Funds for equipment, foodstuff and, of course, wages for doctors, pharmacists and military trainers were allocated. In early nineteenth-century Egypt, a clash occurred between the two traditional views, the ontological and the physiological concepts of the disease.
This occurred when measures for protection against plague and cholera were introduced through a system of maritime quarantine similar to the European one. Bowring, the British Council stationed in Egypt in the s, noted:. The elaborate system of lazarettos, military cordons and quarantines developed in the Mediterranean was deleterious to trade, communication and the movement of people.
This was introduced by pilgrims arriving from the Turkish Levant. In Cairo, supporters of the miasmatic theory also suggested that the horrible odours were not compatible with a modern city, whose citizens were entitled to breathing fresh air.
Crete, a regular destination of sailing ships from the Central and Eastern Mediterranean, was affected by periodic waves of the disease. Equal attention was paid to the cargo and passengers and, if found suspect, everyone was placed in quarantine for different periods depending on the previous destinations of the ship.
The detailed procedures included the fumigation of letters. Soon after the proclamations for the establishment of a board of health and the quarantine regulations, new orders were issued alerting the population to the dangers of the smuggling trade for public health. Dr Abbott, naval surgeon on Abu Qir , one of the largest vessels in the Egyptian navy, thought measures such as fumigation of letters were useless. Emmanuel Timoni had published the now famous treatise on smallpox and inoculation, which practically introduced the practice of inoculation in Western Europe.
Vaccination was brought to India from England after Until then, the only effective method had been inoculation. If properly administered, the vaccination programme could reduce deaths from smallpox in a relatively short time. There is plenty of evidence that inoculation was widely practiced as early as the seventeenth and eighteenth century in the rest of Africa but its demographic impact is extremely hard to estimate even in approximation. Vaccines were distributed for free to both Christian and Muslim infants in an exemplary demonstration of community equality in public health measures.
The same could be said about Crete. Given though that no men were conscripted from Crete, medical facilities in the island were primarily created for the army stationed there. It is true that the naval hospital in Alexandria treated not only the army staff but also Arsenal employees as well as seamen. At the same time, these factors make the case of Crete under Egyptian rule all the more interesting. This process allows us also — albeit tentatively — to speculate on the form of Egyptian rule in Crete and its character, namely whether and to what extent it resembled a colonial-style administration.
These practices were not transferred to Crete from France unmediated. This process emanated from the centralised state of Mehmed Ali and was implemented by local representatives of Egyptian power in Crete, some of whom were Europeans. To this end the authorities consulted village councils and notables, both Christian and Muslim, although there is little evidence that consultation had any impact on decision-making.
The modernising project certainly promoted social welfare and was indeed portrayed to have done so; we argue, nevertheless, that this was not its only or even its primary aim. In Crete the mixed — in terms of religion — population received medical innovation from a new source of authority the Egyptian Viceroy but within the context of the old authority Ottoman.
We tend to think that in Crete quarantine regulations, vaccination and other health and hygiene measures rather strengthened the rule of the Egyptian regime, essentially a rule of law, as well as force. It could be argued that the implementation of the reform programme in Crete during the period served to some extent as a prelude and a model for establishing similar reforms in other places in the Ottoman Empire.
These were no small tasks. Most important for the local population, they promoted vaccination against smallpox. Whether this reform was as effective in Crete as it was in Egypt cannot possibly be answered in this paper. Cole Juan R. J : Princeton University Press, pp. Herbert Eugenia W. Kostis K. Eikones apo tis koinonies tis ellinikis hersonisou, 14osos aionas [In the times of Plague. Images societies of the Greek peninsula, 14thth century], Panepistimiakes Ekdoseis Kritis, Athina, Pashley Robert, , Travels in Crete , Vol.
Sieber F. Watts Sheldon, , Epidemics and History. II, p. Kostis, , Ston kairo tis Panolis. Now the fellaheen paid taxes not to the multazims , but directly to the state.
The personal dependence of the fellaheen on the multazims was also abolished. Alloted lands atar were made state property.
But the economic basis of their power was undermined. Mohammed Ali, however, did not abolish the feudal mode of production. The liquidation of the iltizams and the sharing out of the common land, begun in , undoubtedly altered the conditions of the fellaheen. But the fellah was still exploited by the feudal lords, although he now worked for the feudal state as a whole, not for an individual lord.
Moreover, it was not long before most of the land which had passed under the control of the state was once again in private hands. In the thirties the first grant is usually dated from December 1, , Mohammed Ali distributed large tracts of land to his kin and members of his suite, to higher dignitaries and officers of the Albanian, Kurdish, Circassian and Turkish detachments. Within a short time, he had given away hundreds of thousands of feddans of land together with the peasants who worked them.
Subsequently, after , their owners had to pay the ushr tax or tithe , from which they came to be known as ushria by the tithe payers. Thus, having deprived the ancient feudal nobility of its estates and power and having liquidated the multazim class, Mohammed Ali created in its place a new feudal nobility which became the mainstay of the new dynasty. Between and , Mohammed Ali appropriated the waqf land rizq to the state, and the government took upon itself the upkeep of the mosques and clergy.
The confiscation of the iltizams , the curtailment of the faiz and other measures caused discontent among the Mamelukes, who both in and instigated unsuccessful revolts against Mohammed All.
Some of the Mamelukes fled to the Sudan and some recognised the authority of Mohammed Ali and remained in Egypt. Many of them settled in Cairo. But they could not forget their former estates and power and prepared new revolts aimed at restoring Mameluke feudalism.
Mohammed Ali decided to put an end to the Mameluke menace once and for all. In , he was commissioned by the Porte to send his troops to Arabia to destroy the newly established Wahhabi government. On the day of his departure, on March 1, , Mohammed Ali organised a military parade in Cairo, in which five hundred Mamelukes also took part. The troops gathered in the citadel, where they started their march through the city. When most of the troops had left the fortress, the Albanians closed the citadel gates, surrounded the Mamelukes and massacred them.
Searches were made in the Mameluke homes. Almost all the Mamelukes were seized and executed. Only a handful escaped by fleeing to the Sudan.
A shrewd politician, he realised that in order to create a strong regular army, he had to get rid of internal reaction. Hence the reprisals against the Mamelukes the Egyptian janissaries.
The result was a new and modern Egyptian army. Mohammed All set about the task of creating a regular army the moment he came to power. Due to the lack of men and weapons, progress was at first slow. The nucleus of the new army was formed by Albanians. Egyptians were not recruited, because Turkish-Mameluke traditions were still strong among them.
After the Arabian campaign —19 , however, and especially after the campaign against the Morea —28 , during which the African soldiers, who comprised the greater part of the Egyptian army, perished from the cold, Mohammed Ali finally decided to conscript the native Egyptians fellaheen.
This army was destined to gain brilliant victories for Mohammed Ali in Syria. At first, the troops were trained by foreign military experts.
After the campaign against Arabia, Mohammed Ali set up a large training camp at Aswan, where thousands of young Egyptians and Sudanese were trained by French and Italian instructors. These were mainly officers of the empire, who had left their homeland after the return of the Bourbons.
Mohammed Ali also set up military schools for Egyptian commanders: an infantry school in Damietta, a cavalry school in Giza and an artillery school in Tura near Cairo. The Academy of the General Staff was opened in French military regulations were translated into Arabic. Its armament included artillery. By the thirties of the 19th century, the regular Egyptian army had grown to considerable proportions.
In , it had 36 infantry regiments 3, soldiers in each regiment , 14 Guard regiments with an overall strength of 50, men, 15 cavalry regiments with men in each regiment and five artillery regiments comprising 2, soldiers — a total of almost , soldiers.
Moreover, irregular units with an over-all strength of approximately 40, men also served in the Egyptian army.
Mohammed Ali did not limit himself to the creation of a land force. He studied the reforms of Peter I and would often compare himself with the great Russian reformer. He not only purchased ships abroad — in Marseilles, Livorno and Trieste. It was completed within a very short time. In January , the first one-hundred-cannon ship was launched. At first most of the workers engaged in the ship-building industry were Europeans, but soon highly skilled native workers were trained.
The Arabs quickly mastered the technical professions. Almost all the 8, workers at the dockyard were Egyptians. Crews to man the ships were also trained. Within a short space of time, 15, Egyptian seamen were ready for service. Commanders received their training at the newly established naval college. In addition, Mohammed Ali erected several new fortresses in Egypt and strengthened the old ones. The reorganisation of the army called for the creation of many workshops and manufactories.
Smelting shops, smitheries, metal workshops, sail-canvas manufactories and other subsidiary enterprises were built at the Alexandria shipyard. New factories sprung up in Cairo and Rosetta. An iron foundry with an annual capacity of 2, tons of pig iron, three arsenals along French lines, saltpetre works and a gun-powder factory were also built. Cotton, linen, fez and cloth mills as well as rope yards were erected.
Sugar factories and creameries appeared. All these enterprises belonged to the state or to members of the royal family. Under Mohammed All, the development of agriculture was accelerated, especially the growth of export cotton, rice, indigo and other crops.
Old watering canals were restored and new ones built. In the Delta, the transition from basin to perennial irrigation was begun. Mohammed Ali lay the foundation of the great barrage across the Nile at the beginning of the Delta. As a result, the area of irrigated land increased by approximately , feddans and the area under cultivation rose from 2 million feddans in to 3. The system of monopolies took shape in the period from to The peasant and artisan households were put under the supervision of officials, and the government was given the exclusive right to purchase and sell the goods they produced.
Each year, the peasants were told how many feddans to sow and with what crops. The amount of obligatory deliveries and purchase prices were determined. Along with agricultural products, the government monopolised the production and purchase of yarn, cloth, kerchiefs, saltpetre, soap, soda, sugar and other goods. The agricultural and craft monopolies were supplemented by trade monopolies, the state being the only supplier of Egyptian goods on the home market and the only exporter.
The retail dealers in the towns turned into virtual government agents for the sale of state-monopoly goods. The setting up of a series of large and quite advanced industrial establishments brought into being an industrial proletariat. The conditions of the Egyptian workers were very bad, worse than those of their European brothers. They had to obey officers and do military drills. They lived in barracks and were forcibly recruited to the factory, where they received only meagre wages.
According to the data presented in the budget, 28 million francs were spent on maintenance of the army, 3. The peasants were no better off than the workers. Although the fellah had rid himself of the hated Mamelukes and the multazims, matters had not improved. As under the Mamelukes, he was bound to the land.
The taxes he had used to pay to the multazims were now collected by state tax gatherers at higher rates. Under the Mamelukes he had been exempt from military service. Now he was liable to be conscripted for long periods into the feudal army with its harsh system of corporal punishment. He could not dispose of his products as he liked and was obliged to sell most of them to state buyers at low prices.
The peasants and artisans died of hunger while the monopolies continued to derive large profits, enabling the government to build up a new army and enriching the merchants who bought the right to buy up monopolised goods and gather taxes.
Many of the fellaheen and artisans were unable to bear the yoke any longer. They rebelled and fled to Syria. The Egyptian Government demanded their return and brutally suppressed the popular uprisings. In an uprising took place in Cairo, in in the province of Minufiya, in in Upper Egypt and in in the region of Bilbeis. Formally Egypt continued to be regarded as a pashalik of the Ottoman Empire and Mohammed Ali as its governor and pasha, who was subordinate to the Sultan and the Porte.
Egypt had, in fact, become an independent state with its own government, army, laws and tax system. Foreigners called Mohammed Ali the viceroy. He established a number of ministries on the European pattern with strictly defined functions. The War Ministry was in charge of the army and fleet. The Ministry of Finance gathered taxes.
The Trade Ministry was in charge of monopolies; it also had the monopoly of foreign trade. The Ministry of Public Education founded a number of schools and sent students abroad to study European sciences.
Finally, the Ministries of Foreign and Home Affairs were formed. Under the ministries a series of councils and committees were established to deal with such questions as naval affairs, farming, public health, etc. Mohammed Ali divided Egypt into seven new provinces or mudiriyas , at the head of which stood a governor mudir who was subordinate to the central government, carried out administrative duties and collected taxes.
He was also responsible for managing government workshops and manufactories, and for seeing that the canals, bridges and roads were in a good condition. He ensured the timely sowing and gathering of the crops. The local administrative unit was the nahiya with a nazir at its head. Finally, the governor of the village was its sheikh. This harmonious strictly subordinated administrative system ensured the government complete control over all the sections of the state machinery.
Mohammed Ali invited French doctors, engineers, teachers and lawyers to help Europeanise the administration of the country and, by so doing, formed the basis of a bourgeois intelligentsia among the Egyptians. The creation of an army and a new machinery of state called for educated people.
Mohammed Ali, therefore, sent many young Egyptians to Europe to study military and technical sciences, agronomy, medicine, languages and law. Specialised literature and text-books were translated into Arabic. Upon the completion of their studies, they returned home to take up their posts as officers and officials or directors and engineers at government enterprises.
Some of them became ministers. For the first time in Egypt secular schools appeared. Over 6, pupils from eight to twelve years old studied the Arabic language and arithmetic at elementary schools. Pupils from twelve to sixteen also studied the Turkish language, mathematics, history and geography at secondary schools.
After graduating, they could go to a special school to take a four-year course. Apart from military schools, other schools were founded: a medical school, a school for veterinaries, polytechnical, engineering and agricultural schools, a school for linguists and a music school. The students received a stipend and did not have to pay for their board. Military and civilian hospitals were also founded in Egypt.
They were no worse than the majority of European hospitals at the time.
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