The Roots of Modern Egypt STUDIES IN MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY Edited by BRUCE D. CRAIG University of Chicago TITLES IN THE SERIES: No. 1 The Shuster Mission and The Persian Constitutional Revolution Robert A. McDaniel No. 2 The Odyssey of Farah Antun: A Syrian Christian ’s Quest for Secularism Donald M. Reid No. 3 The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire John E. Woods No. 4 The Judicial Administration of Ottoman Egypt in The Seventeenth Century Galal H. El-Nahal No. 5 Lawyers and Politics in the Arab World, 1880-1960 Donald M. Reid No. 6 The Roots of Modern Egypt. A Study of the Regimes of *Ali Bey al-Kabir and Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab, 1760-1775 Daniel Crecelius STUDIES IN MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY—NUMBER SIX THE ROOTS OF MODERN EGYPT A Study of the Regimes of 'Ali Bey al-Kabir and Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab, 1760-1775 Daniel Crecelius California State Uoitfersity, Los Angeles BIBUOTHECA ISLAMICA Minneapolis & Chicago 1981 The Roots of Modem Egypt, A Study of the Regimes of 9Ali Bey al-Kabir and Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab, 2760-J775, is copyrighted 61981 by Bibliotheca Islámica, Inc., Box 14474 University Station, Minneapolis, MN 55414, U.S.A. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. ISBN: 0-88297- 029-1. LC: 81-65972. This work is fully protected under the revised copyright law and unauthorized copying is strictly forbidden. Address any questions relating copying, reprinting, orders, manuscripts, or other company business to: Permissions & Editorial Office BIBUOTHECA ISLAMICA, INC. Drawer 1536 Chicago. IL 60690/U.S.A. To the manyf riends who helped me to complete this study Acknowledgments In completing a study of this type one contracts numerous scholarly debts. While I cannot adequately repay the many kindnesses shown me by those who gave of their time and expertise to help me under­ stand Egyptian history, each should know that he or she has my deepest appreciation. This book is dedicated to them all. Three of my former professors have played a continuing role in the development of my professional career. Professors Manfred Halpem (Princeton), Far- hat Ziadeh (University of Washington), and Butrus 'Abd al-Malik (California State University, Los Angeles), with their encouragement, support of my efforts, and expert comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript, have contributed in a special way to the evolution of this study in particular and to the course of my career in general. Foreign colleagues have also generously supported my efforts, sharing with me archival materials they collected in the course of their own research or suggesting specific leads in the European archival col­ lections. All have my gratitude for the friendly manner in which they encouraged my efforts. This study of Egyptian history owes a special debt to Egyptians. My research could not have been completed without the personal support of Dr. 'Abd al-'Aziz Kamel, former minister of Awqaf, the deceased Dr. 'Abd al-Halim Mahmud, former minister of Awqaf and Shaykh al-Azhar, Dr. Kemal Abu al-Magd, former minister of Youth, and Mr. Sa'd 'Azzam, former director of the Division of Foreign Affairs in the Ministry of Awqaf. Within the archives I met a small but companionable group of young scholars with whom I shared the exhilarations and frustrations of archival research. This group willingly shared its findings, often provided leads, and helped whenever possible with technical and VU via THE ROOTS OF MODERN EGYPT linguistic problems relating to the interpretation of the archival documents with which we all labored. All of us, 'Abd al-Rahim 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Rahim, Muhammad Muhammad Amin, and Salwa *Ali Milad of Cairo, Terence Walz of Boston and Fred de Jong of Leiden, and myself, owe a debt of thanks to Ahmad Darwish, known affectionately as al-Hin or 'Amm Ahmad, who introduced us to the complicated Ottoman script in which the shari'ah court registers are recorded. Having labored together through the years, we are more than colleagues who share mutual interests and occasional bits of information; we are friends. Special thanks are due Kamil Abu al-Khayr, chief of Photographic Services in the Ministry of Awqaf, whose support for researchers has been unstinting, whose encouragement has always sustained exhausted scholars, and whose help has always been vital to the completion of their projects. His personal friendship is one of my most cherished memories of my residence in Cairo. The staffs of the archival collections and libraries I consulted in London and Paris were without exception polite, expert, and helpful. I should also like to record my sincerest thanks for the numerous kind­ nesses and valuable help extended to me by the staffs of the American Research Center in Egypt, the library of the American University in Cairo, the library of the Geographical Society of Egypt, and the Shari'ah Court Archives. The generous financial assistance of several agencies permitted me to consult materials in Europe and Egypt. In gratefully acknowledging their support it should be stated that the views expressed in the following pages are mine and do not represent those of the granting agencies. A creative leave from California State University, Los Angeles and a grant from the American Research Center in Egypt permitted me to begin research on this project in 1969. Research was sustained by a second grant from the American Research Center in Egypt (1972), by grants from the Social Science Research Council and the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education (1973), and by a summer grant from the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society (1975). I would like to express my thanks to my wife Anahid and my daughter Gia, who endure my frequent absences from home with understanding, our able department secretaries, Josephine Del Valle and Marjorie Gilbert, who expertly typed several drafts of this manu­ script, and Debby Dunn of the Geography Department of California ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix State University, Los Angeles, who prepared the maps included in this study. Finally, I would like to thank the innumerable, unnamed employees of the various archival collections and libraries who have gone out of their way to befriend a stranger, who have offered a coffee or tea and shared a good joke, and who through their good humor and laughter greatly lightened the sometimes heavy burden of research.