XVIIIᵉ siècle – XVIIIᵉ siècle
Egypt
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The late Mamluk regime in Egypt was a decentralized political order restored under Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey after the failure of Hasan Pasha’s intervention. It depended on Mamluk households, provincial authority, and negotiated obligations to the Ottoman Porte, while economic crisis, political oppression, and resource extraction weakened the country. Its authority ended with the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French expedition on the Egyptian coast in 1798.
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Le récit
After the political crisis that followed Hasan Pasha’s intervention, Egypt experienced severe economic and social disruption. Poor harvests, famines, rising prices, currency devaluations, and an epidemic in 1791 weakened the remaining loyal beys. The deaths of prominent figures, including Isma'il Bey, enabled Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey to return to Cairo in the summer of that year and re-establish their authority over the whole country.
The Ottoman Porte accepted the renewed rule of the two beys on the condition that they meet their obligations. In 1792 they signed an agreement specifying the total payment owed and the method of payment, but they fulfilled it only reluctantly and partially. Their restoration therefore reproduced the exploitative political order that had existed before Hasan Pasha’s expedition, while the country remained burdened by the anarchy and plundering of the preceding decade.
The regime was sustained by a small elite of Mamluk beys and their retinues, whose political oppression affected the whole of Egyptian society. The central Ottoman government lacked the strength to remove them, and Egyptian society was not yet able to do so independently. This vulnerability became decisive when Napoleon Bonaparte’s French military expedition unexpectedly reached the Egyptian coast in 1798.
XVIIIᵉ siècle – XVIIIᵉ siècle
Egypt
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The late Mamluk regime in Egypt was a decentralized political order restored under Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey after the failure of Hasan Pasha’s intervention. It depended on Mamluk households, provincial authority, and negotiated obligations to the Ottoman Porte, while economic crisis, political oppression, and resource extraction weakened the country. Its authority ended with the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French expedition on the Egyptian coast in 1798.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
After the political crisis that followed Hasan Pasha’s intervention, Egypt experienced severe economic and social disruption. Poor harvests, famines, rising prices, currency devaluations, and an epidemic in 1791 weakened the remaining loyal beys. The deaths of prominent figures, including Isma'il Bey, enabled Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey to return to Cairo in the summer of that year and re-establish their authority over the whole country.
The Ottoman Porte accepted the renewed rule of the two beys on the condition that they meet their obligations. In 1792 they signed an agreement specifying the total payment owed and the method of payment, but they fulfilled it only reluctantly and partially. Their restoration therefore reproduced the exploitative political order that had existed before Hasan Pasha’s expedition, while the country remained burdened by the anarchy and plundering of the preceding decade.
The regime was sustained by a small elite of Mamluk beys and their retinues, whose political oppression affected the whole of Egyptian society. The central Ottoman government lacked the strength to remove them, and Egyptian society was not yet able to do so independently. This vulnerability became decisive when Napoleon Bonaparte’s French military expedition unexpectedly reached the Egyptian coast in 1798.