Influence of Muhammad Ali Pasha Al-Masud Ibn Agha, Viceroy of Egypt - Dissertation Example

?Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha (1769-1849), Viceroy (or Khedive) of Egypt: His impact and influence Introduction When boxer Cassius Clay (1960 Olympic gold medal winner) joined the Nation of Islam in 1964 he changed his name to Muhammed Ali, according to the official website of Muhammad Ali (The Official Website of Muhammad Ali®, n.d., n. p.). For a boxer known as much for his huge ego as his tremendous boxing skills, the name was appropriate. Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha (1769-1849) was also a man of tremendous power and influence in his lifetime and whose reforms had impacts long afterward. Research Methodology Why Muhammad Ali? As Viceroy (alternately Wali, Khedive or Pasha) of Egypt 125 years earlier had a revolutionary impact on Egyptian society, politics and culture. He also established a dynasty in 1805 that would last for almost 150 years: A dynasty that would only end with the Egyptian revolution and establishment of a Republic in 1953. (Dodwell, 1977, passim.) The following discussion will focus on the first Muhammad Ali and his impact on Egypt and Egyptian development. Initially, a brief biography of the Viceroy will be presented. The body of the discussion will focus on his reforms to various aspects of Egyptian life such as the army, academia and administration. The concluding section of this discussion will assess the impact of these changes and their importance. Biography Muhammad Ali was born in 1769, in the Ottoman province of Kavala, which was located in present-day Greece. According to Encyclop?dia Britannica online his “ethnic background is unknown, though he may have been an Albanian and was certainly a Muslim and an Ottoman subject.”(n. d.) Historian Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid Marsot, argues that even his birthday is unknown and suggests that 1770 was his actual date of birth. He also argues that Muhammad Ali was not Albanian but Kurdish. (1984, pp 24-25) His father was a military leader for the governor of Kavala. Muhammad Ali sustained a rumour that his father died when he was very young and thenceforward the young man was raised by the governor.(Encyclop?dia Britannica online, n. d.) Again, Marsot disputes this tale and asserts that his father did not die until Muhammad Ali was a married man of 20. (1984, p. 25) Details are sketchy but he followed in his father's footsteps in the military while also dabbling in trading and in 1787 he married his first wife, a relative of the governor. (Encyclop?dia Britannica online, n. d.) The various versions of Muhammad Ali's early life are complex and contradictory. However, this proposal and the subsequent dissertation will focus on his life after 1801 and his impact on Egyptian politics, culture and society. Therefore, these specific historical questions do not have a major impact on this discussion. However, these disputes do clearly establish that the historical record of Muhammad Ali (as it is present in both primary and secondary sources) must be closely assessed for veracity and accuracy. What is clear and undisputed is military experience and connections to the government led to his being dispatched in 1801 as an officer in a force of Albanians sent to Egypt by the Sultan to drive out the French, who had invaded the Ottoman province three years earlier. He was to succeed in a manner that far exceeded the Sultan's expectations or desire. Napolean and Muhammad Ali The French invasion of Egypt in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte's Army of Italy had numerous motivations. Personally and politically, his eye on control of all of France, Napoleon hoped to enhance his popularity and prestige. Further, he was accompanied by an army of scholars who were assigned to explore and document Egypt's natural and ancient history. The French were also exploring the possibility of constructing a 'Suez' canal to facilitate destruction of Great Britain's hold over India (Harten, 2003). Eventually, the British defeated the French in Egypt, but themselves evacuated in 1803 once the Napoleonic threat was eliminated. Muhammad Ali remained and and a civil war developed between the now rebellious Albanian's led by Muhammad Ali, their former employers the Ottomans, and the traditional Egyptian ruling class, the Mamluks. According to historian Eugene L. Rogan, Muhammad Ali prevailed and by 1807 the Mamluks had been eliminated as an organized opposition force. Also, the Sultan in Constantinople, as well as Great Britain had recognized Muhammad Ali as ruler of Egypt (2009). Muhammad Ali’s economical reforms Agriculture When Muhammad Ali assumed power in Egypt he understood that the key to a strong central government in Europe was a guaranteed revenue stream. He intended to replicate that system in Egypt. He further recognized that in an agricultural nation like Egypt control of agriculture was the key to generating revenue: The development plans hinged on the state's gaining a monopoly over the country's agricultural resources. In practical terms, this meant the peasants were told what crops to plant, in what quantity, and over what area. The government bought directly from the peasants and sold directly to the buyer, cutting out the intermediaries or merchants. (U.S. Library of Congress, 1990, n. p.) Agricultural production and agricultural revenue were controlled by the central government by the end of Muhammad Ali's land reforms. In fact, he even sent his soldiers into the fields to increase harvests. (Mansel, 2010, 28) Arguably, most importantly, in 1820 he introduced long-crop Jumel cotton to Egyptian agriculture. In 1820 the largest producer of long-crop Jumel cotton was India and Muhammad Ali reasoned that if Egypt began to produce it, being much closer to England than India, it could supplant Indian production. The results were truly phenomenal: “In the four years after his introduction of … [it] annual production rose from 944 to 228,078 hundredweight.” (Mansel, 2010, 28) In a similar fashion despite decrees from Constantinople banning the export of wheat Egypt was the principle supplier of wheat to the British armies in Spain.(Mansel, 2010, 27) “Commercial activities were geared toward the establishment of foreign trade monopolies and an attempt to acquire a favorable balance of trade.” (U.S. Library of Congress, 1990, n. p.) Muhammad Ali understood that a strong central government required a regular revenue stream and his economic measures were all directed towards this goal. Muhammad Ali's attempts to monopolize exports from Egypt also had a profound impact on the port city of Alexandria. In 1806 a French visitor described Alexandria, with a population of approximately 6,000, as “the saddest and most deserted place on earth.”(Mansel, 2010, 27) Only a decade later an English visitor described a vastly different scene, “of ship building, vesels loading and taking in their cargoes, with heaps of grain and bales of goods piled up along the shore.”(Mansel, 2010, 28) Indicative also is the fact that by the end of his reign Alexandria had a population of 100,000. (Mansel, 2010, 27) The sixteen-fold increase in the population of Alexandria during his reign is symbolic of the changes that occurred in the Egyptian economy in that period. Employment and other reforms International trade was not the only manner in which Muhammad Ali increased intercourse with Europe. Cultural, intellectual, educational and medical interaction also all increased. He encouraged Egyptians to study in Europe, with their focus on the latest scientific and medical advances (Mansel, 2010, 28). He also freely employed European, primarily French, technocrats to come to Egypt to assist his attempts to modernize. A French engineer planned and supervised the construction of the canal from Alexandria to the Nile. The French consul was directly responsible for the quarantine measures that were introduced in Alexandria to reduce plague deaths in 1817. (Mansel, 2010, 27, 28) Thus, Muhammad Ali imported European technology directly and immediately by employing French technocrats while also importing European technology indirectly by sending Egyptian students to study in Europe. Clearly, his goal was to modernize Egypt along western European lines. Military His military reforms were also motivated by his view of western Europe. Muhammad Ali's military reforms were necessitated by the civil war that brought him to power – he could not both secure his authority and maintain the former military class, the Mamluks, after their recent defeat in the civil war. Therefore, according to Khaled Fahmy he was compelled to create a new military institution: “The creation of a modern standing army that was disciplined, well trained and regularly paid was the creation of the Pasha...” (1997, 77) This army introduced two themes that were both cause and consequence of the modernization of Egypt. In the first place the army was controlled, supplied and maintained from the centre, Muhammed Ali, rather than sub-contracted to local rulers, who maintained their own military. The new Egyptian army “was an army whose soldiers were issued uniforms designed, tailored and distributed from Cairo.... [and] also depended on the central bureaucracy for its food, ammunition and supplies.” (Fahmy, 1997, 78) The concept of a centrally controlled, conscript army was unknown in Egypt before the ascent of Muhammad Ali. It also necessitated the second major change in Muhammad Ali's Egypt that related to military modernization. Conscription was not introduced without opposition and “in dealing with this opposition, the state resorted to various policing and surveillance practices and institutions that together altered the relationship that the population had with the government.” (Fahmy, 1997, 78) Fahmy also argues that the Egyptian national census, instituted first under Muhammad Ali, was a logical extension of the tezkere or register that was established to facilitate conscription (1997, 111). Muhammad Ali: the Father of Modern Egypt? From his arrival in 1801 Muhammad Ali had a profound impact on Egypt. The civil war that resulted in his assuming the leadership of Egypt revolutionized Egyptian society and government by deposing the mamluks from their traditional, privileged role. These revolutionary changes were followed by his reorganization (nationalization) of Egypt's land base, the development of a large conscript army, significant changes in education and attempts, arguably unsuccessful, to modernize the Egyptian economy. All of these changes revolutionized Egyptian society. However, they do not necessarily secure for Muhammed Ali the title, the 'father of modern Egypt'. Based on study of the literature thus far a series of questions remain that merit further exploration. First, was Muhammad Ali the 'Founder of Modern Egypt' as Dodwell claimed in 1933? Did he liberate Egypt from the control of the Sultan in Constantinople or was he merely another foreign conqueror leading an army of foreign mercenaries? Second, how much had Egypt 'modernized' before he came to power? For example, Metz dates 'modern' Egypt to the neo-Mamluk Beyate of 1760 (a decade before Muhammad Ali was even born). “Muhammad Ali represented the successful continuation of policies begun by the Mamluk Ali Bey al Kabir.” (U.S. Library of Congress, 1990, n. p.) If significant 'modernization' occurred prior to Muhammed Ali's assumption of power than his role in modernization is, of necessity, reduced. Even Fahmy, who credits Muhammad Ali with “the creation of a modern standing army” argues that the groundwork for this revolutionary creation was in place before Muhammad Ali came to power (1997, 77). Third, according to Marsot, Egyptian modernization did not begin in 1760 and the last half of the eighteenth-century saw precipitous economic decline in Egypt, decline that made significant (revolutionary) changes of some sort unavoidable, by the 1790s (1984). In other words, according to Marsot, whether or not Muhammad Ali had come to power Egypt would have undergone fundamental changes in the first half of the nineteenth century. Perhaps Muhammad Ali’s biggest achievements were thus, in effecting the change in Industrialization. After his military efforts rid the land of the Mameluks, he set about seizing their land and drafting a plan to jumpstart the agricultural sector. He thus, planted several crops, chief of which was cotton because of its European demand, and converted agriculture into a State monopoly. He would buy from the farmers and sell to the textile sector of Europe at a premium, using the surplus earned to fuel a consortium of barrages, irrigational canals, dams, etc. He instigated further processing by setting up factories for agricultural produce which utilized Western machinery. His policies promoted the local industry by curbing the import of cheap British textile products by making them more expensive to import. The import policies allowed the local monopolies to grow, funding government expenditure for the military and allowing Muhammad Ali’s army to grow stronger alongside his economy. Employment went on the rise with the increase in industrialization, with as much as 4% of the entire population being employed in sugarcane, rice and other agricultural industries. Muhammad Ali routinely employed the army in agriculture practices as well, using them to increase production and assist in harvest. Alongside industrialization was a growth in the system of education and public welfare, omnipresent in the first half the 19th century. It is arguable that without Mohammad Ali’s strict local industry favoring import policies, Egypt may not have seen the growth it did, and at the same time would not have brought about resentment at the hands of Britain and France who were apprehensive of Egypt’s growth. As a result, when Muhammad Ali invaded Syria, the European allies would not have teamed up to oppose his invasion, culminating in the advent of the Treaty signed in 1841, which brought to halt all the monopolies in international trade Egypt enjoyed. As a result, Egypt lost its growing foothold. Napolean and Muhammad Ali The most obvious criticism with regards to Muhammad Ali’s reign and its effects on modernizing Egypt come in the form of his informal predecessor, Napolean Bonaparte. It is argued that Napolean’s advent into the historical land of Egypt started the chain of European interest in the region which developed into an increase in trade and an influx of modern traditions. Indeed, Napolean’s main aim was to succumb Egypt’s economic interest to that of France’s in order to expound their successful struggles in Europe. However, Napolean never fully achieved the control of the agricultural lands of Upper Egypt, the primary source of income, which remained under Mamelukes control. However, his presence did to some extent spark an interest from the European powers who formulated ways to indulge and exploit Egypt either via the Ottomans or otherwise. All of these issues merit further study in a dissertation length consideration of the question of Muhammad Ali's effect on Arabic culture in Egypt. Research Review Dodwell’s The Founder of Modern Egypt and Fahmy’s All The Pasha’s Men describe in length how the great Muhammad Ali, although of modest origins himself, made his way to the top of the hierarchy as the Viceroy of Egypt and drove a country to success in the later years. His efforts to distinguish Egypt from the reign of the Ottoman Empire as a thriving economy are discussed in length, relaying the protagonist’s visionary strive towards independence and autonomy. His basic drive was towards a separate dominion that did not rely upon the administrative incompetence of Turkey and in turn competed with the great European powers. Mehmet Ali, as he was referred to locally, rid Egypt of the ineffectual and corrupt mamelukes, invaded Sudan and Syria, rebuffed the Wahhabis, ruled out most of the Turks and created Egypt’s own naval fleet. However, the jealousy from his European neighbors brought his efforts to a halt as they took his growing success as a threat, so that Britain and France teamed up against him in order to drive him away from Constantinople. His plight was worsened due to an onslaught of corrupt ombudsmen and their betrayal in light of Lord Palmerston’s policies dethroned him from his might. While Mehmet’s story culminates in a sad outlook, seems as a man of his might and vision was halted in his tracks due to the gluttony and envy of others, it still serves the Egypt cause well. It demonstrates the real capabilities of modern Egypt and in fact harks back to the days of initial progress, in technology, communication, and trade, effected by one man who is rightly dubbed The Father of Egypt. Final words of the Proposal One additional issue needs to be addressed. There is a large body of sources that have not been considered in this brief proposal, namely the publications of European travelers and diplomats who visited the Pasha personally or Egypt generally during the period. These include the memoirs of George Douin a French military adviser to the Pasha and James A. St. John a British traveler who visited Egypt in the 1830s. Eventually, these sources will be consulted and added to the bibliography with the aforementioned caution that 'the historical record of Muhammad Ali must be closely assessed for veracity and accuracy. Muhammad Ali had a profound effect on Egyptian society, culture and politics. It is also clear that his objective was to create an Egyptian state modeled after 'modern' European states. To this end he centralized military, police and economic authority. He also imported European technology through any means available. However, these measures did not appear out of thin air or on a blank slate, they had antecedents. Further, these measures do not necessarily means he is the founder of modern Egypt nor preclude his having been an enlightened Ottoman reformer rather than a radical or revolutionary. For this reason it is clear that this proposal raises as many questions as it answers and provides the basis for a longer, dissertation length examination of the antecedents of his reforms, their long-term impacts and their similarity, or lack thereof, to other Ottoman attempts at reform. References Dodwell, Henry. (1977). The Founder of Modern Egypt. (Originally published 1931). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fahmy, Khaled. (1997). All the Pasha's Men. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Harten, Stuart. (2003). “Rediscovering Ancient Egypt: Bonaparte's Expedition and the Colonial Ideology of the French Revolution” in Napoleon in Egypt. Irene A. Bierman, editor. Reading: Garnett Publishing: 33-46. Mansel, Philip. (2010) "The man who remade Alexandria". History Today 60 (12): 26-32. Marsot, Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid. (1984). Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rivlin, Helen Anne B. (n. d.). “Muhammad Ali”. In Encyclop?dia Britannica online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396343/Muhammad-Ali. Rogan. Eugene L. (2009). The Arabs: A History. New York: Basic Books. The Official Website of Muhammad Ali®. (n.d.) “The Man: Leader”. Retrieved from http://www.ali.com/legend_man_leader.php. U.S. Library of Congress. (1990). “Muhammad Ali, 1805-1848” in Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Egypt: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved from http://countrystudies.us/egypt/21.htm. Read More