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Khedivate of Egypt الْخُدَيْوِيَّةُ الْمِصْرِيَّةُ (Arabic) Al-khudaywiyyah al-misriyyah خدیویت مصر (Ottoman Turkish) Hıdiviyet-i Mısır | |||||||||||||||||
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| 1867–1914 | |||||||||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||||
| Anthem: (1871–1914) Salam Affandina | |||||||||||||||||
 Egypt and its expansion in the 19th century. | |||||||||||||||||
| Status | Largely independentvassal state of the Ottoman Empire | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Cairo | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic,Ottoman Turkish,Albanian,Greek,[1]French,English[a] | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam,Coptic Christianity | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
| Khedive | |||||||||||||||||
• 1867–1879 | Isma'il Pasha | ||||||||||||||||
• 1879–1892 | Tewfik Pasha | ||||||||||||||||
• 1892–1914 | Abbas II | ||||||||||||||||
| BritishConsul-General | |||||||||||||||||
• 1883–1907 | Evelyn Baring | ||||||||||||||||
• 1907–1911 | Eldon Gorst | ||||||||||||||||
• 1911–1914 | Herbert Kitchener | ||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||
• 1878–1879(first) | Nubar Pasha | ||||||||||||||||
• 1914(last) | Hussein Roshdy Pasha | ||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Scramble for Africa | ||||||||||||||||
• Established | 8 June 1867 | ||||||||||||||||
• Suez Canal opened | 17 November 1869 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1881–1882 | |||||||||||||||||
• British invasion in theAnglo-Egyptian War | July – September 1882 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 January 1899 | |||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 19 December 1914 | ||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
• Total | 5,000,000 km2 (1,900,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 1882[b] | 6,805,000 | ||||||||||||||||
• 1897[b] | 9,715,000 | ||||||||||||||||
• 1907[b] | 11,287,000 | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Egyptian pound | ||||||||||||||||
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^ a. English became the sole official language in 1898.[2]^ b. Area and density include inhabited areas only. The total area of Egypt, including deserts, is 994,000 km‹ThetemplateSmallsup is beingconsidered for deletion.› 2, however, the size of the Khedivate of Egypt consisted many other territories, and was approximately 5,000,000 km‹ThetemplateSmallsup is beingconsidered for deletion.› 2.[3][4] | |||||||||||||||||
TheKhedivate of Egypt (Arabic:الْخُدَيْوِيَّةُ الْمِصْرِيَّةُ orخُدَيْوِيَّةُ مِصْرَ,Egyptian Arabic pronunciation:[xedeˈwejjetmɑsˤɾ];Ottoman Turkish:خدیویت مصرHıdiviyet-i Mısır) was an autonomoustributary state of theOttoman Empire established and ruled by theMuhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion ofNapoleon Bonaparte's forces, ending the short-livedFrench occupation of Lower Egypt. The Khedivate ofEgypt had also expanded to control present-daySudan,South Sudan,Eritrea,Djibouti, northwesternSomalia, northeasternEthiopia,Lebanon,Jordan,Israel,Palestine,Syria,Greece,Cyprus, southern and centralTurkey, in addition to parts fromLibya,Chad,Central African Republic,Democratic Republic of Congo, andUganda, as well as northwesternSaudi Arabia, parts ofYemen and theKingdom of Hejaz.[5][6]
TheUnited Kingdominvaded and took control in 1882. In 1914, the Ottoman Empire connection was ended and Britain established a protectorate called theSultanate of Egypt.
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Upon the conquest of theMamluk Sultanate by theOttoman Empire in 1517, Egypt was governed asan Ottoman province. TheOttoman Porte (government) was content to permit local rule to remain in the hands of theMamluks, the Egyptian military led byCircassian-Turkic leaders who had held power in Egypt since the 13th century. Save for military expeditions to crush Mamluk uprisings seeking to reestablish the independent Egyptian sultanate, the Ottomans largely ignored Egyptian affairs until theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria in 1798.
Between 1799 and 1801, the Porte, working at times with France's main enemy, Great Britain, undertook various campaigns to restore Ottoman rule in Egypt. By August 1801, the remaining French forces of GeneralJacques-François Menou withdrew from Egypt.
The period between 1801 and 1805 was, effectively, a three-way civil war in Egypt between the Egyptian Mamluks, the Ottoman Turks, and Albanian troops the Ottoman Porte dispatched fromRumelia (the Empire's European province), under the command ofMuhammad Ali Pasha, to restore the Empire's authority.
Following the defeat of the French, the Porte assignedKoca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha as the newWāli (governor) of Egypt, tasking him to kill or imprison the surviving Egyptian Mamlukbeys. Many of these were freed by or fled with the British, while others heldMinya betweenUpper andLower Egypt.
Amid these disturbances, Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha attempted to disband his Albanianbashi-bazouks (soldiers) without pay. This led to rioting that drove Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha from Cairo. During the ensuing turmoil, the Porte sentMuhammad Ali Pasha to Egypt.
However,Muhammad Ali seized control of Egypt, declared himself ruler and quickly consolidated an independent local power base. After repeated failed attempts to remove and kill him, in 1805 the Porte officially recognised Muhammad Ali as Wāli of Egypt. Demonstrating his grander ambitions, Muhammad Ali Pasha claimed for himself the higher title of Khedive (Viceroy), ruling the self-proclaimed (but not recognised) Khedivate of Egypt. He murdered the remaining Mamlukbeys in 1811, solidifying his control of Egypt. He is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt because of the dramatic reforms he instituted in the military, agricultural, economic and cultural spheres.
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During Muhammad Ali's absence in Arabia his representative at Cairo had completed the confiscation, begun in 1808, of almost all the lands belonging to private individuals, who were forced to accept instead inadequate pensions. By this revolutionary method of land nationalization Muhammad Ali became proprietor of nearly all the soil of Egypt, an iniquitous measure against which theEgyptians had no remedy.
The pasha also attempted to reorganize his troops on European lines, but this led to a formidable mutiny in Cairo. Muhammad Ali's life was endangered, and he sought refuge by night in the citadel, while the soldiery committed many acts of plunder. The revolt was reduced by gifts to the chiefs of the insurgents, and Muhammad Ali ordered compensation from the treasury for those who had suffered in the disturbances. TheNizam-i Cedid (New System) project was, in consequence of this mutiny, abandoned for a time.
While Ibrahim was engaged in the second Arabian campaign the pasha turned his attention to strengthening the Egyptian economy. He created state monopolies over the chief products of the country. He set up factories and began digging in 1819 a new canal to Alexandria called theMahmudiyya after the sultan. The old canal had long fallen into decay and the necessity of a safe channel between Alexandria and theNile was much felt. The conclusion in 1838 of a commercial treaty with Turkey, negotiated byHenry Bulwer, struck a death blow to the system of monopolies, though the application of the treaty to Egypt was delayed for some years.
Another notable fact in the economic progress of the country was the development of the cultivation ofcotton in theDelta in 1822 and onwards. The cotton grown had been brought from theTurco-Egyptian Sudan by Maho Bey and the organization of the new industry from which in a few years Muhammad Ali was enabled to extract considerable revenues.
Efforts were made to promote education and the study of medicine. To European merchants, on whom he was dependent for the sale of his exports, Muhammad Ali showed much favor and under his influence, the port of Alexandria again rose into importance. It was also under Muhammad Ali's encouragement that the overland transit of goods from Europe toIndia via Egypt was resumed.
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In 1820, Muhammad Ali gave orders to commence the conquest ofOttoman Tripolitania. He first sent an expedition westward in February, which conquered and annexed theSiwa Oasis. Ali's intentions for Sudan were to extend his rule southward, capture the valuablecaravan trade bound for theRed Sea, and secure the richgold mines which he believed to exist inSennar. He also saw in the campaign a means of getting rid of his disaffected troops, and of obtaining a sufficient number of captives to form the nucleus of the new army.
The forces destined for this service were led by Ismail, the youngest son of Muhammad Ali. They consisted of between 4000 and 5000 men, being Albanians, Turks and Egyptians. They left Cairo in July 1820. TheFunj Sultanate ofNubia submitted without a fight; theShaigiya Confederation immediately beyond the province ofDongola were defeated; the remnant of the Mamluks dispersed; and Sennar was reduced without a battle.
Muhammad Bey, thedefterdar, with another force of about the same strength, was then sent by Muhammad Ali againstKordofan with like result, but not without a hard-fought engagement. In October 1822, Ismaʿil, with his retinue, was burnt to death by Nimr, themakk (king) ofShendi. The defterdar, a man infamous for his cruelty, assumed the command of those provinces and exacted terrible retribution from the inhabitants.Khartoum was founded at this time, and in the following years, Egyptian rule was greatly extended and control of theRed Sea ports ofSuakin andMassawa obtained.
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Muhammad Ali understood that the empire he had so laboriously built up might at any time have to be defended by force of arms against his master SultanMahmud II, whose whole policy had been directed to curbing the power of too-ambitious vassals, and who was under the influence of the personal enemies of the pasha of Egypt, notablyKoca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha, thegrand vizier, who had never forgiven his humiliation in Egypt in 1803.
Mahmud also was already planning reforms borrowed from the West, and Muhammad Ali, who had had plenty of opportunity of observing the superiority of European methods of warfare, was determined to anticipate the sultan in the creation of a fleet and an army on European lines, partly as a precaution, partly as an instrument for the realization of yet wider schemes of ambition. Before the outbreak of theWar of Greek Independence in 1821, he had already expended much time and energy in organizing a fleet and in training, under the supervision of French instructors, native officers and artificers; though it was not till 1829 that the opening of a dockyard and arsenal at Alexandria enabled him to build and equip his own vessels.
His foresight was rewarded by the invitation of the sultan to help him in the task of subduing the Greek insurgents, offering as reward the pashaliks of theMorea and of Syria. Muhammad Ali had already, in 1821, been appointed by him governor ofCrete, which he had occupied with a small Egyptian force. In the autumn of 1824, a fleet of 60 Egyptian warships carrying a large force of 17,000 disciplined troops concentrated inSuda Bay, and, in the following March, with Ibrahin as commander-in-chief landed in theMorea.
His naval superiority wrested from the Greeks the command of a great deal of the sea, on which the fate of the insurrection ultimately depended, while on land the Greek irregular bands, having largely soundly beaten the Porte's troops, had finally met a worthy foe in Ibrahim's disciplined troops. The history of the events that led up to thebattle of Navarino and the liberation of Greece is told elsewhere; the withdrawal of the Egyptians from the Morea was ultimately due to the action of Admiral SirEdward Codrington, who early in August 1828 appeared before Alexandria and induced the pasha, by no means sorry to have a reasonable excuse, by a threat of bombardment, to sign a convention undertaking to recall Ibrahim and his army. But for the action of European powers, it is suspected by many that the Ottoman Empire might have defeated the Greeks.
Although Muhammad Ali had only been granted the title ofwali, he proclaimed himselfkhedive, or hereditary viceroy, early on during his rule. The Ottoman government, although irritated, did nothing until Muhammad Aliinvaded Ottoman-ruled Syria in 1831. The governorship of Syria had been promised to him by the sultan,Mahmud II, for his assistance during theGreek War of Independence, but the title was not granted to him after the war.[7] This caused the Ottomans, allied with the British, tocounter-attack in 1839.
In 1840, the British bombarded Beirut and an Anglo-Ottoman force landed and seized Acre.[8] The Egyptian army was forced to retreat back home, and Syria again became an Ottoman province. As a result of theConvention of London (1840), Muhammad Ali gave up all conquered lands with the exception of the Sudan and was, in turn, granted the hereditary governorship of the Sudan.
By 1848, Muhammad Ali was old and senile enough for his tuberculosis-ridden son,Ibrahim, to demand his accession to the governorship. The Ottoman sultan acceded to the demands, and Muhammad Ali was removed from power. However, Ibrahim died of his disease months later, outlived by his father, who died in 1849.
Ibrahim was succeeded by his nephewAbbas I, who undid many of Muhammad Ali's accomplishments. Abbas was assassinated by two of his slaves in 1854, and Muhammad Ali's fourth son,Sa'id, succeeded him. Sa'id brought back many of his father's policies[9] but otherwise had an unremarkable reign.Ismail Pasha replaced Turkish with Arabic as the administrative and elite language, further reducing Turkish influence in Egypt and enhancing Egypt’s modernization and independence.
In the early 19th сentury the Egyptians tried multiple attempts to take full control of the Nile River and with that take control of the Horn of Africa which was a Key route to enter the Southern Arabian peninsula. After failing multiple times to take control of theBogos/Hamassien however these attempted invasions were repelled by the emperor at the timeTewedros.
Sa'id ruled for only nine years,[10] and his nephewIsma'il, another grandson of Muhammad Ali, became wali. In 1866 the polity occupied theEmirate of Harar. In 1867, the Ottoman sultan acknowledged Isma'il's use of the titlekhedive. In 1874, Ismail Pasha ordered the deputation of warships to patrolTadjoura whereafter for ten years, theKhedivate was established from Zeila to Berbera, until their withdrawal in April 1884 and failed attempts to establish themselves beyond Berbera and the eastern littoral of Somalia.[11]
Ismail dreamt of expanding his realm across the entireNile including its diverse sources, and over the whole African coast of theRed Sea.[12] This, together with rumours about rich raw material and fertile soil, led Ismail to expansive policies directed against the Ethiopian Empire underYohannes IV. In 1865, the Ottoman Sublime Porte cededHabesh Eyalet to Isma'il, with Massawa and Suakin at the Red Sea as the main cities of that province. This province, which neighboured Ethiopia, first consisted of a coastal strip but expanded subsequently inland into territory controlled by the Ethiopian emperor. Here Ismail occupied regions originally claimed by the Ottomans when they had established the Habesh Eyalet in the 16th century.
New economically promising projects, like huge cotton plantations in theBarka delta, were started. In 1872,Bogos (with the city ofKeren) was annexed by the governor of the new "Province of Eastern Sudan and the Red Sea Coast",Werner Munzinger Pasha. In October 1875 Ismail's army tried to occupy the adjacent highlands ofHamasien, which were then tributary to the Ethiopian Emperor, and suffered defeat at theBattle of Gundet.[citation needed]
In March 1876, Ismail's army tried again and suffered a second dramatic defeat by Yohannes' army in theBattle of Gura. Ismail's son Hassan was captured by the Ethiopians and only released after a large ransom. This was followed by a long cold war, only finishing in 1884 with the Anglo-Egyptian-EthiopianHewett Treaty, when Bogos was given back to Ethiopia. The Red Sea Province created by Ismail and his governor Munzinger Pasha was taken over by theKingdom of Italy shortly thereafter and became the territorial basis for theColony of Eritrea (proclaimed in 1890).[citation needed]
In 1882 opposition to European control led to growing tension amongst native notables, the most dangerous opposition coming from the army. A large military demonstration in September 1881 forced theKhedive Tewfiq to dismiss his Prime Minister. In April 1882 France and Great Britain sent warships toAlexandria to bolster the Khedive amidst a turbulent climate, spreading fear of invasion throughout the country.By June Egypt was in the hands of nationalists opposed to European domination of the country. A British naval bombardment of Alexandria had little effect on the opposition which led to the landing of a British expeditionary force at both ends of theSuez Canal in August 1882. The British succeeded in defeating the Egyptian Army at Tel El Kebir in September and took control of the country putting Tewfiq back in control. The purpose of the invasion had been to restore political stability to Egypt under a government of the Khedive and international controls which were in place to streamline Egyptian financing since 1876.[citation needed]
Egyptian Fundamental Ordinance of 1882, a constitution, followed an abortive attempt to promulgatea constitution in 1879. The document was limited in scope and was effectively more of an organic law of the Consultative Council to the khedive than an actual constitution.[13]
British occupation ended nominally with the deposition of the lastkhediveAbbas II on 5 November 1914[14] and the establishment of aBritish protectorate, with the installation ofsultanHussein Kamel on 19 December 1914.
By Isma'il's reign, the Egyptian government, headed by the ministerNubar Pasha, had become dependent on Britain and France for a healthy economy. Isma'il attempted to end this European dominance, while at the same time pursuing an aggressive domestic policy. Under Isma'il, 112 canals and 400 bridges were built in Egypt.[15]
Because of his efforts to gain economic independence from the European powers, Isma'il became unpopular with many British and French diplomats, includingEvelyn Baring andAlfred Milner, who claimed that he was "ruining Egypt."[15]
In 1869, the completion of theSuez Canal gave Britain a faster route to India. This made Egypt increasingly reliant on Britain for both military and economic aid. Isma'il made no effort to reconcile with the European powers, who pressured the Ottoman sultan into removing him from power.[16]
Isma'il was succeeded by his eldest sonTewfik, who, unlike his younger brothers, had not been educated in Europe. He pursued a policy of closer relations with Britain and France but his authority was undermined in a rebellion led by his war minister,Urabi Pasha, in 1882. Urabi took advantage of violent riots inAlexandria to seize control of the government and temporarily depose Tewfik.[citation needed]
British naval forces shelled and captured Alexandria, and an expeditionary force under General SirGarnet Wolseley was formed in England. The British army landed in Egypt soon afterwards and defeated Urabi's army in theBattle of Tel el-Kebir. Urabi was tried for treason and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to exile. After the revolt, the Egyptian army was reorganized on a British model and commanded by British officers.
Meanwhile, a religious rebellion had broken out in the Sudan, led byMuhammad Ahmed, who proclaimed himself theMahdi. TheMahdist rebels had seized the regional capital ofKordofan and annihilated two British-led expeditions sent to quell it.[17] The British soldier-adventurerCharles George Gordon, an ex-governor of the Sudan, was sent to the Sudanese capital,Khartoum, with orders to evacuate its minority of European and Egyptian inhabitants. Instead of evacuating the city, Gordon prepared for a siege and held out from 1884 to 1885. However, Khartoum eventually fell, and he was killed.[17]
The BritishGordon Relief Expedition was delayed by several battles and was thus unable to reach Khartoum and save Gordon. Thefall of Khartoum resulted in the proclamation of anIslamic state, ruled over first by the Mahdi and then by his successor KhalifaAbdullahi.
In 1896, during the reign of Tewfik's son,Abbas II, a massive Anglo-Egyptian force, under the command of GeneralHerbert Kitchener, began theconquest of the Sudan not long after the death of theMahdi,Muhammad Ahmad, totyphus.[18] The Mahdists were defeated in the battles ofAbu Hamed andAtbara. The campaign was concluded with the Anglo-Egyptian victory in theBattle of Omdurman, the Mahdist capital.
CaliphAbdallahi ibn Muhammad was hunted down and killed in 1899 in theBattle of Umm Diwaykarat, and Anglo-Egyptian rule was restored to the Sudan.
Abbas II became very hostile to the British as his reign drew on, and, by 1911, was considered by Lord Kitchener to be a "wicked little Khedive" worthy of deposition.
In 1914, whenWorld War I broke out, the Ottoman Empire joined theCentral Powers against Britain and France. Britain now removed the nominal role of Constantinople, proclaimed aSultanate of Egypt and abolished theKhedivate on 5 November 1914.[14]Abbas II, who supported the Central Powers and was in Vienna for a state visit, was deposed from the Khedivate throne in his absence by the enforcement of the British military authorities in Cairo and was banned from returning to Egypt. He was succeeded by his uncleHussein Kamel, who took the title ofSultan on 19 December 1914.
During the khedivate, the standard form of Egyptian currency was theEgyptian pound. Because of the gradual European domination of the Egyptian economy, the khedivate adopted thegold standard in 1885.[19]
Although the adoption of modern, Western industrial techniques was begun underMuhammad Ali in the early 19th century, the policy was continued under the khedives.[20]
Machines were imported into Egypt and by the abolition of the khedivate in 1914, the textile industry had become the most prominent one in the nation.[citation needed]
In 1877 the Egyptian military contained:[21]
This amounted to 58,000 troops in the regular army; there were also 5,000 military and municipal police and various other irregular formations.[21]
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