; ilkltbdr d iluillltdb, [o. 14r; Ahnrad()elcbi, ,'ltu,/,rf, r7 r.

l9 ()rr ()ttortrart aLlaptatiorr of tlrc lv[rnrlrrk syste]r], see "lvlrsrr K:rrrurrn.rnrcsi" iu (Jrrrcr

|.rrtfi ilrrkan, ()srutlr irtp,trttctrlufirtnrlt zirti cktmtmrinin hthuki re ilNli es.tsldn(lstarrlrrrl, | 94j ), l, clrap. r o5; Stanf,rrtl J. Sharv, ?}te l)irturcid tnl tldutirristraliue()rg,ttrrztlitttr trul l)cuekrptnetrl ol ()ltunttt l\gyltt, t j r7-1798 (l'rirrccton, 196zl, t8fl., rio 6z; I'. i\{. I lolt, "'l'lre lleylicate rrr ligypt durirrg the Sevt,ntcenth (icntrrry,"lltlletm ttl the Schtnl of ()nentil tnd tlfi.icarr.Stariies, z4 (r.7rir ).

2{' Sce, f,rr cxarrrplc, I Ialil lrralcik, "'l lre ( )ttorrran [)eclirre arrtl its Llfccrs rrporr the lteaya,"in I lerrrik lliurbirunr arrtl Spcros Vryoris, Jr. (erls.), ;lslrccts of the Balkats, (iniiuity.ukl (',bonge: (imtrtbulutrts to tbe liltcrnttti()ildl ltdlkdil (in{eretce held a UCl,A,()Llober 2l -28 t9(,9 (-l he I llgue, t97zl, 1,1r-- 42.

l;,gltltl itr lhe seucttleentlt [.ttrtury

sysfcnr of larr<l tenure or that nriglrt hevc prev:rilctl un.lcr tlrc ()ttontatr lirrr.rrsysteln. Under the N,lantltrk systcnr, a utattuntittcd slavc rosc to tllc mttl< of

cavalry corrtrttantlcr atttl rcceived a grltrt of tlsufrtlct (illa'). []rttlet tlre

classical Ottornau systenr, a slutidq beyi by definition heltl a collectiorr of

lrrrarc krrorvu is a satri(tq. A.larrissarl,, ltcirrg art itr[alttryttt:rn, cotrlil rrot lrold

a cavltlry-snpporting assignrncrlt oI tlsttfttrct btrt receivetl a salary, in caslr

antl provisitrns, fnrnr the irrrpctial treasttry.2l With thc itttrotltteti6rt ol' tax-

farrnirrg, lror'vever, the beys joinctl the s()l(licry as salaticLl [trrtctiolraries. As

their salaries grew illcreasitrgly unccrtaitr toward tlic entl of tlre sixtcenth

centrlry, the Janissirries antl the l'cst of the Ottornarl soltlicry hatl every

incentive to enter the grrnre of t;rx-farnt actlttisitiotr, so that l)otll beys arrtl

ofticers were llow competitlg for tax-fartns. 'l'hc cornpctiti()li l)etwcetl l)eys

and officers wor.rlrl become a recrrrring theme in tlre course of the seventee ttth

celltury antl beyorttl,lly the early decltles oI thr: scverrteetlth cerllttry, ir key l.eaturc oi this

conlpetition wlrs tlre strpgllle for the rlilsrt (lit. "lreatlship"), 1phetlotttengnrvliose prccise nleilrriull lras lreen thc subject of sottte sl)ectrlati()rr. ;\s dcpietetl

by l). lvl. I Iolt, tlte ,'i',rsd see rns a r:rthcr llel]tr[()us [ortlt of l)owerflllt)e ss.22

1-he leading bey or olficer irssuntetl the riirsrr, as iu(licate(l in ihe chrtlrriclcs

lry tlre plrrasc intdba'alu1'lti {l-ri'dstt (lir. "tlrc riitsa etrtletl on hirrr").21 As

thc balancc of power in Llgypt slri[tetl, tlrc hoklers o[ tlre ri'rrs,l ehangetl

accor(lingly.'l'hus, enrly in the severrteent[r century a groul] of soldrers ltclcl

tlte rlitsa, whilc by tlre nritlclle qf thc followirrg ccrrtrrry tlre.lanissary officer

Ibrirhinr Katkhuth al (]azrlagli slraretl it rryith the'Azabatt otficer: lliilwanKatkhuda al-Jalfi.2a Nonvithstilttrlitrg, scrutiny of thc cltrorricles sttggests

that the ri'.,sd was n() al)stracti()tr [rrrt a collectivc htarlslrrp t[tat crttttltrisctl

specitic higli-ranking offices, with tlrc revettttes accrtritrg to tlrcnl. l ltesc

oflices appear to lr:rr.e bcerr thc c()nmrirncls ol the sevcrl regirrlurtts plrrs the

key beylical posts oI pilgrirnage cotntrtrrtttler, thftulu (frc:rstrrer), arril, by

21 Orr t[e lVlrrlrluk larrrl regime, see I Iasirrrryn tlabic, "'l lre Sizc rtttl Vrlrre oI tlrtt lrlir'inF.gypt,56q-74tl rr69 r 14r," in lVlichael Cook (etl.), Slrulies in lbe Iicrtnutric LlislrtT'of tbeMirlLllt: [asl{()xlortl, r97ol;A.N. l'oliak,"sttttrcNotcsoutltelrctr,lal Systcrn,iIthe I\{arnluks," /txtrnitl ol tltt: Rtnal Asiatic gaety (t,237\,97 ff. t)rr l\larrrlrrk shvesocie ty, see Davitl Ayalon, l.'estl,nuEe du nranrtlt,uk (.lcrtlsalcnt, r95 r ); I)avitl Ayalorr,

"strrclies or) ttrc Struc(ttrc ol tlre Nlanrlrrk t\trtty," patts r 1, Llrllairt ol tlte,\clxtol ofOrientaldntl Aliianstulies,rr(r951),2o1'-28,448-76,tnJrti(r954),57 9o.()nthe Ottonrirrr ,i,rr,r/ systcrrr sec, fitr cxattrplc, Irral,.ik, pnrt r ,rf lrralcik (e.l-) wirlr

Qurtacrt, b'.totnilit .ntd Strcful I listory, rt 4 t7; Lralcrk, ()/assl,z/ ;l.ge, ro1 r tl.22 lror exarnple, llok,I:gypt utl llte l;ertrle (:resceill, t)o.2r See, [or exarrrple,'Atrd al l(ahur,rtt al Jabarti, 'Aia'ib ol atbu li il ltr,tiirtt ttu'l akhlur,

7 vtrls. (C)airo, r958 o7),1,214.1a l lolt, l:gyltt dnLl ilte lierltlt (',rex:ent,9o, 9 3. Al I )arrrur.lashi at one [)oi ot dist irrgrrislrcs

lrctween the riirs.r of the.larrissaries :rntl rhat of tlte 'Azabrtt; sce Ahrriatl Katkhrrrla'Azatrarr al-Darnurtlashi, A/-l)rrrrrt itl urus,tnrt li dkhbrrr il-kirnna, llritisli lvlrrsetittt, N45

()r. to73-74, p. ttl5. On 1[rralritn arrtl Ritlrvart, see al'l)atltunlashr, L)urrt, 56o.

4o lANL HA l llA\l,AY

tlre nrid-eighteenth centuly, shttykh ol-balad, or headrnan, of Cairo. Thereason that indivicluals, pairs, autl grorrps of three are variously creditedwith holding the ri'osa is probably that the chief figures in rhe ri'asa variedaccorcling to the r.vealth arrrl irnportance of the offices it comprised. Thus thec()rurotation ol intaba 'alayhi al-ri'asa is perhaps not that the person inqrrestiorr is the sole holder o[ the ri'asa lrut that he is the wealtlriest aud nrosrpowerful holder: the ri'asa literally culrninates, or ends, in hinr.

By the encl of the sixteentlr centlrry, beys appcar to be taking anirrcreasingly prominent role in ligypt's atlrninistration ancl, concomitantly,atnassing corrsiderable wealth. -t\t roughly the same tinre, chrorricles begin toreport solcliery revolts after decacles of apparent ca[rn.'I'hese revolts maylrave been a provincial manifestation of rhe jalali rebellions, resulting inlarge part fronr the cnrpire-wide military nnd fiscal crisis of the late sixteenthcentury. Yet they were also, no dorrbt, a partial consequence of tlre beys'growing infltrence in ligypr; as the beys pronrofed the inter:ests of their ownnnniltks ancl follorvers in tlre Mutafarriqa and Chavushan regiments,opportunities for less well-connectecl soltliers dwindled. Most deeply affect-er[ were the three cavalry regiments, tlre Gt-rnulluyan, Tufenkiiyan, and

.farakisa, Althr.rrrgh these regiments were often called sipahi reginetrts afterthe tirnariot forces of the central provinces, they clid nor hold cavalry-strpportitB assignmerrts of usrrfruct but relied on moltthly salaries that rverelower tlran tlrose of auy of the other reginrents.2s As tax-farnring grew morcprevalent, tlre treasury's alrility to clisbtrrse salaries on time dirninishcd; thesokliers of tlre cavalry regirnents suffererl accortlinglf ancl began to nranifcsttlreir disaffectiou. A group o( sipahis rnurcleretl the governor Ibralrinr Pasha(16o4-o5), wlro lrad refusetl to pay thern an accessior.r fee. Matters came toa lread in r6o9, rvhen rebellious troops from the sipabi reginrents renouncecltheir loyalty to tlle C)rtornan enrpire and nanred their own sultan. 'l'he

(Jttonran governor Mtrhanrmarl l)asha (r6o7-l r) brutally crushed therebellion in an rctiorr tlrat the chrorricler Ihn Abi al-Surur deenrs "the secondOttomau con(luest of Egypt." 'ilre leaders of the clefeated rebels wereexecutecl; the renrairrcler were pararled through Cairo in chains, tlren exiledto Yernen. 'lir unrlcrscore the utter opprotrriurn in which the Ottornanauthorities helcl the rebels, the Bovernor or<lered every householder in Cairoto dig up a ctrbit of soil in front of his door so as ro erase syurbolically thevery footprints of the traitors.26 Muhammad l'zrsha's sol:,riquet was Qu/

On tlrc sipnbi regirnerrts, see "Mrsrr Karrunrrarne si," 3 5 5- 5 7, 3 5 9; Slraw, Firuncial andAdnt ini s trat iu e () rgntizo tion, q 6- 97 .

Slranrs al-Din lv{rrharlrrrad ibrr Abi al'Sunrr al-ltakri al.Siddiqi, Alt.orudt al-zahi7,7,a fiunltrt A4isr uu al-Qaltirq abri<lgement of Al-Kawakib al-sa'ira fi akbbat Misr ut al-Qohin, Cairo, Dar al-Kutub Manuscripts [)ivision, Ivlicrofilrn no. r 64o, unpaginared,urrtler the rutrrics'Ihrahim l'asha al lvlaqtul" arrtl "Nluhatnnratl Pasha QuI Qiran";lloft, l:,g1,pt a*.1 the ltertile ()rescent,71 76.

l:,gttpt in llrc seuerilaenth (etrfitr)t

Qiran, whiclt has been errotreously translated as "the nmnthk br-eal<er'"27

Qrl in Ottonran usage, however, typically refers to rhe inrperiaI soldiery,

above all the Janissaries.2s Tlrus Muhatnn-ratl Pasha's ln()st noteworthy

achievelnent wouL{ seem to have been lrreaking the volatile solcliery. [{e tli<1,

however, purge the ranks of the beylicate, replacing ten of thirteen beys.

Tlris sort of purge at tlre hanrls of the goveruor would becotrte an estatrlished

pattern in Ottornan Egyptian political ctrlture.

Of equally great significance was tlre fact that Muhanrmad I'asha had

quashed tl-re soldiers' rebellion with the cooperation of the new grotrp ofbeys, wlro thereby augmented their inflrrence. In strcceeditlg deca(les, the

beys were unafraid to challenge the governor overtly for authority. Irl r63 r,

they summarily deposed the governor Mrtsa l'asha after he had hatl one of

their number assassinated.2e Mtrsa's dismissal established a pattertl wherehy

the beys rvoultl depose any governor rvho did not serve tlreir interests'

The competition between beys and ofticers in seventeentlr-centu!:y Iigypt is

too easily interpreted as a confrontation [etwee]r traditional lvlamlrrk

institutions and Ottonlau innovations. tJecatrse the regirrents were illtrocluced by the C)ttomans, they are perceiYed as the nattlral tlonrain of

traditional Ottonran recnlits: Arratolian and Balkan lllercellaries arrd, initi-ally, deushirn e recruits. '[[re beyIicate, in contrast, is regarclecl as the

successor to the amirate of the Manrluk sultarrate. Thus, I lolt, in a seminal

article, asserts that the post oI sailiLtq beyi in Ottoman Egypt was in fact a

continuation of the lvlamluk of6ce of anrir rrl'a, which denoted an of6cer

who lreld an iqta'that supported one hunchetl lnil'a in Arabic) ltorsetnett'

While acknowletlging tfie transformation of ligypt's lartd-tentrre systern atttl

the absorption of new elenrents into Egypt's nrilitary eclrelons, [Iolt suppor:ts

his contentior-r by clrawing parallels berween Manrltrk- and Ott<trnan-era

offices.r0By the sarne token, Holt and other scholars have assunred that the elite

households that became pronrinent in Ottonratr Egypt during, the seventeentlr

century were modelcd on the householcls oI tlrc Marrrltrk sultanate.]l Yet tfie

27 Ilolt, Egyl)t arul tbe llertile Crescent,74.28 Eneyclopaedia ttf lslant, znd ed., s.v. "Kul," hy C. E llosworth; Inalcik, "Military and

Fiscal'l ransformation," z8 1-84.2e Ibn A[ri al-Sunrr, Al-rauda al-znhiyya, under the rttbric "l\4Lrsa l'aslra."30 Flolt, "Beylicate," zz1.3f See, for exanrple, I lolt, "Reylicate," tr8, zz3, zz5; I lolt, F'gypt ruut the Fertile

Cleseent,71,8 5, go-92; S\aw, Financial and Adntinislratiue ()rgartiztttion, 13' )7 ' q,

t86, r94;Davicl A1'alon, "stutlies in a[ labarti l: Notes on the fransformation o[Mamf uk Smiety in Egypt under the ()ttomans," pafts t -2, Jounml of lhe Ecrtntuttic

and Social I listory of tbe Orieut, 1 ( r 9r5o); l)aniel Crccelius, '['he Roctts of Nlo'lent

Egypt: A Study of the Reginrcs of 'tlli Bey nl-Kabir and Muhannmtl Bey Abu al-

Dhahab, r7 50* r 77 .t (lr'Iirrner polis antl Chicago, r 91lo), lo- t r; M iclrael Winter,

"-frrrks, Arabs, antl Mamluks in the Ar[ry of Ottoman li8yl)t," Wienet Zeitschrift fiirdie Kuntle des Morgenlturdes, T t lryllol, I oo' r 20- 22; Gal'' ill l'iterberg, "T he

4r

42 JANE HATHATJ'TAY

dece.tralization of ()monran polirical autholity after the sixreenth ce.ruryhad led to an ernpire-wide political culture based on househords, up to andi.cludi.g the household of the ottoman sulra^ hin.rserf in the Topkapipalace. such householcls were n.t exclusively or even necessarily kinshipbased bur inclucled ,rembers ho..cl ro each other by ties of prr.orrg.

"niclie,tage. Egypt's ho.seholds ca, be construed as a provincial uariation ontlris general trend, althonglr they, like the seventeerrth-cent.ry beylicate, nodoulrt absorbed elerne,ts of the Mamluk sulfanate's political culture whiledrawirrg o, the comrnon tradition of statecraft of medievar ard earlytnoderrr 'furco-Iranian empires generally. In F.gypt, beys, regimentat officers,and ottoman officials alike culrivated households in order betrer ro exploitnew soulces of 6scal agglandiz.enrent such as tax-farming and the lted seacoffee trade; giver-r the uucertainty of salaries from the imperial treasury,nreanwlrile, the military rank and file looked to the grandees for suste-nance.J2

Tbe Fiqari and Qasimi factiotts'I'lre rrridclle years of the seventee,rh ce,tury, roughly t.61o-6o, co,stitutecla period of beylical clonri,ance in ottoma. ligypr, during which rival beysconrpeted for preponderant political and 6scal inlluence. This competition,horvever, can lre understood only in the context of the distinctive factionalpolitics that engulfed Egypt during this era of prof.und demographic andfiscal cha.ge. Aro,nd r51o or 1640, to juclge from the accou.ts ofchroniclers, two political factio.s emerged and bega, to permeate Egyptiansociety. '['hese were rlre F-iqari (fron-r Dhu'l-l;iqar) and easimi (fronr easim)facti.ns, which virtually divided Egyptian society berwee, rhe,r frorrroughly r54o thror:gh r7Jo, e.conrpassing nor only the military echelonsbut also Cairo's artisanal population and various Bedouin groups in theL-.gy ptia rr courtryside.

'['he origins of r[rese factions remain obscure. 1'he origin myths of theFiqaris artl (]asimis that the Arabic chronicles report assign a highlyarchetypal character to the two factions. T'here appear to be two basic origintr:aclitions: one ascribing the emerge.ce of the two factions to the ottonianconquest of Egypt, tl're other stressing the factions' alignrnenf with twoBedouin blocs: the Nisf Sa'd, allied with the Fiqaris, and the Nisf Haranr,alliecl with the Qasimis. 'rhe first tradition appears in its most cletailed formin the early eightee.rh-century chronicle of Ahurad eelebi, trre second

liorrnati<r, of an ottoma. Egyptiarr Elite in the Eightce.tlr cerrtury," lntenutioralJon uil of lLiildle East Studies, zz (t99ol, z9o.

32 See Jane Flathaway, "The Military I{ousehold in Omoman Egypt,,, lntenrationalJoutul of Middle East Stu,lies, q (t9951, 19- 52.

Egypt in the seuenteenth cerrtilry 41

tradition in the slightly later chronicle of Ahrnad Katkhucla 'Azaban al-Damurdashi. Both traditions are presented in typically cleaned-up and

articulate form by the early nineteenth-century chronicler'Abd al-llahmanal-Jabarti.

According to the first tlaclition, tl-re factious arise dLrring the Otton-ran

sultan Salirn I's occtrpation of Cairo in r5 t7, after his defeat of the lvlamluksultanate. On arriving in Cairo, according to the tradition, Salinr hears of an

old lvtarnluk amir named Sudun, who has avoided the fighting lry seqrres-

tering himself in his house with his two sons, Dhu'l-Fiqar and Qasirn. These

two sons are experts in the chivalric exercises known as t'urusiyya; llearing oftheir prowess, Salim orders them to deruonstrate their skills before him. Inthe course of the display, a permanent rift opens between the two lrrothers.

As al-Jabarti tells it, the Ottoman s<lldiery fight with Dhu'l-!-i<1ar: while the

"people of Egypt" fight with Qasint. Dhu'l-Fiqar's faction adopts the colorwhite, Qasirn's faction the color red.]3

Since al-Jabarti goes on to explain that the two factions lrave predomi-nated since r54o, historians have naturally searched assiduously for con-temporary figules nrrmed Dhu'l-Ficiar and Qasirn who could have served as

eponynrous founders of these two factions. Doris Belrrens-Abr-ruseif traces

the eponyms to the seventeenth-century grandees Dhu'l-Fiqar Bey and

Qasinr Iley, each of whom held a nunrber o{ high offices toward the middleof the century.la In presenting thent, she nlore ot less disrnisses Llolt'sobservation that the characters Dhu'l-Fiqar and Qasim of the origin mythseem almost allegorical figures, not unlike Avarice and Antbition.15 Yet I-Ioltperceived that this origin myth is too archetypal to attribute to two

( seventeenth-certury beys, even if those two beys ditl in actr.ral fact 6gure

prominently in the efflorescence of the two factions.

In particular, the two seventeelrth-century beys cat)r)ot account for the

myth's stress on the Ottonran conquest. llolt notes that Salim l hirnself

inspired a genre o[ heroic chronicles known as Salinuunres, in which lre

rypically appears as the savior of Circassian chivalry after the collapse of the

Mamluk sultanate. This cor.rlcl explain the framing device o[ two champions

testing their skills before Salirn; such a tlevice is contnton h the furusiyl'ttliterature producecl during the [ater Marrrluk sultanate. lJehrens-Abouseif

notes, in fact, tlrat the contest between Dhu'l-Fiqar and Qasim was one ofseveral that allegeclly took place in Salim's presence after the Ottonrans took

13 A[-1abarti,'Ajn'ib,l,7o-Tt.lnAhmad Qelcbi's accotot(Awdah,281-84), thea(filiations are reversed, antl colors are not ttrentioned.

3a Doris Belrrens-Abousei f , Egypt's Adjuslment to C)ttottrrtn Rule: hrstitrtictns, ]f/aq[, andArchitectue h Cairo (Sixteenth and Scuenteenth Oeuturies) (Leiden, r994), rt8-zz.

35 P. M. Holt, "Al-Jabarti's Introduction to the l listory of Ottonran E,gypr," Bulleth ofthe Scbool of Oriettal and At'rieat Studies, 4 lt95z), 5t.

44 JANE HATHAWAY

cair:o.36 Moreover, the nanre sutlurr or sudur,i rvas colnl,on to several lateMarrrluk fi mrsiyya clrampions.3T

This particular origin myrh seems to graft rate Jvranrluk frnusiyya roreo',to the st{)r'y oI tlre ott.rnan co,quest, so that the conr;:eti,g ot,or*,r r,-,.rfu[amluk forces are emb.clied in two frntsiyya.rr",r1rior.,..-of partictrlarnote in this regard is the herarclic par:aprre.raria of trre two facrio,s, whichnray begin to offer a cl,e ro their t're o'igins. T', q,ore al-Jabarti: ,.The wayorre facticrn (fariql was distinguished frorn rhe other *as rl,at wrren they rodei,. processions, the Ficlaris' Irag rvas white, arrrl trreir lances rrad a inob,rvhile the ()asinris' llag was red, and their lances had a tlisk."38 This seenrsto s,ggesr that the Fiqari lance was rhe knob-heaclecl trg of rhe ottonranarrnies while the Qasimi la,ce was trre Manrr,k 'aram, toppednot by a knobbut rrornrally by an i.scriptio, workecr i. metlr in the sirape rrf a spade ordisk. As f.r the banners, the Marrrluk ones courcl rrave r.,oire

" nunrber ofsyrrrhols ,f ,[lice. ']'he ottornan ,rres, rrowever, in all likelihoocl bore their.age of tlre early N{usli,r caliph 'Ali ib. Abi 'r'alib,s (6.56-dr) swor:d Dhu,l-Ficlar, rvlrich was comnlonly e.rblazo'ed o. ottomar-r battle standards,above all those .f the Janissaries.3g Frorn ail appeara,ces, therr, trre twofactio's sclrematically reluese,tecl ottama, ancr no,-ottouro,., .r.rr.,.rrt",witlrin Egypt's military 1'ropulation, as symborizetr by specific ottornan andIVlanrltrk heraldic clevices.

T'he origin myth rransrnitted by al-Damurclashi focuses on trre rwoBerl.uin factions, Sa'd and Hrra,.r, alriecl respectivery with the Fiqaris andthe Qasi.ris. By the late severrteentrr ce,tlrry, accordirg to rris account,..thegovernment of tigypt was in two facrions lfatqaynl, Sa.d and Haram,ruhba'i anrl Kulaybi, [Ftusaynil and yazidi; trre Ilusayni's flag was white,a,d the Yazitli's llag was red," and he goes on ro nore tlre differJnce berweentheir larrces.40 The alltrsio,s rrere are io nrr,cl, earlier Ara[r rristory, specifi-cally to t[re late severrh-centtrry co,flict [:etwee, the u,rayyads ,n.t.. ynri,lib. Mu'awiyya arrd rlre Party of .Ali led by .Ali,s .on l{.,rnyn, wlro wasmartyred by Yaz'd's a..y. "Tubba" rvas the title of the king of th. n,.,.i.,-,tYerneni kirrg<lom .f Hirnyar. "Ktrraybi," meanwhire, ,rrny .."f., to the l(alb,a Yerneni tribal group who supported the lJmayyad Marwan for caliph, orleader: of tlre IVfurslinr cornrnuniry, against tt n ai-zubay,: and tlre ,.,orr[.,..,.,Arabs of Qays following rhe death of yazid in 683. Aite.rativery, it cor-rld

35 llrhrens Alrorrseif. ligypr's Adinstmefi lo ()totnan Rtle, r 2t_zL.r/ [)avid Ayakrn, "Furusiyya Exercises arrd Ganres irr the Manrluk Srrltanate,., Scripta- ^ I I iet osolynita rm, g ( r o6 tl, a, t -6 z.18 Al.Jal,arri,'Ajn'ilt, l, 7 r.re Z.lzislaw Zygulski, Jr., Otrottw Art in tbe Seruice of rheEnrpire (New york, r99z),

45-5t,69_[t.i Fe vzi Kurtofilu, Tiirk Bayrap ue Ay yikhz(Ankara, 1918), ,Oliir'Oi^Nrrur, "I-'lristoire tlrr croissarrt,,, Rerue de. Tureilogie, , ir913l, ;r;iye. ' ' ' 'ao Al-l)arrnrrlaslti, Dutttt, z.

I:-.gy1tt irt tbe seuenteentb certt.rry 45

refer to the Qaysi leader Kulayb. If dre l-iqali-Qasirni rivalry contains an

element of the ancient rivalry between northem, or Qaysi, and southenr, orYemeni, Arabs, this would explain the color dichotomy, for recl is associated

with Qays and rvhite with Yenrerr.al Lr any case, an attenrpt would seeur tobe made in this origin tradition to link the tribal blocs, and by extension the

Manrluks and C)ttomans, to the party of 'Ali, on tlre one hancl, anrl to the

flnrayyads, on the other. Which bloc conforrns to which party is not entirelyclear, h<;wever. On the one hand, the Ottonrans corrl<l be linked to the

Umayyads as an imperial power that allegedly usurpecl the caliphate and

that was founded by a nran narnecl 'Uthmar.r ('Osman). On the other lrand,

the Ottonran forces, above all the Janissaries, had a stroug allegiance to'Ali;hence the Dhu'l-F'iqar flag.

In any event, Sa'd ancl Haram can bc identified as real Yerneni tribes. 'l'he

fourteenth-century Moroccan traveler Ibn llattuta encottttterecl the Bani

Haram in a Yemeni towr-r called IJali, which he clairns \/as the seat ofYemen's ancient kings.'t2 The Sa'cl, meanwhile, would appear to corne fronrthe l-Iadhrarnawt.ai To ltrdge fi'orn a l>rief rnention in the chronicle of Yusu{t)ffendi, the Flararn were in Egypt before the Ottonran conquest; their nrost

notable act was atrancloning the last Marnluk sultan, T'umarrbay, in tlre face

of the Ottoman armies.44 There is no evidence of the Sa'd in chronicles of[,gypt before tlre seventeenth century, when the Ficlari ancl ()asimi factions

are supposed to have conle to the fore of Egyptian politics.It is perhaps significant that the two facfions caulc to pronrinence iust

after Ottoman armies lrad been expelled from llernerr by the ()asirni

dynasty, a Zaydi dynasty tlrat took its name frorn the nintlr-centrrry irnarn

Qasim, a descenelant of 'r\li's son Flusayn.'[he Zayclis were strongest irrmountaiDous northern Yemen, where the I-linryarites and, presumably, the

Ilaram originatecl, while the ()ttnnran stronglrolcl hacl always [,eeu the

south, includinB lrart of the l{adhranrawt, ostensihle honre of the Sa'd.

Perhaps Bgypt's seventeentlr-century factionalism was to sure tlegree a

playing out of fhe conflict in Yernen, which had been closely tied to F,gypt

until the Zaycli victory. Iiarly ()ttonran govenrors of llgypt were fretpentlysent to ligypt after serving in Yenren and vice versa, and troops frorn ligyptroutinely went to Yernen to lrattle the Zayclis and to collect taxes. Anintriguing footnote to this liuc of speculation is the appearance in al-

4r On the Qaysi..\'erneni rivalry see, for exanrple, Ignaz Goldzilrer, Muslint Studies,ed.S, M. Ste rn, trans. C. R. llarbe r and S. N4. Stern, z vols. (Albany, ry671,1, 65-97.

a2 'Ab.lallah lvlulrarnmatl b. Ibrahirn b. Ilattuta, Rihla lbn B.ltrtd, introductiorr lry Karanral-Bustani (Ileirur, r964), 246.

a3 R. B. Scrie ant, "The Coastal Population of Srrotra," itr Brian Doe (ed. and cornp.),Socotra: lsland ofTrarulurlity ([.onilon, t99zl, r6t-61.

aa Yusuf lt"fendi,Tarih-i Mrsrr, Istanbul; Siileynraniye l.ibrary, MS Esad l]fendi 2r48, fo.

41v.

46 JANE IIATTIAVAY

Danrurdashi's chronicle of a group of Lower Egyptian Betlotrin known as

Zayyidiyya - that is, Z,aydis - who belong to the Nisf Ilaram.a5It seems possrble that tlre Fiqari and Qasirni factions emerged in the

seventeenth century as a result of jockeying for position between Ottonranand uon-Ottoman elenrents in Egypt's ntilitary population at a time r+henthat poprrlation was becorning rnole and nrore diverse. 'fhe central govern-r-r1ent's attelnpt, late ir-r the sixteenth ceutllry, to ottornanize the beylicateeverr while the beys tlrernselves were importing Caucasian nmruluks ntayhave prepared the grouncl for what appears ro be a fornr of Circassian self-assertion early irr the seventeenth century. I)articularly noticeable is a

resurgence of traditional Circassian Mamluk given names within the Qasinri'faction, in violatiorr of Salinr I's clecree that Egyptian grandees take onlyArab N'{uslirn nanres. L)uring the r64os, nvo Qasimi beys named Qansuhand Manray (or Memi) rursuccessfully challenged the Fiqaris for the posts oIpilgrirrrage comnrander and daftardn-.a6 Later in the century, the Qasimichieftain llirlwan lley Abu al-Shawarib ("mustachioed") narned two of hissons Azbak and Khushqadarn, evoking the lvlamluks of old in no uncertainterms: Az.bak was the general who led the Marnluk armies against theOttonran sultan Muharnnracl II duling the r4jos; the Nlarnluk sultanI(lruslrqadam ft4ttt-671 had been one of his patrons.4T Yet taking Marnlukllanles was by the seventeenth century apparently llo more an act of rebellio[against t[re Ottr.rrnan sultan tlran was carrying the lvlamluk standard.l(ather, evoking an idealized Manrluk sultanate through namds and symbolshacl eviclently become an acceptable, or at least tolerable, feature of tlrepolitical tliscotrrse of seventeenth-century Ottoman Egypt. tndeed, Evliya

Qelebi's observation tlrat the Circassian beys of Egypt tumed their heads

arvay from the mausoleum of the collaborationist governor Khayrbay(r5r7-zzl but bowed their heads before the tomb o[ the last Man'rluksultan, Tumanbay, rnight be ir-rterpreted in this sarne light.as

To this brantl of Circassian self-assertion belongs the spurious genealog,y

of one llitlwan l3ey, whorn l-lolt has identified as the Fiqari leader whonronopolizetl the post of pilgrirnage conrmander during the r63os andr64os.ae 'I'he genealogy traces Rielwan's lineage tn the Marnluk sultar-r

Barqrrq ft182-991 ancl theuce to the Prophet's clan of Quraysh. Holt

a5 Al-Danrrrrdasbi, Dtrra, 164.a5 Al-l lallaq, l-mih -i M srrt Kahire, fos. r 41v-r 4 8r.'r7 ()rr Azbak antl Khuslrqadarn Beys, see'Abd al-Karim, "farih-i Msr, fos. 78v,9rv. On

their lr,Ianrluk nanresakes, see Carl Petry, T'ruiligbt of leldiesty:'l'he Reigns of theNlnnluk Sultans il-Ashraf Qaytbay and Qonsub al-Gbaturi ir Egypt (Seattle andLorrtlon, 1 9911, 47, 94- roo.

a8 Evliya Q,elebi, Seyahatnanresi, X, 58 r.4e P. M. Holt, "'Ihe Exalted l-ineage of Ridrvan Bey: Some Observations on a Seventeenth-

cerrtury Marrrluk Genealogy," Bulletin of tbe Sehool of Oriental and Africat Studies, zz1t959\, tz4-27.

Itgypt in tlte seuenteenth ce,ttrny 47

constrges tlre genealogy as Ridwan I]ey's atterlpt to forge a nlore legitirnate

pedigree than that of the Ottoman sttltan and perhaPs to iustify a bid for:

autonomy. It seems likely, however, that the Riclwan Bey in questiou is not

Ridwan Bey al-Fiqari but the ()asimi clrieftain Ridwan Bey Abu al-Shawarib.

One telling clue to this identification is the mirtruscript's revelation thirt

Ridwan Bey has two sons nanred Azbak and Khushqatlatn, as ditl Abtr

al-Shavtarib; Iticlwan Iley al-Fic1ari, itr cotrtrast, [e ft no sons.so l]urtherrnore,

the work gives Ridwan lley's title rrot as Pilgrirnage commarlder (antir al-

hajjl br as "servant of the prophet's litter" (kharlint al nutbntil al'Muhanr'nutlil, referrirlg to tlre sylnbolic litter that was carried to N'lecca from Egypt

as part of the pilgrintage.5r Tlris title c<irrld be a virtual synonynr forpilgrimage cornrnattder, as Holt asserts, but it coulcl also be a calctrlated

attempt to point up l{iclwan's devotion to the pilgrimage and the lroly places

while avoiding the actual title o[ pilgrirnage cornmantlet.'Ihe work as a

rvhole is obsessecl with the sacred nrosque (Bayt al-Llaroml in IVIecca antl

goes to great lengths to demotrstrate ltidrvan Bey's descent frrlnr a long line

of servants of the sacred mosqtre, going back ultirnately to the Quraysh.This, then, would explain the Qurayshi genealogy, although it is inrportarrt

ro nore tl-rat the clairn of Qurayshi clescent did 1ot origilate with IlidwalBey. l{ather, it belolgecl to indigenous Circassian lgre and was clocttnrentecl

by the sevelteenth-cetltury Ottoruan traveler Evliya Qele[i during his travels

in Circassia.s2 Thus the genealogy seelns clesignecl to demonstrare thar ,rlsl{idwan Bey deserves to be appointed pilgrirnage comtnander by virtue of

his Qurayshi-cutn-Circassian heritage, tln(lerctlttilrg tlte clainrs of tron-

Circassian, notably Ottoman, beys.

Thc truly novel elenrent in this geltealogy' however' is the ptrrported lirlk

to the lvlanrluk sultal Ilarquq, the first of the Circassian, or Btrrii, IVlarnltrk

sultans, who helcl sway over Egypt from 1188 to r5r7. In the context of

Egyptian society alone, it woultl seem that Itidwan Bey was attenrpting t()

portray himself as heir to tl're Marnlrtk sultanate and therefore as an

alterlative to the Ottonr.rls. Viewetl i1 a br:oader colltext, however, Riclwan

Bey's strategy gains greater subtlety. The tactic of invoking a past power was

not Llnconlmon among Ottornan provirrci3l elites. In early seventeenth-

centgry Basra, for example, the local Afrasiya[ dynasty clai6red clescent

frorn the Great Seljuks, who ruled irr Iraq a1d Parts of Iran from the mitl-

50 Artonymnus, Nisba sharifa ua isila rrnuifa tdshta,rul'ala tlhikr rursab il-.lattthisa min

Quruysh, Princeton University Library, Carre tt Manuscrrpt Collection, lvlS r 85u, fos

r9v-zor; Holt, "l he Exalted Lineage of l(idwan l\ey," tz6. llolt examirred

nranuscripts in the John Itylands Library, Manchester, Etrglarrd, and the British

ivluseurn.5r NisDa sharifa,io. zv.52 Evliya f,elebi,Seyahatnanrcsi,YTl, Tr8ff. See also Schora-Bekrnursin-Nogmow, Die

Sagen utd Lieder des 7'scberkessen-Volks lLeipzig, t8(,('1, 6t[1.

4948 JAN ri IlAI IrAWAY

eleve.th thro*gh tlre ear-ly twelfth cenfuries.S3 Meanwhile, in the princi-palities o[ Mold.via antl wallachia, tlre Phanariot Greeks wlrom the orro-rnans appoirrtetl governors in the eighteenth century posetl as neo-Byzantinesto the extert oI replicati,g Byza,tine court ritual.ra Yet neitlrer of thesercgi.nal arrtlrorities corrtemplarecl rebellion agai,st the ottornan sultan;ratlrer, by i.voking tlte prc-Ottonrau rulers of the regi.ns wlrere tl-rey heldsway, they seenl t() have achievetl the irnpressi.n <l( lraving stronB local rootsthat dirl not depencl orr the Orronran aurhoriry. 'l'his perceived localauthority cornplemented, rather than rivalled, the authority vested in then-rby their allegiance to tlre Ottonran strltan.,

l)uring the first half of rlre seventeenrh ,cenrury the Fiqari-easimiantagonisr, manifesterl itself prirnarily arlrong the beys, centering particu-larly orr co.tr.l of the posts of amir al-haji a^tl daftartlar. Tlre oftonr,ngoverrrncllt attenrpte<l to ret?rin rrltinrate authority in the provincc [ry<livicling the posts betwee, the two facti.ns; a Firlari pilgrimage comnrarrderarrtl a Qasirui tlaft.nrdar appear to have [;een the ideal. [Iow successful tlregoverlnlerlt was iu achieving this ideal division is quesrionablc, howeverleach faction sought to nronopolize both posts ancl the reve,ues accruing tother,. The c)ttonran govertlrnert co*ld react o,ly by shifting its srrpport tnthe opposing faction. In the wake of Nlusa Pasha's deposition in r5jr, theg()vernnrent tlrrew its support to two Fic;ari leaders,'Ali tley, the governor ofthe Upper ligyptia, superprovi,ce of Jir:ja, a.cl the renrarkable pilgr:imagecommancler l{idwan Bey. Ridwan retained the post o[ pilgrimage corn-tnauder for sorne trventy-live yeals, rveathering the revolt of eanstrh anclIVlatnal' lleys, arrtl the efforts of Sultau Murad lV (1624-4o) and variousg()verlrors t() rellove hirn fronr office.ss During these yezrrs, he establishedthe lriqari faction as a for,riclable power. Ilis chief building proiects rernainto attest to his wealth arrtl influence. I-le fountled the central rnarket areakrrown as the Qasabat ltitlwan, just ourside the o,$ Fatinrid city of al-Qahira, n.rl took a leacling, role irr the restoration.f the Ka'lra after it haclcollapserl drrring a (lood in r61o.s6

'fo counter the inordirrate in{luence of l(itlwan l}ey and his l;iqarisuccessofs, the centlal governnrent shifted its support to the Qasimis, ancl inparticrrlar to a new clrieftain, Alrrnad Rcy Bushnacl ("Bosniak"). There issonre reasorr to believe tlrat Ahura.l Bey nray have belongecl to a grorrp ofBosnians iniectetl iuto the Qasimi faction froru rhe capiral.'I'urkish chronicles

Jr llolt, EgyptarultheFertileCrescent,r34.tkrltnoresrhesintilarityroRiclwanBey.r{ Willianr I I. N,IcNe ill, Europe's Steppe irontier, r loo-tgoo (Chicago anrl l..onrlon,

t964), rc:7-ro, t 40-4t, t71-76.55 I Iolt, " t he llxahetl l-ineage of l{idrvarr Bey," Lz4-27;lloh, Egtltt,tnd tbe Fertile

(,t'escert,79-8r.56 ()rrl(itlwarr'sroleintherestorationof theKa'ha,seeSuraiyaFaroqhi,pilgrimsanc!

Sullans:'l'be Ilajj under the Ottomans (Lorrlon and New York, r994), , i, ,r5-r9.

Egypt in tbe seuenteenth ceilttrry

refer tn Ahmad Bey Bushnaq, his brother Sha'ban, and his ptrrported

nephew lbrahim lley Abu Shanab ("ntrrstachioed") as "Yeni Kaprlr"' 'l-his

eprithet rrrost likely refers to the Yeni Kapi qtrarter otr the Martnara coast ofIstanbul, near where t['re palace of the sultan's mother stood.57 l(idwan Bey's

deatlr in r656 gave Ahmad Bey llushnaq the opporttrnity to consolidate tlre

Qasirnis' power. Growing friction between tl-re two factions ertrptecl irt a

series of bloody lrattles througlrout the Egyptian countryside tltrring r65o

that culminated in a Qasimi massacre of defeated Iriqaris. Notrvirhstantlirrg,

the Ottornan court had grown alarmed by tlre beys' excesses ancl made Ilaste

to execute the victorious Ahnracl Bey Bushnaq.s8 His lrr,rported nephew

lbrahim lley Abu Shanah, lrowever, remained a for:nridable power broker

until his clcath during an epidenric in r7 r 8.

Prominence of regimetfial officers intbe late seuenteefith cenfiffY

In the wake of the torttrrotrs struggle among the beys antl with the

encouragement of the reforming grand viziers of the Kiipriiltl family,

reg,irnental officers displacccl beys at the forefront of Egyptiarr political and

economic life late in the seventcenth centtlry. While the beys' ranks hatl beerl

decimated by the 6ghting, the soldiery's rttttnbers hatl grorvtt with fresh

infusions of troo;ts from the capital atld ttproote(l tnercetlaries, partictrlarly

in the wake of the failetl Ottonran siege of Vietrr.ra in r683. A strbstantial

proportiorl o[ these soltliers, to irrdge from salary r.egisters of the ptrio.l,were ioining the households of office rs, as well.se

The seventeenth century also rvitnesserl a shift in the balatrce of power

arnong the seven regiments. While the three cavalry corps retlainecl the

lowliest of the regirnents, tlre relative wealtlr and inflrrerrce of the other forrr

regiments changed. As tlre military elite grew nrore localized and direct

injections o[ palace personnel into tl-re province wanetl, the Mtrtafarriclacorps, once the cream of tlre reginrents and the channel of strltanic inflttence,

dwincllecl in numbers and importance. Ily the end of the seventeenth centtlry,

its once-exclusive ranks were open to the clients of officers from other

regimeuts.6o Many of tlre privilcgecl positions it had controlled, such as the

57 Al-Fl;rllaq, Tarih-i Mrsr-r Kabire,fos. t15r, r6zv, tr6r, tz6v. "Yeni Kaplli" can also

refer to Bab al-Jadid in Cairo's Citatlel; see al-l lallaq, 'Tarih-i lvlrvrt Kahire, fos. t59v,

Szov;'Abd al-Kain,Tarib'i Msr,[<t.68v. I lou'ever, lrone of the Arabic chronicles

ever uscs Rah al-.fadid as a nisba.58 Al-Hallaq, Tarih-iMrstrtKahire,kx. r8lv-r85r;AhrrradQelehi, Awrlah,5S*59.Je'lhisisevidentfromasalaryregisterrlated t67S-77;lstantrul, IlaEbakanhkC)smaltlt

Argivi, lvlaliyeden Miidevver 4787.50 Maliyeden Nliitlevver 4787.

5r5o JANIi llA IIIAWAY

right to tax public spectacles,6r had been usurped by theJanissary (Mustah-fizan) and 'Azaban corps, which now enrerged as Egypt's premier corps.Always the largest reginrent, the .fanissaries now took the Mutafarriqa'splace as the wealthiest and rnost influential regiment.

The officers o[ the Janissary regirnent were, in addition, expanding theirsorlrces of revenue during the seventeenth century. They farmed tlre taxes ofthe custonrs of ljgypt's Red Sea ancl Mediterranean ports, which becanle

extraordinarily lucrative during the seventeenth century with the intro-cluction of coffee from Yemen lnd tlre resrrlting traffic in coffee beans across

the I{ed Sea.62 Many officers fonnetl partnerships with the overseas mer-chants (tujiar) from a ntrmber of countries who handled traclc in coffee and

spices. The burgeorring coffee trade made it desirable for officers to acquiretlie tax-farms of the Egyptian villages that were endowcd to the huge

imperial grious foundations established to service the holy cities of Meccaand Medina. 'I'lrese foundations, known as Atuqaf al-Llaramayn, drewrevenues frorn tlrrougl-x)ut the Ottoman empire and were overseen by the

chief black eunuch of tlre imperial harenr.6r Villages errdowed to the Awqafproducecl the grain that accorupanietl the pilgrirnage caravan to the Fliiaz;althouglr tlre grain was intentled for the poor of the holy cities, a portion ofit wirs traded in tlre llijaz for coffee.6a l'he tax-farms of a cluster csf Auclafvillages in tlre Upper Egyptian sulrprovince of al-l]ahnasa forrned the basis ofthe fortune of one oI late seventeentlr-century Egypt's most influentialgrandees, the Fiqari chieftain and longtimc cornnrantler of the Gonulluyanreginrent I lasan Agha llilifya, who took his sobriquet from the Awqafvillage of llilifya.55

By the enrl of the seventeenth century ligypt was, iu actual fact, adminis-teretl by a triumvirate consisting of l{asarr Agha Bilifya, his son-in-law the

longtinre drtt'tartlar lsrna'il lley, and his client the Janissary katkbudaNlustafa al-Qazdagli. The Rilifya householcl achieved this degree ofauthority after weather:ing a nrutetl challenge frorn the Fiqari grandee

lbralrinr Bey ibn Dhu'l-liiqar, son of Isma'il l3ey's kbusbdash (nuniluk of the

6r Orrtlrisriglrt,seeShaw,FinatcialandAdnrinistratiueOrganizalion,r2r,r94.62 Rallrlr S. llattox, Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Sodal Beuerage in the

lvleLlieual Near Ilasr (Seattle aud Lontlon, r985), rrff., 73-77i Andrb ltaymond,Artisturs et cotrtrrct eartts ttu Aire au XVl t l' siicle, z vols. (Daurascrrs, r971-7 41,1,

))o-35-63 Shaw, Finturciil aud Athninistt'cttiue Orgoniztliotr, t69-7o; l. I I. UzungarErh , Mehhe-i

Iyliikerreme Entirleri (Arkara, r97zl, r 1.6{ Orr tlris point, see Richard Pococke, A l)escripti<str of the East and Some Otlter

Couriries, z vols. (Lonrkrn, 1741lr,1, zo4; and Michel Tuchscherer,'Le pdlerinage de

l'6nrir Srrlayrnarr GawiS al-Qaztlugli, sirdar cle la caravarre de la lvlekke et t719,"Atrntles IsLunologiques, z4 \t9881, r7 5.

55 larre [{atlraway, "'l he Role o( the Krzlar Afasr in Seventeenth-Eighteenth-centuryLgypt," Studia lslanrica,TS (19?Ll, r5l-54.In secondary sources, IIasan Agha'ssobritpet is ofterr erroneously renderetl "Balliyya."

Egypt itr tbe sevetteenth .erilttt)'

same uraste() Dhu'l-Fiqar Bey, who atte nlpted to realize a schellle 9f l'-iqar:i

aggrandizement. Ibn Dhu'l-Fiqar's challerrge illustrates iust how complex

factional rivalries and the cornpetition betweert beys and sr:ldiers hatl

beconre by the end of the century.

Ibrahim Bey ibn Dhu'l-Fiqar was appoirlted pilgriruage comnrarrder in

r59r, replacing the powerful Qasimi chicftain lbrahitn Bey Abu Shanab;

Flasan Agha's son-in-law Isma'il Bey, meanwhile, retainecl the post of

tlaftardar. By allowing F'iqaris to hold botlr Posts, the (Jttontan government

broke with its principle of dividing the positions between a Iiiqari ancl a

Qasimi. In pursuit of Fiqari suprenracy, Ibn Dtru'l-Fiqar attenrpted to

manipnlate the Janissary corps, which ulltil then hacl been controlletl [yQasimis. I-le eliminated three Qasimi officers,56 thus clearing tlre way for the

retull to the Janissary cotps of the anbitir:trs lower of6cer Kuchtrk

Muhammad Bashodabashi. Acting as an upstart .farrissary "boss" antago-

nistic to the ilterests of the higher officers, Kuchuk Muftattrtnad hacl been

expelled from the reginrent in r 68o and again in 1686.67

Kuchuk Muharnmad is portrayed in Ar:abic chronicles and irl secondary

studies as a populist hero who defended the common solcliery and tlre

populace at large agaitst the abuses ofthe grandees, both officers antl beys'68

It is clear that the tales attesting to his lreroism were gelleric stories that were

also applied to other sympathetic figures of the era, such as tlre (Jttonran

governor Husayn I'asha.5e In fact, Kuchuk Mtthammatl appears to have lurd

a personal stake in the downfall of one of the Qasimi of6cers, the chief scrihe

Salirrr llffepcli, to whorn he owed l,ooo gol(l pieces (sharifi altun\.7o Notwith-

standing, Salim Effendi rnay have been exactly the sort of extortionate higlrer

officer whorn popular lore praisecl Kuchuk Mr'rhammad for opposing'

Indeed, Mustafa Katkhuda al-Qazdagli, Kuclruk lvlulrammad's eventual

archfoe, reportcdly arlalged Salilr Effer-rcli's expulsion from the Jaqissaries

by accusing him of withholding money frnm tlre soldiers'salaries.Tl

55 The Janissary katkbudaKhalil was assassinated while the bast, ikh)tiy,tr (lread of the

higher officers) Rajab Katkhuda and the chief scribe Salim Effendi were raised to the

beylrcate. Salim [,ftendi was eveutually executed. See al-Danrurdashi, I)urra, rz-t1; al-

Jabarti,'Ala'iD, I, z1o.57 On Kuchuk Muharrrmad's career, see al-Jabarti,'Aja'ib,l, L4L-45; I'. ful. llolt, "The

Career of Kuchuk lvlulrantrnad (r 625-qq )," Bulletin of tbe Sehool of Orieilil and

African Studies, z5 lr961l, 269-87.68 See,forexarnple,alJabarti,'Aiaib,l,z38,z4r;Itolt,"TheCareerofKtrchuk

lvlrrhamnrad," e85-87.6e Al-l lallaq, T'orih-i Mrsr-r K&ire,ltt. zror. See also Jane IJathaway, "Strltans, Pashas,

TaEuins,and Muhimmes: A Reconsideration of Chronicle-Writing in Eighteentlr

century Ottoman Egypt," in Daniel Crecelius letl.l, Eighteenth Cenrwy EBypt:'fbe

Arabic Manuscript Sources (Clarernont, r:99o), 65, n. 5o.70 lvltihinlne defteri, vol. ro8, no. r 1 r 5 (a.u. r ro7lc.t- r 596). FIe was also in detrt to two

other Janissary officers and two cttstoms oflicials.7t Al-Damurdasli, l)urrt, t4.

5l52 JAN[. rrA',ntAvAY

'l'lre .l'(icers' clirrrirrati.n, lr.r.vevcr. pricipitated a higlrer-.fficer-l<xver'-.f(icer str-trggle betwcerr Mrrstafrr Katkhucla anrl Kuchuk Muhanrr,arl. onrt'covering rlre starus of .farrissziry "hoss," Krrchuk Mrrharrrrnad exilctlA'lrrsta{a Katkhu<h t() rhc llijaz.. Only in r694 tlid Ilasarr Agha l]ilifyasucceecl in pcrstrarling lbrahiru lley ihn I)hu'l-Fiqar to allow Must:rfaKatkhrrrla r(, retunr to (lairo. slrtx-tly after lris rctunr, Kuclruk IUrrhirrrrnadwas assassinatetl by orrc of Muste[a Krtl<hrrda's clicuts.T2 Ibralrirn ttey ibnI)hu'l l;itlar's llirtati.. witlr p.r'er c,tlcd rrot lrng afterw:r-d, whc, lreto1111,1..1 witlr tlre g()v(.rn()r irr:rrr,rilcrrrPl t{, a\\a\sinatc tltc (lrrsirrri lcarlerIblalriur liey Alrrr Slrarreb.'l'hc failrrre.I the plot letl to the irppointnlent ()f a

ilew g()veflr()r [avor;rtrlc to Alttr shanab.T ] l[ln I)hrr'l-I;ir1rr tticd shortlytlrercaftcr, irr tlre plagrre of r6c)(i.

A kc1, fsa1111. oI lhn I)htr'l-[ritlar's scheruc of aggrandizernent conce rnedlcrcirl srrlrervisi.rr ol.tlre Au.,qaf tl-llLtr.dtr',ny,,. Althotrglr tlrc chief [rllcketilrrrclr of tlrc irrrPcrilrl harcnr was srrPerintcudent (rrrrzir) trt ite Aruqaf al-llttrd,n.ttt,tt s() nrany F,gyptian villrgcs rvere errtlowerl to tlre Aruqnl tlttt e

strperirrterrrlent orr the spot, callcd dther nLtzir <tr nrularutlli, u,as sclcctcrlfroru errrrong I'lgypt's rlrilitrrry clite.7l wlrile fheLc sce'rrrs irritially to lrave heerrtto stiprrlation as to tlre srrPcrvisors'ranks, lreys rlonrinatccl rlre posts rrntillate in tlrc sc,r,errteerrtlr centrlry. Irr r67o, howet,er, I reforrtr instituted by theg()venr()r (]ara Ihrahirn Pasha, the lieuterrar)t of grantl vizier Kiiprtilii lratlilAlrrrrrtl l'aslra, ir arrsferrctl srrPe rvisi.u to s1'rccific officcrs of the.f auissary rrnd'Azah:rrr c.rps.7t Shortly afte r being ,anrerl pilgrinlrrge co.rrlrrl,(ler in r 69 r,lhrr I)hu'l-1.'i<1ar engirrccrerl llre restoration ol supcrvisiorr to e grt,up ofalrnrst exclrrsively Iiirlari lrcys.75'['lre tinring of tlre [reylical t;rkeover rnakes()ue suspect that it was arrarrgecl by Ibrr l)hrr'l-lrir;ar in arr artenrpt to rvc:rkentlrc lriglrer rcgi^re.tal .fficers. srclr a strategy woukl have conrplemcntcrl hiseliurirrating, the ()asirrri officers antl charrrpi.ning Krrchuk Mulrar.rnarl. Itwoulrl als. lrave prrt hiru at otltls with I lasan Aghzr llilifya, rvho vvas the[oretrrost lrigher rcgirnerrtal ofllccr.

l lasarr r\gh:r, [or lris pilrt, took a r,rrclr m.re eclcctic, ,Pp.rturristicapproa,'h to ratrk arr<l [rcti61al lo),altie" tIarr Ibl l)htr'l-ljiqar. I1 the wal<c

72 Al-.falratti, 'Aia'ib,l,217. Al l)aurrrrdrshi (I)rrrr,r, zo) tras irrr ally of the tlisnrissctl()asirrris irttcrrrPti.g t. kill Krrchrrk lvtrrhrnrrrrad ear licr. Ahrnad Qelehi (tlu,doh, rgolsays tnere ly thrt wltoevcr killcd Krrchuk lvltrharnnrzrrl was not rv()rrh the pricc s[ aslippt r on lris foot.

73 Alrnratl lielcbi, Arrrla/,, t94 L)7;el llallrrrl, 'lhrib i Jtlrsrr"t Kobire,kt. zzor;,Alrtl rl-Krrinr,'larilr-i lVIr-srr, fo. 99r,; al l)arrrrrrrlaslri, I)rrrnr, 1o.

7a Ileslrite Stanforrl Slraw's rigororrs terrrrirrolog,ical [rreaktlorvl it liiurtnrial aultldrnitistriliue ()rgonizatiort,4 r -4 5, tlrc rirles seenr t() llave been fairly flrrid.

7s Al I lallatl,'l'qrih-i Ahstrt Kuhire,kx. ro4v-zo5ri Akbltur d-uturualr, fo. 14r; Ahruatl! ek'l'i, Arrrl,r/,, r 7 r.

76 A l I Ir llr,l, 'l uib-i l\lrrr-t K altire, [<t. zz(,v; tlkhlnr al-nuu,ttnlt, fr. 4 z v; Ahnrad liele hi,tltlJalt, r87ial faharti,'Alo'ih,l, 75.

F'.gttpt in tlte seuenteerrtb ce,,lut'y

of Ibn Dhu'l liitlar's rleatlr, tlre llilifya grotrp tlitl not clro()se to lrtttsrtc his

ruthlessly pro-Iriqari pr()grarn. t\l-l)arrrrrrrlaslti stresses tlte care with rvlriclr

IIasan Agha uraiutainetl rvorking relafiotts witlr tlre Qasinris, in particrrlarIbr:ahinr [iey Abu Shanab. After Flasan Aglra's death in r7o4, in fact, his

sorr-in-law lsrna'il llcy apl)ears t() have sharerl power witlr Alrrr Slrrnah.TT

[{asan t\gha, along with Abrr Shanab, appears cornrnittetl to tlre hrlarrcingact betweell liiqaris antl ()asinris that thc ()ttorrran goverrrrrrt'rrt rtsell

ptrrstrcd. T'lris cornnritulcnt seenls to havc bccn corturron:rrr()ng tlrt: lrorrse-

hold lea<lers of the late seventeenth century. lhrahinr lley ihn l)hrr'l-Firlar'sschcnre of lriqari srrprenracy, horvcver, thrcatt:ttetl this balance of lrorver.

'l'he llilifya lrouscholtl's nrost entlrrritrg leg,acy consistctl irr rtuttrrring tlte

Qazrlagli houschokl. ljounrled by I Iasart Aglra's clicrrt, tlre .lanissary ftrrl-

khudt Mustafa al-(]aztlagli, tlre (lazdagli lrotrscholtl r.r,orrlcl coure to rlotttinate ligvpt for nrrrch of the eig,hreenth ccntury. Nlrrstir[a al-(.!az,lagli was,

accor(ling to al-.laharti, rlu,ti dl-ii,ts ("Runri by cthnicity"), r,r,lritlr in tlre

Ottornan perioil typically conrrotetl sonleone frorn r'r'esterrr Arratolia or f he

eastern llalkans, particularly thc vicirrity o[ the inrperiel capital. (.iorres1'urntl-

ingly, the sotrrirltret (lezrlagli refers to sonreone frortr the vicirrity of tlreKazdai,r, or Mount Icla, in westenr Anat()lia.7lt ()tt<lrnan archival s()rrrces

suggest tlrat Mtrstafa I(atkhtrda was an An:rtolian nlcrcertary <tr Q.afrt qtrlu

rvho nrigratetl to ligypt early in the scvcnteentll ccntrrry, arr,l tlrat he

cultivated ties to the holy citics vcry carly irr lris I'lgyptian carce r'. An irrrperialordcr of r7,51 r:efers to a "()irzrlagli Nlrrstafa of Irgypt's cxlalnshis" who u,as

c<rrrncctecl rvith the llasyatiyya lvlarlrasa irr N'lccca a lrrrntlr-ctl ltijri years

earlicr: - nrourrrl r676.79

'l-be ir{luertce of tbe cbicf ttlaL:k curtlt(:l) ot l,gyptiLtn so.iel)l

Llnclcrlying the strLrggle ove r supcrvisiou of the Aturltf ul-llndntfl)t,t was tllequestion of the ll.gyptiarr gr:rnrlees'tics to the Ottorrran clrief black currrrclr

lAghtt lhr al-,\tr'tdt, I)ariisstttde Afid <tr Ktz,lar t\gastl, rvho w,rs srrpt:r-

intencleflt rrI alI propertics eudorvetl ,n r1't. ,1tt,qaf crrrpire witle.'l lre post o1

clricf luyem cunuch was cre:rtccl rrrrtler Sultirtr IVIurrrtl lll It SZq-9Sl arrtl fellexclusivcly to black Africans bcginuing in thc latc sixtcenth centrrry.so lirotttr644 tleposerl chicf black etrttuclts wcre rotrtittell,exilctl to Ir.gypt; herrce

77 Al-l)arrrrrrdashi, I) urra, 5 z; al .f abar t i,' tl j t' ib, l, 47.78 'flrcre is irt lcast one othr:r rnotrrrlain krrown as rhe Kaztll[r near tlre Iolvrr of tlgal<, east

rrI Izrrir; sce'liirA Ansikkrpedisi, s.v. "tlr;ak," by lL. lztrirak. Ntrttnt ltla, Irowevcr, is hyfar tlre tlest-krrorvrr arrrl rnost [ret;rrerrtly errcountcrc(l irr atlascs antl geograplricald ictiorrr ries.

7e lt{iilrinrrrre-i N'lrsrr, vol. 7, rro. 8z lt.rt. t t6d<:.t.. 1751).80 l\{ehrrretSiircyya, Sijill i'osnnni,4vols.(lstarrbrrl, r1o8,r.tr.), lY,7z4ff.;N.Nl.Perrzer,

'lbe Iluem (l,orrtlon, r916, r9651, r6r. 67.

54 JANE HAtrrAwAY

their in{ltrence irr the province increased clra.ratically. Evidence points tocontiriuous irrteraction wirh Egypt throughout a eunuch's career. Africarrslaves arrived in Egypr with tl-re anuual caravans fronr the Suda.; certain ofthel, were castrated in coptic villages i. Upper Egypt, the, sold i. the slavenrarkets of cairo, where they miglrt be purchased for the lror.rsehold of theottonran governor or those of the local grandees. G.vernors and eve.tually,it appears, granclees regularly presented eunuchs as lifts to the irnperialpalace.sl 'l'[rus it cannot have bee.,.col-nnloll for Africa, eu.uclrs newlyarrive<l in the inrper:ial palace already ro enioy connections in Egypt.

while in .f6ce, the chief black eunuch paid close atention to affairs inEgyt)t to errstrre that revenues ancl grain owed to dte Awqaf al-I.Iaranuynwere delivered in a tirnely fashion. At the sanre time, the eunuch preparedf.r his eventual exile in Egypt by a,rassing properties a.d fou,ding his ownpersonal ruaqfs in tigypt. 1'o ser.ve both purposes, the er-rnuch ernployedagents (ruakils); one of tlrese, Mustafa Iley Kizlar, served yusuf Aglra$67r-86), al-Hajj tlashir Agha (t717-461, ancl possibly Nazir Agha(ta9z-94).82 An agerrt bearing the title utahil dar al-sa,ttda and clealingchiefly witlr rnatrers conce.ri,g the Awqaf al-Haranuytt appears to havebeen a perurauent fixt.re i, cairo by the early eightee,th century.s3 I. sunr,a continuous network of pote.tial, acting, and exiled palace eu^uchs andtheir agents linked the irnperial capital and its largest province.

Iu late seve,teenth-century cairo, the resicle'ces of exiled eunuchs seenrto have for'red an ide,tifiable cluster i, the fashionable elite quarrersurrounding Birkat al-Fil.8a A lrouse might be handed down from one exiledeunuch to anorherl thus, Yusuf Aglra inherited rhe holne of his patron, Tash)'atrrr 'Ali Agha, who had been exiled to Egypr some years earlier.8r

lrr efIect, exiletl eurruclrs became localized grandees in h.gypr; like orher

8r P. S. Girard, I{ imoire sur I'agriculture, l'iatlush-ie, et le commerce, Description deI'F.gypte, znd ed. (r824), XVII, 278-96; I I. A. R. Gibb and I larold Bowen, /slazicSociety and the West, r vol. in z parts (l,ontlon, r95o), parr r, lo5, n. 3.82 lvliihimmerlefteri,vol. 99,no.49r (e.u. rror/c.r. ieqo);al-f;a,n;rdaihi,Durra,zgl;Ivliihinrrne-i Mrsrr, vol. 4, no. 8 (n.H. trl9lc.r_. rTzG-27);Hathaway,.,The Role oi theKrzlarAiasr,"r49;Miihimme-i Mrsrr,vol.r,nos.447(n.rr.rrz8/c.r. t716l,47tll..tr.t tz9lc.e. 17 t7l.

8r Al l)amurdasli (Dnt'a,528-3 r )cites tlre wakil dar al-sa,adatryingto persuadellrralrirn Bey Qatanrish to relinquish grain from villages endowed ro tlte Awqaf .1'wofirtratrs dntetl a..rr rr6o/c.c. r747 (Topkapi Palace Archives, z5rz5lt7 and iA) revealtlrat tlris was al-t{ajj l}ashir Agha's agenr'tlrlrnrarr Agha.l he larter fimnr bears lrissrarrp on the reverse, wirh the date a.u. r rdrlc.E. r748.'Uthnran Aglra also appears ina rr,rrrber of irnperial ortlers deali,g with the clisposal of Bashir Agha',

".trt.;i..-. lr4iihrnrrne-i Mrsrr,vol.6,nos.Jr8,319,34r,34zlalla,t.tt59lc.e.ry4Gl.8a

Jane llathaway, "'I he Wealth antl Influence of an f,xiled Ottoman Eunuch in Egypt:'lhe Waqf lnvenrory of 'Abbas Agha," Journal of the Econontic and Sociot Hisiry of_._

tbe Orienr., )7 G994i1,1o5 and n. 54; Ahnrad Qelel>i, Awtlah, fi7.85 Al-Damurdashi, Durra,,lzz; al-I{allaq, l'arih-7 Msrt Kabirc, [os. L19v, LLor, LLLi

Akhbar al-ruuuuab, fo. 4or Ahnrad Qelebi, Atudah, tBt.Bz.

l)gy1t1 i1 the seuenteeilh L:anlruy

grandees, they arnassed households, corrsisting of both clients fronr theirnperial palace and coopted membets of established local hotrseholtls.

-l'lre

exiled eunuch most prominent in the political culture of seventeerrth-centuryEgypt was Yusuf Agha, who seems to have played a role in the Fiqalidominance of the r68os and r69os. IJis nrost visible client, the uahilMustafa Bey Kizlar, was an ally of the llilifya houselrold.86 Yusuf Aghaseems, furthermore, to have pronrotecl a series of Iiiclari pilgrimage corrman-ders for the superiLrtenclency of the Valicle uaqf, established by l{abi'aGulnush Anratullah, the nrother of Ahmad III, in r698.87 Atthough the fullextent of the chief black eunuchs' participation in Hgypt's household politicsis still unknown, their influence seerns to have been pervasive. For thisreason, the seventeenth-century polemicist Darwish 'Abdallah asserts that"every onc of these hlack traitors is connected to a bey of Egypt"; even as

early as rj99, the Ottoman iutellectual Mustafa'Alt lanrents the blackeunuchs' iufluence in Egypt.88

The etrnnchs' ability to entl<tw ruar1fs in Egypt appears to have harl a

profound effect on Egypt's economy. Tlre personal waqf invemoty of 'AbbasAglra, who was exiled to Egypt in r67r, reveals that this eunuclr patroniz.edan extensive comm€rce in coffee ancl flax, not only wirhin Cairo butthroughout the llgyptian countryside. I-lis patronage of a coffee cornplex inthe Nile delta town of Minyat Zifta suggests that exiled eunuchs rnay haveplayed a signilicant role in integrating the countryside into a regionalecouomic network tlrat, moreover, linked llppel and Lower Egypt.8e

'Abbas Agha's wuqf inventc:ry irrclucles a list of the books irr his library.These comprise the works of Hanafi exeBesis and (Jtton-ran history that were

f.central to a palace education,eo yet they also include a nuruber of obviouslySufi works, notably the works of the twelfth-century urystic Farid al-Din'Attar.er Given that two prominent chief black eunuchs of the eighteenth

85 Al-I)amurdashi tlescribes arr inciclent in which [{asan Agha Bilifya and his son-in-lawIsma'il Bey interceded for Mustafa Bey with tlre governor Husayn Pasha and obtainedthe governorship of Jirja for Mustafa (Dwra, 58-591.

87 'l'opkapi Palace Archives, 131, is a series of accounts for the Valide uoqlin wlrich [rorhYusuI Agha himself and various Fiqari pilgrinrage cornrnanders appcar at tli[[erent tinresas nazir during the r69os anrl early r7oos.

88 Cengiz Orhollu, "Derviq 'Abdullah'ur Dartissaade A[alari t{akkrntla lrir Eseri; Risa/e-iteberdariye fi abual-i Darus-st'ade," in lsmail tlakfu UamgarSrlr'ya Armalar (Ankara,r 976), 24 8; Mustafa' Ali, l+lust afa' Al i's D e scrip tion of Cairo of t 5 9 9, ed, and rrans.Anclrcas'l-ietze (Vienna, r975), 8r-81.

8e 'I-opkapi Palace Archives, o7557. For a cletailed analysis of this inventory, see

Hathaway, "ITealth and Iulluence."e0 Barnette Miller,The Palace School of Muhanuuad the Conquerot'(New York, r95 r),

94ff.; Flathaway, "$Tealth and Intluence," )o9-tL.er Specrfically, the'ladhkirat al-atuliya', a collection of Sufi saints' biographies, andMantiq al-tayr ('I'he Parliaurcnt of the Birdsl. See Hatlraway, "Wealtlr and lnfluence,"loo.

55

56 lAN0 trAlrrAwAY

centrrry are kn()wn t. lrave [reerr great hibli.philes,e2 wc ciln probahlycoltiecture that rIIany exiled eurrrrchs hrouglrt their libraries with tlreut t6Ir,gypt. ln that t ase, tlrr:y nray wcll havc bcen instrumental in litcraryexclrarrgt:s bcnveerr inrperial ccnrr:r alrtl pr.virrce, ancl nray thcre[orc baveplayi:tl il critical rolc itr tratrsrrrittirrg, the irrtellcctrral ancl spiritual culttrre oftlre ottonran corrrt t() lrgypt whilc bringing r.vorks Protlrrcetl irr Iigvpt to the:rtlerr{iolr of tlre corrrt.

(.)ltntges in llg1,pt's religiLtus life-[lre suggestit)n that the sevcrrtcenfh ce,tury c.ultl ha'c been a pcriocl ofittcrcasecl irrtellccttral integratiorr [rctwce rr Istarrbul antl Cairo clrallenges thepercepti()n that llgypt was, ilt this vcry tilnc, constnlcting a tlistinctlyI'lgyptia. intcllecrual and spilitual prolilc.el I(cy rcligi.us oflicials \.vcrc srillalrp.irrtcrl frorn Istarrllrl, ur.st rrotably the clrieI iwlge (qadi'asftar) arrtl tlrelreatl .I tlre tlescerrrlarrts of the l)r.phet Qwtlib al-aslntrl),ea ancl they, al.ngwitlr exilerl prlace eunuchs, the ott()nren g()venrors, autl suntlry ottonra,etlrttirtistrative oflicials, tro tlotr[rt playctl sonre r:ole in irnporting the intellcc-.,ttral arrrl religi.us afrirrr(les oi tlre Om.nr;rn eentml leuds to ligypt. 'l heI lanafi lcgal school, to whiclr tlre ottonran c()urt adherc(l, rvas the sclrogl[.ll,wed by all rcligi.rrs officials app.intctl frour lstanbrrl, as wcll as [ryIlgypt's grattdees. As a result, I Ianafi rcligiorrs officials c()rlstitute(l sorlethi6g,I irn elrte irr L'.gypt's legal crrlture, if not in lr.gyPt's etlrrcati.nal establislr-tnerrt.')'i

Firr urore pervasive,ruong tlre llgyptia. Poprrlatiorr at large wcre tlre()tt.rrralr srltliery, wlro hrought tlreir.rvrr set of rlistirrctivc spirittralprefcrc,ces t() llgyl)t. Irr the ycrr:s klllor.ving tlre ()tt.rra^ c()'q.est of tigypt,tlte ()(torttart soldiery wcre staunch atllrerents ol tlre variorrs offsho6ts of thr:l(halrvati Srrli ortlcr, itselI irnportetl to l,.gypt fronr Anatolia arrtl (]entralAsiairr the liftcerrtlr cerrtrr11,."6'l'he'Azah rcgirrrr:nt lratl:r strong a(taclrnrerrt tq tIel<rtlges (te&lcs ot' z.ttrui)tdsl of Shams al-Din MLrhammail [)arnirdash lnrle2 ()rral IIaii ltashirAglra(r7r7 46),seelvlartirrvrnllnrirrcsserrantl Ilcnrlrikll()esclloten

(eds. and trans.), Ily'iya lelelti in Diyrrbekir:'l'he Relernnt Seetiur of the Seyahatnrnre(l.citlcn, rglltl), 5; orr N4orah llashir Agha (t7q6-5tl,sce.[earr-Clarxle l]laclrat,()bsenqtilnrs sur k: c,tttrnteree et sur les orts d'nne ptrtie rlc l'l:ure4t, de I'Asia, Lle

- I'Afrique, et nrinte les hu]es ()neilales, z vols. (l.yon, r7()6l,ll, tLg.er N,lir:hacf Wirrtcr,.ltgy,lrtirlnsot:ielttrmler()thnnanRule,rSrT' r79g(l-orrrlorranrlNcw\r,sk, 1,,192), /6 7j, tcla, zil-- l-1.

1'a lrr tlrr latc cightcerrtlr cerrtrrry tllis posr was rnonopolizrd by the tlakris, a pronrirrent( iaircnt, lirrrrily of rlcscrrrtlarrts of tlrt l,rophct.

f i (;alal 11, lrl-Nahal, 'l'he .lnlirial Altnirislruti.tt ol.Oilunor E$pt iil tbe Scuenteenlh( )ellrrry ( lr,'l inneapolis arrrl (ibicago, t L17,11, r 6 - t 7.e6 $. (;. Marti,, "A Slr.rt Ilisr',ry ()l rhe Khal*,ati ( )rtlcr r,{ [)ervislics," ilr Nihki It.Kerlrlie (rtl.), Stholars, Saitts tnd Sut'is: Mrclim Religi,us l,stilrti(rts since t 1oo(lterkeley, Los Angelcs, elrtl Lorrrkrn, r 97r), esp. L75-97i [lrnst Ilarrncrrh, ..L,r

li,gyltt itt the seuetfieerlh (entlry

Ibrahirn (lulslrani, two of the thrcc Klralwati shayklrs who brouglrt tlraror([cr to tt.gypt."'I]y thc latc seventeclltlr centrlry, howevcr, the Klrrlwatiswcre under attack in the ()ttorrrlrr ccrrtral larrrls, orving to thc irr[ltrerrce oI a

stringcntly orthoclox puritarrical nl()verr)ent rvtrosc aclhererrts \,vere knorvrr as

Kadizadelis.es 1'he tlelayerl iullrrcnce of tlrc K:rtlizadeli rrroverrrent' al)l)ears

most forccfully in llgypt irr tlrc farrrous r 7 r r conflict at llah Zrrwaylabctrveen Clirirenc Srrfis antl Anatoliln soltlir:rs. 'l'he soltlierrs, tclIirrgly, lrarl

lrecn rcatling tlrc l{isalrt oI the sixteentl]-century prerrclrer []irgcli Nlrr'hrrrrrrrrad Ir,ffcncli, tlrc vcritablc udle ntecu,tt of tlre Katliz-atlcli rnovcrrrcrrt.el)

l".gypr,Iikc,tlrt'r orrtlying l,rovirrr't's, wils r).t irr. lrr.l,'.1 irr tlre lrrt'rnr. lry,,lOttomrn ntadrutsas thet crnpkryc.l 'I rrrcop[roue 'ulaurit' itrscriherl on :r

rankerl roll.loo Noncthcless, llgvpt coltiuue(l as a rrralor cerrfcr of lslarnrc

e(hrcation. llcgiruring in thc scvcntccntll century, Cairo's ancicnl al-Azlrarlnos(lue-univcrsity in particrrlar saw il lr:rssi\/(j iullux oI stu(lcllts frorrr otherOttornan provinces, lrotlr Arab and rrorr-Arab, as well as fronr srrelr far.flrrngIvluslirn lantls as Inclir anrl lud<lrresia. No lcss sigrtiliclnt wls a rnigr:rtiorr ofy()ulrg nlcn frorl villagcs irr botlr Uppcr aud Lor'ver Ii.gypt to el-Azher fortheological training, l')r1rt of a broatler trcrrd of integration between the

capital and thc corrntrysidc, as rvcll as l)ctwecn Upper antl Lorver lpiypt, atwork during tlre scventecrrth cerrtury.l()l l)erhaps as a partial resrrlt of tlris

Khalwariyya en ligypte: (luclques rspects (le la vic d'urrc con[r6rie," h4ilange-s rlel'lnstitut I)tnritrit,tirt des l;.tudes ()tierkiles,8 1r964 66\, t -7,1.

e7 Al-l)anrrrrrlashi, l)urn, t45, t61i lvlartrrr, "Klralwrti ()rtlcr o[ I)trvishes," L9L-:)],L96-97. Al I)rrlrrrrlashi hirnsclI aLrrost certainly trkes lris solrriqtrtt frorn tlreKhalwati srrb-ortler [orrntlctl by I )arrrixlash.

e8 lvlatlelirre C.7,ilfi,'l lrc I'ditics of l'ie tt':'l'he ( )ttonmu lllenm itr tlte l'ost Oltsicd Age,r 1 oo- r I oo ( I\'l inrrealxrlis antl (ihicago, r 988 ), r z9-8 r.

ee Al-l lallail, 'l'trth-i ltlryr-r Kabire, fos. 29 6r - ] () l r; Ahrnatl Qelebi, Awiilt, z \ r - 5 5 . See

also llarbrra lilclntrrirrg, "l)ir Vonvahhalritische liitna irn osrrrrrnisclrerr Kairo, r7r r,"it lsntil Ilakfu Uzntgarliiyt Arnttgtn; l{urkrlph l'ctcrs, "'I he l]atterul [)ervishcs oflliab Zrrwayla: A l{eligious Iliot in liiglrtecntlr ccntrrry (i:riro," in Nclrcrrria l.u,tziorrarrtl .[olrrt O. Voll (ctls.), l:,igltteeutlt century Reneu,al tn,l Refirru in lslum (Syracuse,r987). llecause Ahru:rtl (ielelri tlenorrnccs tlrc soltliers as "tlrat race oI lirrks wlro <l<r

not distittguish l)ctlvecn rn arrtl n," tlris irrcitlcrrt lras hcerr constrrrcrl as it eorr[rontatiorrbetu,ectt illitcrrte l rrrks anrl Arab or Arabizccl Egyptian'rrlarnir'. Ilowcver, Ahrrrrtl()elebi is surely irrvcighirrg agirirrst the.lielcct o{ ljrrkish spokrrr by provirrciirl,prrtrably rastcrrr, Anatolirrrs (rltrat)-

loo Rich;rrrl l{cpp, "Sonre ()hservations orr rlrc l)cvclopnrent of the ()ttonrarr l-earrretlFIicrarchy," iu Kedrlie, Scholus, Sauils, arul ,\ulis; Inalcik, Olusiul tlgc, r67 72.

I0r (irlrriel llacr,"Iellaharrtl 'l'ou,nsnrarrin()ttorrrirrrtrgypt:AStrrrlyotShirhirri'slltzzil'qnhtrf ," tlshn rn,l ,l[r'nut Studies,S lr97zl, zzr 56; S. l). (iuircin, "'l orvnsnrarr arrdlellalr:A(irrirr lrxtlrtrrrtlreslvrrrtrcrrtlr(rrrtrrry," Asi,ttt,tu,lAlt,t,ut.\tu,li{,8lt97zl, t57-6t. I)uring thc [atc N'larrrltrk strll;rnate, in contrirst, fcw (.airerrc 'ularnr'rvere frorn Upper lr.gypt; see ( )arl l'rtry's series of irrticles ()n thc ger)g,rxl)hical origins olliftce nt lr ccrtt rrry ( )a ir crre 'ularr ra' irr thc .lounrul oI lhe l;,cttrunnic ,ttd Sor:itl I listrt y o[the()rien,zt (t97lll antl z1 (r98o).(lnal-Azhar'sstu(lentp()l)ulari(n,sccJ.I leyrvrrrtlr'l)urrrrq An lntrtxlrrction to llta Ilislo.y tf lilrrcation in MoLlem l;.gt,pl

57

t8 JANE IIATHA\VAY

stu.leut nligratioll, al-Azlrar in the corrrse of rh. r.u.nti.nth century eclipsedotlrer prorlrinent nlosqLte-rradrasas in Cairo as Egypt's premier theologicalirrstittrtiorr.f02 Beginnirrg around 167o, a rcctor (sbaykb al-Azharl wasroutinely selected frtxrr anrorrg al-Azhar's insrructors. The origin andpurpose of this of{ice are still unclear, brrt its implenlenration nray havestemrnecl in part fronr the university's growing size arrd stature. The firstseveral sbuyukb al-Azhar carne frorn towrrs and villages in the Egyptiancotrntryside; even rnore striking, until 1778 the rectors, as well as otherprominent 'ularna' of al-Azhar, were adl.rercrrrs of the Maliki legal school,several fronr loca[es in Upper Egypt.loj Al-Azhar served as a nreans ofirrtegrating the disparate Muslim poprrlations who came to Cairo to pursue a

religious livelihood. In this respecr, the university performed a functionsinrilarr to that of the nrilitary lrouseho[d.

Conclusion

In the corrrse of the seventeenih centrtry, ligypt underwent a ser:ics ofclemographic, fiscal, and rnilitary transforur:rtions. Many of these were par(of broatler trends at work throughout the Ottonrirn ernpire, as the empire'sexpansion slowecl l)llt as ec()n()tnic and rnilitary crises triggered ruigrirtionswithiu it. 'l'he rnobility of Ottonran rnilitary and adurinistrative personnelserved to integrate Iigypt rnore closely with the empire as a whole, even as

Ottonran rrrle becaure nrore decentralized. -['oward the entl of tlre century,Irolever, ligypt felt the direct e[[ect of the Kiipriiltis' atternprs to reassertcentralizetl authority. tigypt's etlucational and religious insritutions, whiler-etaiuing a separate starus from those of the central Ottornan lands, were yet

slrapetl by ernpire-wide trends even as a Breater degree of integration withinFigypt itseli allowed thenr, arguably, to assume a distinctly ligyptiancharacter. llgypt's rnilitary ancl arlministrative echelons, rneanwhile, parrici-pated in the houselroltl political culture that characterized rhe post-six-teenth century Ottornan empire. This houselrold culture would broaden out,eucornpassirrg more and nrore elenrenfs of Egyptian society, in the followingcentur y.

(l".ontlorr, t 9 681, 2 5, 3 8 - 1 9; Baya rtl L-t Ltdge, Al- tl zh at' : A Nlill eruri ul of M u sl imI-eanting, uremorial ed. (!(/ashingron,DC, r9741, zor -o6.

102 Wirrter, Egyptittu Society under ()lkmmtr Rule, tr8-26.r0l Ataf Lufti al Sayyid Marsot, "-fhe'[Jlanra'of Cairo in the Eightee nth and Nineteerrth

Cerrtnries," irr Keddie, Sclrolars, Saints, nd Sufis; l)arriel Crecelius, "The Enrergence ofthe Shayklr al Azhar as the Pre-Enrirrenr l{eligious Leader in Egypt," in Arrilr6eAssahgui et al. (erls.), C,olloque intenuttionol sur I'bistoire lu Cait.e lOairo, t969l,esp.ro9- r I ; Witter, Egyptiatr Society uruler Ottonan Rule, tto-zr .I:or the biographiesof rwo pronrinent Maliki scholars frorn Upper Egypt, see al-Jabarti, 'Aja'ib,lll,t t6- t7, antl IV, 28.

Egypt in the eighteenth century

DANIEL CI(ECELIUS

++

General oltseruations

Egypt continuecl its clrift toward autonorny during the cottrse r>f the eight-

eentlr century, moving at the sanre titne from clorninance lry households to

rule by lndivicluals. As it emergecl fronr the gerrerally passive contlitionirnposed on it by two centuties of Ottonran dornination and freely developed

closer links with Europe under the leaclersliip of aggressive beys of a new

and ambitious Mamluk l-rousehold, Egypt assumed a central intportauce irt

European strategic planning that it has never lost.l lvluch ofthis irnportance

rested on a unique geographic position, but l)gypt sustairred a vibranteconomy of its own. lt remained the richest antl tnost importarlt Ottotnatr

province, for it distributed to various regions of the Ottonran empire (ancl

increasingly, as the century wore on, to European states eager for its tracle)

a'gricultural bourrty of such crops as rice, sttgar, irnd wlreat as well as a broad

range of products, chiefly Yemeni coffee, from Afr:ica, Asia, antl the lted Sea

region.

Despite the continuing tyranny o[ its military establishment, the seemirrgly

incessant outbreaks of violence among competing military houselrolds, and

frequent visits of plague and pestilence, Egypt's economy rentaitled strolrg

well into the century..During a lengthy period of political stability in nricl-

I The Arabic manuscript sources for the lristory of Egypt in tlre eighteenth centrrry are

surveyed in Daniel Crecelius led.l, Eigbteenth Century F g1,pt, The Arabic Mnrutsct.ipl

Solrces (Clarenront, r99o).'l he extensiv€ rlocunrentation relating to ltl.7/ also lorms an

important source: see Daniel Crecelius, "T he C)rganization of lVarTl Docuruents inCairo," lntenutional Journal ol. Middle East Stmlies, z (ry7 t1, 266-77, attl Fihris al-

woqfiyyat al-nrahfirdha fi aluizdrot al-arut1af wa dil dl ,,ntha'iq dl-qaruntfiya al'ta'rikhiyl,a fi nisr lCairo, ry921. On the iurportant'I ttrkislr materials, see Stanford J.

Slraw, "The Ottoman Archives as a Source for [gyptian llistory," Jountal of the

Anrericau Orienlal Society,83 (Septenrber-l)ecernber ry631, 447-52, and Stanford J.

Shaw, "Turkislr source-materials for Egyptian History," in P. M. Holt (ed.l,Politicaland Social Chatge in lvloderu Egypt (London, ry681, z8-48.

t9