Michael Winter

Egyptian Society Under Ottoman Rule, 1517-1798

Michael Winters book presents a panoramic view of Ottoman Egypt from the overthrow of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1517 to Bonapartes invasion of 1798 and the beginning of Egypts modern period. Drawing on archive material, chronicle and travel accounts from Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and European sources as well as up-to-date research, this comprehensive social history looks at the dynamics of the Egyptian-Ottoman relationship and the ethnic and cultural clashes which characterised the period. The conflicts between Ottoman pashas and their Egyptian subjects and between Bedouin Arabs and the more sedentary population are presented, as is the role of women in this period and the importance of the doctrinal clash of Islam both orthodox and popular, Christianity and Judaism. Winters broad survey of a complex and dynamic society draws out the central theme of the emergence, from a period of ethnic and religious tension, of an Egyptian consciousness fundamental to Egypts later development.

The Ottoman Conquest and Egyptian Culture

The Ottoman conquest introduced a challenge to the identity of the people of Egypt, because the conquerors were Turkish-speaking strangers. With the Ottoman occupation, the situation underwent profound political and administrative changes. The Turkish presence in Egypt, particularly in Cairo, became much more visible. This chapter examines the impact of the Ottoman occupation of Egypt on Egyptian culture. Author attempts to consider only several aspects, and to look at the immediate and also at the more long-term consequences of Egypts transition from the status of an empire that had lasted for several centuries to that of an Ottoman province. The central aspects that will be discussed are ethnic identities, language, and religion. Egyptians and Turks were united by a common empire and religion, but divided by ethnicity, language, and religion. He tries to show, ethnicity played a crucial role in social and cultural encounters, yet it was dynamic. Keywords:Cairo; Egyptian culture; ethnic identities; Ottoman concquest; Turkish

Ottoman Egypt, 1525–1609

The period 1525–1609 covers approximately the first third of the history of Ottoman Egypt, and has distinct characteristics. It starts with the pacification of the country after the suppression of Ahmad Pasha al-Kha’in’s revolt and of the serious disturbances by Bedouin tribes that followed it, and the promulgation of the code for the government of Egypt, Qanun-name-i Misir by the grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha. Egypt remained tranquil and passive under Ottoman rule that was firm and effective. Around the late 1580s, however, the army became unruly owing to economic difficulties and in the context of the general decline of the Ottoman empire. After that the viceroys had increasing difficulty maintaining their rule. The whole period, which can be described as the ascendancy of the viceroys (or pashas), ends in 1609 with suppression of a serious soldiers’ rebellion by a strong viceroy. New political forces came to the fore, and the viceroys acted merely as formal representatives of the sultan. The main sources Historians attempting to describe the period face a dilemma of meager source materials. Egypt during the Mamluk period is unusually rich in historical sources – chronicles, biographical dictionaries, handbooks, and the like. The last decades before the Ottoman occupation, the conquest itself, and the next six years (until Dhu l-Hijja 928/November 1522) are superbly covered by Ibn Iyas, one of the best representatives of the great Egyptian historiographic tradition. ’Abd al-Samad al-Diyarbakri, an Ottoman judge who came to Egypt with Salim’s army, stayed there to serve as a qadi . His chronicle is a translation into Turkish of Ibn Iyas’s work, with significant changes, and then a detailed continuation of the chronicle for a period of two-and-a-half years (up to Shawwal 931/July 1525).

Book Reviews (MSR II, 1998)

Can Mamluk history be popular history? For some historians, no more damning praise could be bestowed than to have ones work labeled popular. Yet, to judge from his other works (Haroun al-Rachid et le temps des mille et une nuits [1986], Mehmed II, le conquérant de Byzance [1990], etc.), popular history seems to be André Clots baguette and butter, and he has carried it off with verve in his latest book, a whirlwind tour of the Mamluk Sultanate from its origins to its demise. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is a narrative survey of the political history of the period, with a brief prologue about precedents for Turkish slave troops in the Islamic world (Mamluks before Mamluks). The title of part one, Two Hundred Fifty Years of Power and Splendor, sums up why the author thinks the Mamluks are worthy of study, as well as his romantic vision of the Islamic past. In summing up this period, Clot concludes (p. 207): The mamlu≠ksystem possessed enormous defects. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. . . . [The Mamluks were] [b]rutal and without scruple, to be sure, but what grand chivalry was that of the Mamluks, courageous, ready for any sacrifice for Islam and for the empire! Clots anecdotal narrative, then, is one that chronicles the power and splendor of the Mamluks, focusing on the colorful, the violent, and the weird. This first part deals with the politics of the Sultanate, and above all with the territorial expansion of the state. For Clot, the Mamluk Sultanate especially saw its greatness in its victories over the Crusader states and the Mongols. Their golden age was the long and glorious reign of al-Na≠s ̋ir Muh ̋ammad (i.e., his third reign), ending only with the Black Death in 1348, followed immediately by a time of crises and years of blood. Despite the Sultanates Indian summer under Barsba≠y, the Mamluk achievement was slowly dismantled as Barsba≠ys successors led the Sultanate to its demise. This is hardly a radical vision of Mamluk history. As this periodization suggests, Clot attaches special importance to the personality of individuals as agents of change, and much of this first part is given over to biographical and psychological sketches of the various personalities of the period. The second part of the book is a topically-arranged survey of various aspects of Mamluk history: social organization (heavily indebted to Lapidus), cities, trade, daily life, art (without any illustrations), and literature. The book concludes with

Society and Religion in Early Ottoman Egypt. Studies in the Writings of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Shaʿrānī@@@Society and Religion in Early Ottoman Egypt. Studies in the Writings of Abd al-Wahhab al-Sharani

The sixteenth century was a watershed in Egyptian history. After being the center of powerful Islamic empires for centuries, Egypt was conquered in 1517 and made an outlying province of the Ottoman Empire. This study illuminates aspects of Egypts social, intellectual, and religious life in the sixteenth century, as described by the Egyptian Sufi Abd al-Wahhab al-Sharani, one of the last original writers before cultural decadence permeated the Arab world in the late Middle Ages. A prominent social commentator, Sharani reflected the intense Turkish-Egyptian struggle of the period and provided a vivid and intimate account of the Muslim world during the later medieval stage. Now in paperback, Society and Religion in Early Ottoman Egypt attempts to give a comprehensive analysis of Sharanis writings.