The Turks in Egypt and their Cultural Legacy

By Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and Humphrey Davies

Though Egypt was ruled by Turkish-speakers through most of the period from the ninth century until 1952, the impact of Turkish culture there remains under-studied. This book deals with the period from 1805 to 1952, during which Turkish cultural patterns, spread through reforms based on those of Istanbul, may have touched more Egyptians than ever before. An examination of the books, newspapers, and other written materials produced in Turkish, including translations, and of the presses involved, reveals the rise and decline of Turkish culture in government, the military, education, literature, music, and everyday life. The author also describes the upsurge in Turkish writing generated by Young Turk exiles from 1895 to 1909.
Included is a CD containing appendices of extensive bibliographic information concerning books and periodicals printed in Egypt during this period.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781617973499

Book preview

First published in 2012 by

The American University in Cairo Press

113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt

420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018

www.aucpress.com

Copyright © 2012 Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu

From the Arabic translation by Salih Sadawi, al-Atrak fi-Misr wa-turathuhum al-thaqafi: dirasa tahliliya wa-thabt bibliyughrafi li-irthihim al-matbu‘ mundhu Muhammad ‘Ali (Istanbul: IRCICA, 2006)

Published with the generous support of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Dar el Kutub No. 2371/10

eISBN: 978-1-6179-7349-9

Dar el Kutub Cataloging-in-Publication Data

İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin

The Turks in Egypt and Their Cultural Legacy / Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu; Translated by Humphrey Davies. —Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2012

p. cm.

ISBN 978 977 416 397 5

1. Turkish People I. Davies, Humphrey (Trans.)

305.89430962

1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12

Designed by Adam el-Sehemy

To my dear father, from whom I imbibed a love of knowledge and books, and to all those who supported me on this journey

Contents

Author’s Acknowledgments for the English Edition

Foreword to the English Edition by Nelly Hanna

Foreword by Halit Eren

Translator’s Note

About This Book

Introduction

Abbreviations Used in This Book

PART ONE

The Turks and Their Culture in Egypt since the Nineteenth Century

1. The Number of Turks in Egypt and Their Status within Egyptian Society

2. The Turkish Language and Ottoman Culture at the Palace and among the Aristocracy

Poetesses and Women Writers Raised in the Palace and Its Environs

3. Turks in the Egyptian Administration and the Turkish Language as a Language of Administration

4. Turks and the Turkish Language in the Egyptian Army

Military Literature in Turkish in Egypt

5. The Teaching of the Turkish Language and Ottoman Culture in Egyptian Schools

Initial Turkish Teaching Activities

The Reigns of ‘Abbas Pasha I and Sa‘id Pasha

The Reign of Khedive Isma‘il

The Teaching of Turkish in Sudan

The Decline and Eventual Disappearance of Turkish Teaching in Schools

Turkish Textbooks Set in Egyptian Schools

6. The Teaching of Persian Language and Literature in Egypt

Books and Dictionaries Used for the Teaching of Persian

Books Translated from Persian into Turkish

Persian Books Printed in Egypt

7. The Place of Turkish in Egypt’s Translation Program

How Translation Was Carried Out in Egypt

Who Made Translations into Turkish in Egypt?

The Shift to Institutions

Translations from Oriental Languages

Translations from Occidental Languages

8. An Overview of Turkish Books Printed in Egypt

The Bulaq Press and Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha

Books Printed in Egypt during the Reign of Sultan Abdülhamîd II

Religious Books

Collections of Poetry and Works of Literature

Books of History, Biography, and Geography

Turkish Books on the Modern Sciences

The Young Turks and the Publications of the Political Opposition

Overview of Turkish Books Printed in the Twentieth Century

9. The Turkish Press in Egypt

Stage One: Vekâyi-i Mısriye and Mısır

Stage Two: Young Turk Newspapers and Magazines

Stage Three: Prisoner-of-War Newspapers from the First World War

Stage Four: Two Newspapers Produced after the Declaration of the Republic (Müsâvât and Muhâdenet)

Stage Five: The Second World War and Cephe (Vanguard) Magazine

10. Books Translated from Turkish into Arabic and Printed in Egypt

PART TWO

Printing in Egypt and Works of Turkish Culture Printed There

11. The Beginning of Printing in Egypt

The First Turkish Printed Books

The Role of Printing in Muhammad ‘Ali’s Modernization Campaign

12. The Bulaq Press and the Turkish Books Printed There

The Founding of the Bulaq Press

The Printing of Turkish Books at the Bulaq Press

Typesetters and Proofreaders

Printing Books for Private Concessionaires (multazims)

The Typefaces Used

The Interplay of Influence between Printing in Istanbul and at Bulaq

The Sale of Bulaq Press Books in Ottoman Turkey

The First Book Printed at the Bulaq Press: The Vesâyâname-i seferiye (The Advices Related to War)

13. Presses Other Than the Bulaq Press Printing Turkish Books in Egypt

Matba‘at Diwan al-Jihadiya (The War Office Press)

Matba‘at Diwan al-Madaris al-Mulkiya (The Civil Schools Office Press)

Matba‘at Wadi al-Nil (The Nile Valley Press)

Matbaa-i Osmaniye/Kanun-ı Esasî Matbaası (The Osmaniye, or Constitution, Press)

Osmanlı İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti Matbaası (The Committee of Union and Progress Press)

Hindiye Matbaası (The Hindiya Press)

Maarif Matbaası (The Knowledge Press)

Türk Matbaası (The Turks’ Press)

İctihad Matbaası (The Independent Thought Press)

Osmanlı Matbaası (The Osmanli Press)

Notes

General Bibliography

General Index

Online: www.aucpress.com/turks.html and on the CD

PART THREE

The Vessels of Turkish Printed Culture in Egypt:

Annotated Bibliographical Lists

    Introduction

Sources and Organization of Bibliographic Entries

Annotated Bibliographies

Indexes

Abbreviations in the Bibliography and References

Abbreviations of Libraries and Collections

General Abbreviations

    Bibliography I: Books in Turkish Printed in Egypt (1798–1997)

    Bibliography II: Periodicals in Turkish Published in Egypt (1828–1947)

    Bibliography III: Books Translated from Turkish into Arabic and Printed in Egypt (1828–2003)

    Indexes to the Bibliographies

Author’s Acknowledgments for the English Edition

Interest shown by scholarly circles, as well as by general readership, in the Turkish and Arabic editions (2006) of The Turks in Egypt and Their Cultural Legacy made it imperative that an English version be prepared. The realization of the expectations of many colleagues has now been possible thanks to the cooperation between IRCICA and the American University in Cairo Press. I wish to extend my gratitude to Dr. Halit Eren, Director General of IRCICA, for his support in that respect. I also wish to thank Professor Nelly Hanna for the elaborate and thought-provoking foreword she penned for the English edition.

To Dr. Humphrey Davies goes my appreciation for his sincere and collaborative attitude and patience in translating this book—which was originally written in Turkish based on sources and references in numerous western and eastern languages—from its first Arabic edition into English. I am indeed grateful for the opportunity to make some additions and modifications to the previous edition during this course of translation into English. It has also been possible to include these additions and modifications in the second Arabic edition, which appeared as a Dar al-Shorouk publication in 2011.

The lengthy and arduous collaboration between IRCICA and the AUC Press, which later evolved into teamwork in the preparation of the English edition, needs to be highlighted. I mention with much affection and respect the memory of our cherished colleague, the late Dr. Semiramis Çavusoglu, who translated into English the lists of Turkish books and periodicals that appear in Part Three of this work. My gratitude and appreciation go as well to my dear colleague and collaborator Dilek Orbay and my young colleagues Dr. Guler Dogan Averbek and Humeyra Zerdeci, as well as to Johanna Baboukis of the AUC Press, who have all extended their valuable assistance to me at various stages of this meticulous exercise.

Foreword to the English Edition

Nelly Hanna

It is often thought that the nineteenth century, as a result of the French Expedition (1798–1803) and the reform policies of Muhammad ‘Ali (1805–48) and his successors which were influenced by European models, brought an end to the influence of Ottoman and Turkish culture. The introduction of a new educational system inspired by the French lycée model, the educational missions for students to study in Europe, and the creation of cultural institutions like the Opera House and the Cairo Museum—all these innovations support this view. Thus, although the presence of Turks in the army and the administration is well documented, their role in the cultural scene is an aspect that has not been explored in any depth. Modernity is linked to the influence of European structures in administration, in the economy, and in culture. Consequently, the Turkish influence decreased and retracted from the various facets of Egyptian life. The Turkish and Ottoman dimension has, in short, been largely absent from this narrative.

This view of Turkish and Ottoman influence on the developments of the nineteenth century can be attributed to different factors. At the end of the nineteenth century, a negative attitude toward Turks and Turkish influences became apparent. It was partly due to the growing influence of Europeans and European culture, which culminated with the British military occupation (1882), as the new rulers needed to legitimize their own presence. It was also partly due to the sad state of the Ottoman Empire during the last years of its existence. Hence, the history of the period was written in the context of a growing opposition to Turkish and Ottoman culture. Historical writings reflected the political conditions of the time.

Professor İhsanoğlu’s book rectifies some of these views and misconceptions. It shows not only that Turkish culture survived for most of the nineteenth century, but that, in fact, it grew and expanded to a much higher level than had been the case when Egypt was under direct Ottoman rule. The author argues his point mainly through his detailed empirical study of education and the publication of books, of which he has extensive knowledge. Professor İhsanoğlu, for example, shows that prior to the nineteenth century, Turkish was not commonly used as the language of education, but with the new policies of Muhammad ‘Ali, many more people were exposed to this language than had been the case earlier. With a wealth of detail, we see that Turkish was being taught in Egyptian schools and in some of the technical schools that Muhammad ‘Ali established; it was used in the army; both Arabic and Turkish were used in the administration. Likewise, this study reveals how, with the establishment of printing presses, the number of books published in the Turkish language grew impressively.

Thus, although one usually links Turkish culture to the Turkish ruling class, in fact The Turks in Egypt argues that nineteenth-century conditions resulted in its spread to other social groups—the local Egyptian elite as well as a broader sector of the population. Ultimately, what the book shows is that Turkish culture became integrated into the local Egyptian culture and that it should not be viewed as standing outside of it. In music, in clothing, in dance, and in cuisine, there were mutual exchanges and influences.

At the end of the century, and especially following the British occupation (1882), the political and cultural climate changed as the new rulers tried to impose their own language. In 1888 the language of instruction in schools became English, French, or another European language, and local elites began to speak English or French as the languages of educated communication.

Professor İhsanoğlu has made extensive use of the catalogues of the National Library (Dar al-Kutub), with which he is very familiar, of the books printed in Egypt, including the presses which published books in Turkish, and of Turkish-language newspapers. All these are sources which few, if any, scholars have used to write nineteenth-century cultural history. He has shown some of the ways in which these can be used. Scholars who work on nineteenth-century culture in Egypt, on the history of books and publishing, or on the history of education, will find a wealth of information on these subjects.

Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations

The American University in Cairo

Foreword

Halit Eren

It was Egypt’s fate to be ruled from the Tulunid period (868–905) until 1952 by a succession of individuals who were all (with the exception of the Fatimids) of Turkish origin or had been raised according to the traditions of the Turkish state. Within this lengthy period, the era of Ottoman rule holds a position of particular significance in that the Turkish culture of that time left traces, some of which remain visible to this day. That said, the Turkish culture of the days of Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha (1805–48) and his descendants was of particular and unprecedented impact in a number of fields, including language, education, and military life.

Professor Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, an intimate and uninterrupted relationship to Egypt. This relationship is clearly reflected in the programs and activities of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) over the past thirty years, during which he was its director general and before his election as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). During this period, Egypt was fortunate enough to be involved in a significant portion of IRCICA’s activities and publications, whose scope ranges from conference and seminar proceedings and minutes to books, series, and more. Egypt was, for example, chosen as the subject of a special series entitled al-Tarikh wa-l-thaqafa al-Turkiya fi-Misr (Turkish History and Culture in Egypt), the first title in which was published in 2001 as Misr fi-‘adasat al-qarn al-tasi‘ ‘ashar (Egypt as Viewed in the Nineteenth Century) and which consists of an album of historical photographs of Egypt from the Yıldız Palace collection. This was followed by two books on Turkish culture in Egypt approached from differing perspectives. The first of these, by Muhammad Abu al-‘Amayim, was entitled Athar al-Qahira al-Islamiya fi-l-‘asr al-‘Uthmani (Islamic Monuments of Cairo in the Ottoman Period) (2003) and surveyed the built fabric of Cairo from the beginning of the Ottoman period until the age of Muhammad ‘Ali (1517–1805), including mosques, madrasas, and takiyas (Sufi lodges). The work was edited under the supervision of Prof. İhsanoğlu, who quickly followed it with a book, written in collaboration with Salih Sadawi, entitled al-Thaqafa al-Turkiya fi-Misr: jawanib min al-tafa‘ul al-hadari bayn al-Misriyin wa-l-Atrak (Traces of Turkish Culture in Egypt: Turkish Words in Egyptian Popular Language, with a Glossary) (2003), in which he deals with cultural interaction between Turks and Egyptians in Egypt from the Tulunids to the French Expedition (868–1798) in the areas of language, literature, the arts, thought, customs and practices, and so on. The work includes an important lexicon of Turkish words that have entered Egyptian colloquial Arabic.

In addition to his role as author and editor of publications issued by IRCICA, Prof. İhsanoğlu has followed the progress of other works with close attention to the place of publication. Among these are Awqaf Misr qabl wa-khilal al-‘ahd al-‘Uthmani (The Religious Endowments of Egypt, before and during the Ottoman Period), compiled by Aydın Özkan and published by the İSAR Foundation (2005).

The Turks in Egypt and Their Cultural Legacy is another such work, in that it treats a number of different aspects of Turkish culture from the period of Muhammad ‘Ali to the present, as seen through the books printed in that country in Turkish. The work is divided into three parts. Part One is entitled The Turks and Their Culture in Egypt since the Nineteenth Century and discusses the pervasive role of Turkish culture and language in the life of society, both in the khedive’s palace and surrounding circles and in the bureaucracy, the army, and education. It also discusses the books translated from different languages into Turkish and their resonances in society. Part Two, entitled Printing in Egypt and Works of Turkish Culture Printed There, briefly discusses the Bulaq Press, which played an important role in the printing of Turkish books in Egypt, as well as other presses that participated in the same endeavor. Part Three is entitled The Vessels of Turkish Printed Culture in Egypt: Annotated Bibliographical Lists, and forms the backbone of the study in that it contains lists of the Turkish books and periodicals printed and published in Egypt as well as of books translated from Turkish into Arabic and printed in the same country.

The book is thus a study of great scope of a sort that only Prof. Dr. İhsanoğlu could see through successfully. Such success should not, however, surprise us, given that he was born and raised in the last remaining Ottoman environment, in Egypt, and thus imbibed its culture in all its linguistic, literary, traditional, and other dimensions. Without his care and enterprise in researching the background to the topic with the meticulousness and conscientiousness of an academic and man of culture, we would not have before us this study, which he himself has described as the dream of a lifetime.

Director General

IRCICA

Translator’s Note

Both proper names and other words occur in this work in Arabic, Persian, and Hebrew as well as Turkish, and I have followed different transcription systems for each. For Arabic I have followed the American University in Cairo Press’s own system; for Persian, that suggested to me by Professor Stephen Popp; for Hebrew, that suggested to me by Kfir Cohen. My thanks to both. Transcriptions of Ottoman Turkish into modern Turkish have been provided by the author, as have translations of Turkish book titles. On occasion, it is hard to know what linguistic identity should be assigned a given individual; I have relied primarily on the author’s kind guidance in this matter. The names of members of the Egyptian (vice)royal family are given in their Arabic forms (for example, Muhammad ‘Ali, not Mehmed Ali).

About This Book

The scholar or researcher may choose, or be compelled to choose, his topics as a result of personal priorities and inclinations or as a result of other particular conditions and circumstances. In my case, from my earliest days as a university student and for the subsequent forty years or more—that is to say, from my youth, when I first aspired to become a writer, until the present—I have had a hand in creating the circumstances necessary for the appearance of works that an individual scholar would find difficult to produce unaided, just as I have had a hand in the bringing to completion of major studies and the preparation and printing of books that few would think to undertake alone. All of this has occurred independently of the production of the books that I have myself written, translated, or edited during my scholarly career, which has continued in one form or another from the time of my assumption of the directorship of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) to the present, and has given me the greatest satisfaction. Each of these books has its own special place in my heart and its own special taste, and there can be no doubt that anyone who has undergone the same experience would feel the same. Nevertheless, as I offer this book to the reader, I would like to state that the sense of moral responsibility and depth of feeling that I now experience is of a quite different order. When I say that this book represents the goal of a lifetime and the product of a special destiny, I do so with emotion.

This book may be seen as the settlement of a debt and the fulfillment of a sacred duty owed to history by a writer who has lived in a country where two cultures and two languages have met and mixed over many years, and who, thanks to the whims of fate, was born one of whose partners came from the hills of Anatolia while the other hailed from the islands of the Mediterranean, only to meet there, in the valley of the Nile and the last surviving Ottoman milieu. As one born in that land and raised in that atmosphere, one who has seen the things that he remembers there disappear with the changing course of history and follow in the steps of many another ancient culture, I have sought to record as much as I can, so that it may be preserved for posterity.

The social and cultural influences that the Turks who traveled to and settled in Egypt over the years have had on the Egyptians and vice versa have become so deeply ingrained as to have become almost an integral part of Egyptian society. Separating these elements from one another, tracing them back to their origins, and then declaring that this or that element came from the Turks is as difficult as separating the nail from the quick. Despite this, there can be no doubt that such an endeavor is, from the scholarly perspective, doable. The debt that I bear and wish to repay demands an effort of this sort, if the mutual influences of the two societies in the cultural sphere are to be revealed. Naturally, what I offer here is only the sum of my own study, research, and conclusions, and it is the latter that form the material for the study presented in this book.

This study began in 1962 and has continued until the present, passing, in the interim, through a variety of stages and suffering a number of interruptions. Among the specific way stations along the path of destiny to which I alluded earlier were the years during which I was employed at the Egyptian National Library, at a time when I was a student at the Faculty of Science at Ain Shams University (1962–66). One of my happiest memories is of the opportunity granted me by the director general, the late ‘Abd al-Mun‘im ‘Umar, and his deputy, the late Salah al-Din Hifni, to work inside the library’s wonderful historic building and amid that unrivaled cultural wealth, in the Oriental Books Department. In that same department, still redolent of the memory of my late father, the work progressed in an atmosphere of tranquility and joy in the company of Professor Nasrullah Mübeşşir el-Tırazî, from Turkestan, with his extensive and long-time cataloguing experience, and of another Turkestani, Shaykh Mehmed Yunus Effendi, with whom I worked for a brief period prior to his departure for the sacred land of the Hijaz. In the Egyptian National Library, I found myself with an unparalleled opportunity to look at every precious manuscript and printed work of the Ottoman cultural heritage, acquiring a merely passing acquaintance with some and studying others more or less closely. My guides were el-Tırazî and the cataloguing cards, with their meticulous annotations, left by my late father. During this same period of employment, I also worked for a while in the National Library’s department at the Citadel, thus enriching my experience in this field. The fact that I had experienced at first hand the legacy and institutions of the Muhammad ‘Ali period, by then consigned to history, gave me further sensitivity to and depth in the field.

During those years, I found the opportunity to examine the National Library’s rich collection of Turkish books and periodicals printed in Egypt, most of which date back to that same period. It is curious to note just how many books were printed in the language spoken by the elite, rather than in Arabic, the language of the native majority, in a country such as Egypt. The work commenced with the preparation of a bibliography of these works and another of Turkish periodicals printed in Egypt; later these two works were supplemented with a third. During the same period, I also became acquainted with the late Ahmad ‘Isa, chief librarian at Cairo University, with whom I subsequently formed a strong friendship and whom I was happy to see seconded to work with us at IRCICA in the 1980s. During the 1960s, ‘Isa published a magazine for bibliophiles called ‘Alam al-kutub (The World of Books) and asked me to edit a bibliographical study to be called al-Tarjamat al-Turkiya al-matbu‘a fi-Misr (Turkish Translations Printed in Egypt) for inclusion therein. The latter, with the abovementioned bibliographies, forms the backbone of Part Three of the present study, on which I have worked for so many years with the help of those same bibliographical lists. This bibliographical study, which has taken shape over a period of more than forty years, has been built upon the spacious foundation provided us by the Egyptian National Library, which we were able subsequently to take to a more advanced level through the addition of volumes to be found in the libraries of Turkey and Europe.

The chapters that form Part One of this work, namely those that throw light on the diverse aspects of Turkish cultural influence in Egypt, were written based on information derived from studying the books and other works included in the three bibliographies in Part Three and from research and dissertations on a variety of subjects, as well as by clues provided by the documents of the National Archive, in particular those documents relating to the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali. Most of these chapters, which discuss the size of Egypt’s Turkish population and its situation and status with regard to the army, administration, and society, deal with topics that have not been written about before. Thus, while they may present the reader with previously undocumented information, they remain no more than preliminary essays in this field. One of the conclusions of this study is that the Turkish language in Egypt formed a living milieu of its own, though the wellsprings of this environment have, with the passage of time, run dry and, predictably, it has ceased to exist. Another is that this aristocratic environment, whose center was the governor, or khedive, and the palace and the culture that formed around these in concentric circles, had an impact on the local bourgeoisie, and came also, with time, to influence students of the modern local schools, who hailed from a variety of classes. Egyptian youths who graduated from both the modern civil and military schools established by Muhammad ‘Ali had been given an opportunity to become acquainted, at close quarters, with Ottoman culture by studying Turkish and other subjects that comprised an integral part of the curricula of those schools. The country’s statesmen, civil and military, emerged from among those so raised, as did its literati, and it was these who formed the Egyptian face, or Egyptian exemplar, of that same Ottoman culture.

In order to study these topics, we were obliged to turn our attention to the renowned Bulaq Press, with its distinguished standing as an independent entity in the printing of the Turkish book in Egypt. In addition and insofar as is possible, we shall also mention other influential presses.

I would like to acknowledge here with gratitude those whose memory inspired me, over a period of more than forty years, to write this book, those men who were forthcoming with their affection, sympathy, and care during my early years of work, namely, the learned scholars whose names I have mentioned at the beginning of this note. Nor can I let the opportunity pass without mentioning, with the same feelings, the learned Fu’ad Sayyid, expert on Arabic language at the Egyptian National Library’s Department of Arabic Manuscripts, and another learned colleague, Mahmud Isma‘il, expert on Arabic incunabula. In addition, without the large number of librarians who helped me, unearthing for me never-before-examined books, most of which had gone untouched by human hand since the second half of the nineteenth century, this book could not have been written and would never have seen the light of day in this form.

To my dear colleagues who have refused me nothing during my work at IRCICA, and likewise to my colleagues at the Centre’s library, must go much of the credit for the publication of this book. During the 1980s, when I revised certain chapters and started on the survey and study of works in Turkey’s libraries, Dr. Hatice Aynur had recently graduated from the Department of Librarianship at the University of Istanbul. She has made major contributions to this study and maintained her interest in the project. Similarly, Dr. Şükrü Hanioğlu of Princeton University has been more than forthcoming with his useful comments on the chapter concerning works published by the Young Turks. I would also like to thank my friend Dr. Johann Strauss of Strasbourg University, whose views I took as my guide in the section devoted to translation from European languages into Turkish and who provided me with numerous valuable observations. I also wish to thank my learned colleague Ms. Hümeyra Zerdeci, who gave this book its final form and carefully checked its bibliographies, for her efforts. Special thanks go to my student and colleague Dr. Salih Sadawi for his translation of the book into Arabic and the care he has taken over the preparation of the Arabic edition, from which this English translation is made.

Introduction

Despite its manifold ramifications and wide range, the history of the Turks in Egypt has until now failed to receive the care and attention that it deserves. There can be no doubt, however, that the turning of the Turks, in the wake of their migration from Central Asia, toward the west and to Egypt, birthplace and homeland of one of the world’s most ancient civilizations, as well as their special contributions to Islamic history in terms of a particular understanding of governance and military management and the dynamic cultures with which this brought them into fruitful contact, must constitute a rich and deep field for scholarly research.

From the Tulunid dynasty (868–905) to 1952, Egypt’s rulers (those of the Fatimid period excepted) were either Turkish in origin or were raised and educated according to the norms of the Turkish state and its culture. Naturally, this is not an easy matter for modern nationalist thinking to accept. Nevertheless, the claim that this constitutes an unusual or unprecedented situation within the context of Islamic history is not to be taken seriously. This book does not set out to prejudge the topic by making value judgments; it aims, rather, to examine the history of the Turkish and Arab peoples, and in particular the special relationship between the Turks and Egypt that forms the backbone of this study, depending on the facts of history alone. It is only subsequent to such an exercise that judgments can be made.

We have dealt in detail in an earlier study with the period that begins with the initial encounter between these two nations and runs to the end of the eighteenth century, attempting to sketch the main features of their interactions.¹ Immediately thereafter we undertook the publication of a detailed list of Islamic architectural monuments constructed in Cairo during the classic period of Ottoman rule (1517–1804).² Now, in this present study, we attempt to cast light on the final chapter in this historic relationship, which started at the beginning of the nineteenth century and continues until the present.

At the very moment that Europe was acquiring predominance and the Ottoman Empire, sensing that the balance of power had shifted to its disadvantage, had decided to close the gap between the two sides by embarking on a campaign of modernization, initially in the military sphere, a curious and significant event occurred in the Ottoman–Egyptian relationship. This event is embodied in the assumption by Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, then an Ottoman army officer of the rank of serçeşme (chief commander of irregular troops), of the governorship of Egypt in 1805, followed by his and his dynasty’s rule over the country, which continued until 1952. This dynasty became an essential factor in the penetration of Turkish culture into Egypt, a society whose roots lie in Arab tradition and culture, and thus in the formation of Egypt’s modern culture. This interaction is a major feature of this 150-year historical period, and it has remained unstudied until today. Its impact, which spread with the establishment of the central bureaucracy and the creation of the army, touched areas that had escaped Ottoman influence during the classic Ottoman period.

In this study, we have tried to cast light on such Turkish influences on Egypt’s administration and society as we have been able to discover, starting at the beginning of the nineteenth century. We have likewise provided bibliographies of Turkish books and periodicals printed in Egypt starting with the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali, and of books translated from Turkish into Arabic and printed in Egypt. As a natural complement to this process we have devoted detailed attention to the reign and character of Muhammad ‘Ali, which form the background to this study.

To understand better the character of Muhammad ‘Ali and of the reforms that he carried out, or sought to carry out, we must view matters within their wider, Ottoman, perspective. In so doing, we must also accept that Ottoman rule, which lasted three centuries, left an important mark on Egypt’s legal, cultural, and economic systems. Taking this classic Ottoman system as his starting point, Muhammad ‘Ali commenced his work under the inspiration of the Ottoman reforms that were under way at that time in Istanbul and of which he, in his eminently practical way, was able to create a particular model. In many areas, among them the army, this model, despite its Ottoman roots, included in its mix varying proportions of French influence and ended up assuming a form that was reinforced as needed by a diversity of elements. This transition occurred in an ad hoc and unpremeditated fashion. Thus the reform movement in Egypt, though inspired in its origins by the modernization campaigns taking place in Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire, assumed, in the end, a distinctive character of its own. This new combination, which manifested itself also in the cultural field, produced a new Ottoman–Egyptian paradigm alongside the Ottoman–Turkish paradigm.

The ramifying modernization program initiated by Muhammad ‘Ali in Egypt was, at base, an embodiment of the Ottoman paradigm. The impact and influence of this inspirational model may be observed in a number of fields, above all in the formation of the army (which itself became the driving force of modernization in other areas), but also in the establishment of teaching institutions and a printing house, which supplied the former with the books they required. And despite the fact that Egypt looked to the reforms already carried out in Istanbul as a model for its own, Cairo also surpassed Istanbul in some areas. This was true with regard to the army and to printing, in which Egypt quickly became more advanced and realized dazzling successes. Muhammad ‘Ali’s achievements in these two areas were acknowledged throughout the world, including Istanbul, where at times they were met with approbation, at others with envy.

It remains a fact, however, that Ottoman Turkish influence in Egypt was stronger and more widespread during Muhammad ‘Ali’s reign than it had been in the preceding Ottoman period, even though the latter had lasted three centuries. With the growth of a new civil and military bureaucracy in concentric circles around the pasha and his developing dynasty, this influence, which permeated the norms of social life in the areas of dress, food, instrumental and vocal music, and various forms of entertainment and diversion, embraced the new aristocratic and bourgeois classes as well as the milieu of the older notables. This cultural influence depended, at base, on a higher frame of reference, one formed in imitation of the Ottoman culture known as İstanbulî, or ‘of Istanbul.’ The more conspicuous manifestations of this influence remained clearly in evidence within Egyptian society until the Second World War, especially among the inhabitants of the big cities. A few surviving examples aside, it may be difficult for us to imagine today, in the opening years of the twenty-first century, the diversity that we attempt to review in this book. However, the literature of the years before the 1950s, which presents a picture of Egyptian society and life in the big cities, bears witness to manifestations of that diversity that are no longer clearly observable, and the same is true of the cinema. Through this study, we attempt to cast light on the question of how the Ottoman Turkish cultural background acquired a greater prominence and diffusion in Egypt during the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali and his family than ever before, and how the sphere of cultural influence, restricted during the classical Ottoman era, broadened to include the central bureaucratic apparatus, the large, newly created army, and the nascent landowning aristocracy.

Using information and detailed evidence concerning these points, the book that we now place before the reader seeks to illustrate further how Ottoman Turkish culture in Egypt developed during Muhammad ‘Ali’s reign, building on the existing limited foundation, and how, thanks to the great importance awarded it by Muhammad ‘Ali and his reform-minded policies, this culture acquired a density and range of influence surpassing those that it had previously enjoyed. In addition, the book aims to cast light on how the final stages of the development of Egypt’s version of that originally Istanbul-oriented culture were formed, and how, thanks to the establishment of modern schools and the printing in large numbers of Turkish books, the native, Arabic-speaking local population—and not just the Turkish-speakers who came to the country from abroad—drew closer to Ottoman Turkish culture, a process that led, as already mentioned, to the appearance of an Ottoman–Egyptian paradigm alongside the Ottoman–Turkish.

In dealing with the growth of Ottoman culture among Turkish speakers in Egypt during and after the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali and its subsequent influence on Arabic speakers, we have kept in mind that the concept of nationalism, which developed into a major intellectual and political current only toward the end of the nineteenth century, did not exist within the Muslim communities and sects living in the three continents falling within the borders of the Ottoman Empire at the start of the same century. That is to say, the claim of absolute superiority over others by one nation and its assertion of its ‘divine’ or ‘historical’ right to rule was unknown among the Islamic peoples in the early years of the nineteenth century; such ideas were absent from the minds of the Turkish and Arab intellectuals with whom, above all, this study is concerned. Such ideas, which had become firmly established in the minds of European, and especially French and British, administrators, were in keeping with the concept of the backwardness of the peoples of Asia and Africa and the need to bring to them the shining lights of civilization. With regard to Egypt, however, it would be inappropriate for us to deal with Turkish–Arab relations within such a framework, for there is insufficient evidence of such an orientation on the part of either party to justify such a discussion.

This study will show that Muhammad ‘Ali sought to transcend the traditional administrative canons applied for centuries by the Ottomans. Thus, Bursa when putting in place practical measures aimed at the creation of the modern central administration that he wished to see, and guided by this practical vision, he made specific choices and set specific priorities for his use of Turkish and Arab manpower. Despite the hints of contemporary European writers—none of which, as we shall show at numerous points in this study, have validity—no assumptions based on the ideas of ‘nationalism’ or ‘racial superiority’ lay behind the choices made at that period, and the most important factor determining the hiring policy implemented by Muhammad ‘Ali was the desire to arrive, in the quickest time possible and with success, at a given goal. It followed that, in order to realize this aim, it was necessary, above all, to make use of those who possessed the requisite experience and skills without regard to their ethnic or religious origin.

Muhammad ‘Ali chose experienced Turks (from Istanbul, Anatolia, and Rumelia), Turkish-speaking Ottomans (Kurds, Albanians, and Bosnians), non-Ottoman Muslims belonging to the peoples of the Caucasus (Circassians, Abkhazians, Georgians, and others), Christian Arabs, Orthodox Greeks, Armenians, and Jews living in the Ottoman territories to work with him. One example is his choice of Syrian Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, as translators from French into Arabic, and of Turks and Armenians as translators from French into Turkish. At the same time, he continued to use Egyptian Copts in financial matters and accounting, areas in which they had long demonstrated their skills. In this context, his choice of Turks, among whom he was himself numbered, to manage administrative and military affairs, appears entirely natural.

The most sensitive issue in the relations between Turks and Egyptians during Muhammad ‘Ali’s reign and that of his successors arose from the different languages spoken by the ruler and the ruled. The ruling class, whether of Turkish origin or drawn from the various Turkish-speaking non-Arab Muslim peoples or non-Muslim Turkish speakers, constituted, in the eyes of foreign observers, a limited number of ‘Turks.’ We shall see how the often unjust accusations and deliberately misleading statements that occur in the memoirs and reports of foreign observers, and in particular of the writers and travelers who worked to serve the colonial ambitions of their countries and to limit Ottoman influence in Egypt, were attributed—whether or not they contained a grain of truth—to ‘Turks’ of ill-defined identity.

Moreover, one of the most prominent reasons, in our view, lying behind the negative image of the Turk in Egypt was the harshness of the radical changes that the pasha sought to achieve. Muhammad ‘Ali refused to acknowledge any obstacle to the establishment of a modern administrative structure, and his methods, which included use of the corvée system for major infrastructural projects such as the digging of canals and building of dams and the press-ganging of thousands of individuals to work on such projects (methods that, in the race to achieve the pasha’s goals in the shortest possible time, paid scant attention to the value of human life and that violate today’s social norms), contributed to notably negative effects on large numbers of people, impacts that remain graven on the mass consciousness and memories of which continue to be handed down from generation to generation. However, despite this heavy price, he realized historic progress for Egypt, in the shape of its modernization and increased strength. It would be a historical paradox, or altogether anachronous, however, to pin the responsibility for all these negative aspects on ‘the Turks’ or, indeed, to attribute them to any nation at a time when concepts of nationalism had yet to appear as an active political force. The absence of any parallel to these harsh measures in the other provinces ruled by the Ottomans in Anatolia, the Arab countries, and the Balkans demands that we view such conduct on Muhammad ‘Ali’s part as attributable to his personal make-up and administrative style. Similar measures were taken for the digging of the Suez Canal under Khedive Isma‘il, for it is a fact that harsh treatment was practiced when local inhabitants were employed on these major projects, which served, first and foremost, the economic and political ambitions of the European powers. That such treatment should be attributed, indiscriminately, to the Turks is reminiscent of the inaccurate comments to which allusion has been made above.

Such issues undoubtedly constitute predicaments for scholars. In this study we cannot ignore such sensibilities as we contemplate specific interchanges between Turkish and Arab culture in Egypt within the Ottoman context. Given that these topics have not to date received a serious and objective treatment based on primary sources, our views and the conclusions that we reach in this area will be restricted to the sociocultural topics already mentioned.

At the forefront of the evidence for the spurious nature of the accusations (derived from nationalist thinking) by European writers during the struggle for political influence in the region, we may cite Muhammad ‘Ali’s policy with regard to modern educational institutions. As governor of Egypt, Muhammad ‘Ali had recourse to extremely practical means to achieve his ends; when called upon to articulate his basic objective in spreading education, he responded that he paid no attention to any reservations as to ethnicity that might exist in Egypt. Clear evidence for this is to be found in his affirmation, in a document dated 1834, that his intention in establishing modern schools was to spread education and culture among the sons of men.³ An examination of Muhammad ‘Ali’s extra-educational policies in the area of civil and military recruitment makes it clear that he favored practical options in those fields too. Thus it was that Turks (meaning speakers of Turkish) came, in view of their experience in these areas, to form the preponderance of those employed in the fields of governance and administration, while Egyptians were given priority where professional training (for example, medicine, agriculture, and engineering) were concerned. Here we must draw attention to two guidelines to which Muhammad ‘Ali accorded special importance. The first of these was the provision of equal opportunities to those young men whom he chose from among Sons of Arabs and Sons of Turks (to use the contemporary terms) for school enrollment. The second was his appointment of young men who had been raised under his protection and who possessed the appropriate skills, irrespective of whether they were Egyptians or Turks, to positions that had previously been occupied by foreigners (Europeans) working in the governor’s service. In so doing, he was pursuing a policy aimed at loosening the country’s ties to the foreigner in the belief that these youths would both conserve the wealth of the government and be a source of pride to it.⁴ The governor applied the same policy to the army, and would express his happiness whenever he witnessed the outstanding qualities of young officers who emerged from among the native population and their progress in soldiering, and strive to promote them.⁵

It is noteworthy too that Muhammad ‘Ali’s practically inspired preferential policies regarding the education of Sons of Arabs and Sons of Turks were sometimes misunderstood by administrators. In choosing students for enrollment in their schools, the principals of provincial primary schools were of the belief that only the children of the native population were to be targeted and that Sons of Turks would not be accepted therein. Instructions then reached them that all schools were to be open to all people, that they were required to provide an opportunity for education to all boys, and that there is no objection to the enrollment of the Sons of Turks, should they so desire, in these schools on the same basis as the Sons of Arabs, that is, Egyptians, on condition that health requirements are met.⁶

This confirms that the governor, in order to modernize a bilingual society one of whose component parts formed a large majority, and in the light of traditions that had become firmly established over time, far from harboring feelings of racial superiority, designed his policies entirely according to the practical options available and implemented his procedures and measures within this framework. It must always be borne in mind that in these policies and works, in which some, applying modern criteria, may see appalling injustice and abuse of human rights, Muhammad ‘Ali was not attempting to impose on the Egyptian people any nationalist (Turkish or Albanian) feelings that he may have harbored, nor was he subject to any of the incentives or motivations felt by the rulers of colonial possessions to which European writers compared him, for no vision, legal basis, or principle of governance resembling those prevailing in the European states had been used to guide the government of Egypt from the time of its becoming an Ottoman province to the arrival of Muhammad ‘Ali.

There can be no doubt that Egypt during the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali made major progress with regard to the establishment of a modern administration and was successful in completing a number of multifaceted projects for development. It is also clear, however, that, as indicated above, the governor had few of the concerns for the human element that accord with the views of this modern age. In executing his administrative reforms and economic campaigns he trod certain human values underfoot in the name of a broad renaissance and progress on all fronts. Here we shall present some examples of what we have in mind.

The digging and equipping of the Mahmudiya Canal, dug between 1816 and 1819 to facilitate water-borne transportation between the port of Alexandria and the Nile and to revive the economic life of the former, employed three hundred thousand workers. Thousands of these died before the canal, whose fifty-six kilometers were dug using primitive tools, was completed. Likewise, documents show that, with the initiation of a modern educational institution, children sometimes would be taken and enrolled therein without the consent of their families, and while the governor would cover all the students’ needs with regard to food, lodging, and clothes for the period of their schooling, the student was required to learn a craft or profession chosen for him by the government and, on graduating, to work wherever the government decided. Though this conduct may be considered to have constituted a highly important step on the road to progress both for the individuals enrolled in the educational corps and for the society whose revival was its objective, it does nevertheless contradict our present understandings of freedom and human rights. It was also a departure from social norms of behavior and popular custom and, for this reason, met with resistance from the native population. In a yet harsher phase, large numbers of male children were taken, for reasons unconnected to education and without the consent of their parents, and pressed into military service. These were events the like of which Egyptians had never before witnessed and which conflicted with their expectations. Their resistance to these punitive measures developed eventually into a major confrontation between rulers and ruled.

In order to absolve themselves of responsibility, many of the Europeans employed in administrative and economic affairs and infrastructure development advanced the opinion that the confrontation between the ruling class and the local population arose from the racist or nationalist