GOVERNMENT.
Egypt has, of late years, experienced great political changes, and
nearly ceased to be a province of the Turkish Empire. Its present Básha
(Mohammad ’Alee), having exterminated the Ghuzz, or Memlooks, who shared
the government with his predecessors, has rendered himself almost an
independent prince. He, however, professes allegiance to the Sultán, and
remits the tribute, according to former custom, to Constantinople; he
is, moreover, under an obligation to respect the fundamental laws of the
Kur-án and the Traditions; but he exercises a dominion otherwise
unlimited.[208] He may cause any one of his subjects to be put to death
without the formality of a trial, or without assigning any cause: a
simple horizontal motion of his hand is sufficient to imply the sentence
of decapitation. But I must not be understood to insinuate that he is
prone to shed blood without any reason: severity is a characteristic of
this prince rather than wanton cruelty; and boundless ambition has
prompted him to almost every action by which he has attracted either
praise or censure.[209]
In the Citadel of the Metropolis is a court of judicature, called
“ed-Deewán el-Khideewee,”[210] where, in the Básha’s absence, presides
his “Kikhya,”[211] or deputy, Habeeb Efendee. In cases which do not fall
within the province of the Kádee, or which are sufficiently clear to be
decided without referring them to the court of that officer, or to
another council, the president of the Deewán el-Khideewee passes
judgment. Numerous guard-houses have been established throughout the
metropolis, at each of which is stationed a body of Nizám, or regular
troops. The guard is called “Kulluk,” or, more commonly at present,
“Karakól.” Persons accused of thefts, assaults, etc., in Cairo, are
given in charge to a soldier of the guard, who takes them to the chief
guard-house, in the Mooskee, a street in that part of the town in which
most of the Franks reside. The charges being here stated, and committed
to writing, he conducts them to the “Zábit,” or chief magistrate of the
police of the metropolis. The Zábit, having heard the case, sends the
accused for trial to the Deewán el-Khideewee.[212] When a person denies
the offence with which he is charged, and there is not sufficient
evidence to convict him, but some ground of suspicion, he is generally
bastinaded, in order to induce him to confess; and then, if not before,
when the crime is not of a nature that renders him obnoxious to a very
heavy punishment, he, if guilty, admits it. A thief, after this
discipline, generally confesses, “The devil seduced me, and I took it.”
The punishment of the convicts is regulated by a system of arbitrary,
but lenient and wise, policy: it usually consists in their being
compelled to labour, for a scanty sustenance, in some of the public
works, such as the removal of rubbish, digging canals, etc.; and
sometimes the army is recruited with able-bodied young men convicted of
petty offences. In employing malefactors in labours for the improvement
of the country, Mohammad ’Alee merits the praises bestowed upon Sabacon,
the Ethiopian conqueror and king of Egypt, who is said to have
introduced this policy. The Básha is, however, very severe in punishing
thefts, etc., committed against himself:—death is the usual penalty in
such cases.
There are several inferior councils for conducting the affairs of
different departments of the administration. The principal of these are
the following:—1. The “Meglis el-Meshwar′ah” (the Council of
Deliberation), also called “Meglis el-Meshwar′ah el-Melekeeyeh” (the
Council of Deliberation on the Affairs of the State), to distinguish it
from other councils. The members of this and of the other similar
councils are chosen by the Básha, for their talents or other
qualifications; and consequently his will and interest sway them in all
their decisions. They are his instruments, and compose a committee for
presiding over the general government of the country, and the commercial
and agricultural affairs of the Básha. Petitions, etc., addressed to the
Básha, or to his Deewán, relating to private interests or the affairs of
the government, are generally submitted to their consideration and
judgment, unless they more properly come under the cognizance of other
councils hereafter to be mentioned. 2. The “Meglis el-Gihádeeyeh” (the
Council of the Army); also called “Meglis el-Meshwar′ah el-’Askereeyeh”
(the Council of Deliberation on Military Affairs). The province of this
court is sufficiently shown by its name. 3. The Council of the
“Tarskháneh,” or Navy. 4. The “Deewán et-Tuggár” (or Court of the
Merchants). This court, the members of which are merchants of various
countries and religions, presided over by the “Sháhbandar” (or chief of
the merchants of Cairo), was instituted in consequence of the laws of
the Kur-án and the Sunneh being found not sufficiently explicit in some
cases arising out of modern commercial transactions.
The “Kádee” (or chief judge) of Cairo presides in Egypt only a year, at
the expiration of which term, a new Kádee having arrived from
Constantinople, the former returns. It was customary for this officer to
proceed from Cairo, with the great caravan of pilgrims, to Mekkeh,
perform the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, and remain one year as Kádee
of the holy city, and one year at El-Medeeneh.[213] He purchases his
place privately of the government, which pays no particular regard to
his qualifications, though he must be a man of some knowledge, an
’Osmánlee (that is, a Turk), and of the sect of the Hanafees. His
tribunal is called the “Mahkem′eh,” or Place of Judgment. Few Kádees are
very well acquainted with the Arabic language; nor is it necessary for
them to have such knowledge. In Cairo, the Kádee has little or nothing
to do but to confirm the sentence of his “Náïb” (or deputy), who hears
and decides the more ordinary cases, and whom he chooses from among the
’Ulama of Istambool, or the decision of the “Muftee” (or chief doctor of
the law) of his own sect, who constantly resides in Cairo, and gives
judgment in all cases of difficulty. But in general, the Náïb is, at the
best, but little conversant with the popular dialect of Egypt;
therefore, in Cairo, where the chief proportion of the litigants at the
Mahkem′eh are Arabs, the judge must place the utmost confidence in the
“Básh Turgumán” (or Chief Interpreter), whose place is permanent, and
who is consequently well acquainted with all the customs of the court,
particularly with the system of bribery; and this knowledge he is
generally very ready to communicate to every new Kádee or Náïb. A man
may be grossly ignorant of the law, and yet hold the office of Kádee of
Cairo: several instances of this kind have occurred; but the Náïb must
be a lawyer of learning and experience.
When a person has a suit to prefer at the Mahkem′eh against another
individual or party, he goes thither, and applies to the “Básh Rusul”
(or chief of the bailiffs or sergeants who execute arrests) for a
“Rasool” to arrest the accused. The Rasool receives a piaster or
two,[214] and generally gives half of this fee privately to his chief.
The plaintiff and defendant then present themselves in the great hall of
the Mahkem′eh, which is a large saloon, facing a spacious court, and
having an open front formed by a row of columns and arches. Here are
seated several officers called “Sháhids,” whose business is to hear and
write the statements of the cases to be submitted to judgment, and who
are under the authority of the “Básh Kátib” (or Chief Secretary). The
plaintiff, addressing any one of the Sháhids whom he finds unoccupied,
states his case, and the Sháhid commits it to writing, and receives a
fee of a piaster or more; after which, if the case be of a trifling
nature, and the defendant acknowledge the justice of the suit, he (the
Sháhid) passes sentence; but otherwise he conducts the two parties
before the Náïb, who holds his court in an inner apartment. The Náïb,
having heard the case, desires the plaintiff to procure a “fetwa” (or
judicial decision) from the Muftee of the sect of the Hanafees, who
receives a fee, seldom less than ten piasters, and often more than a
hundred or two hundred. This is the course pursued in all cases but
those of a very trifling nature, which are settled with less trouble,
and those of great importance or intricacy. A case of the latter kind is
tried in the private apartment of the Kádee, before the Kádee himself,
the Náïb, and the Muftee of the Hanafees, who is summoned to hear it,
and to give his decision; and sometimes, in cases of very great
difficulty or moment, several of the ’Ulama of Cairo are, in like
manner, summoned. The Muftee hears the case and writes his sentence, and
the Kádee confirms his judgment, and stamps the paper with his seal,
which is all that he has to do in any case. The accused may clear
himself by his oath when the plaintiff has not witnesses to produce:
placing his right hand on a copy of the Kur-án, which is held out to
him, he says, “By God, the Great!” three times, adding, “By what is
contained in this of the word of God!” The witnesses must be men of good
repute, or asserted to be such, and not interested in the cause: in
every case at least two witnesses are requisite[215] (or one man and two
women); and each of these must be attested to be a person of probity by
two others. An infidel cannot bear witness against a Muslim in a case
involving capital or other heavy punishment; and evidence in favour of a
son or grandson, or of a father or grandfather, is not received; nor is
the testimony of slaves; neither can a master testify in favour of his
slave.
The fees, until lately, used to be paid by the successful party; but now
they are paid by the other party. The Kádee’s fees for decisions in
cases respecting the sale of property are two per cent. on the amount of
the property: in cases of legacies, four per cent., excepting when the
heir is an orphan not of age, who pays only two per cent.: for decisions
respecting property in houses or land, when the cost of the property in
question is known, his fees are two per cent.; but when the cost is not
known, one year’s rent. These are the legitimate fees; but more than the
due amount is often exacted. In cases which do not concern property, the
Kádee’s Náïb fixes the amount of the fees. There are also other fees
than those of the Kádee to be paid after the decision of the case: for
instance, if the Kádee’s fees be two or three hundred piasters, a fee of
about two piasters must be paid to the Básh Turgumán; about the same to
the Básh Rusul; and one piaster to the Rasool, or to each Rasool
employed.
The rank of a plaintiff or defendant, or a bribe from either, often
influences the decision of the judge. In general the Náïb and Muftee
take bribes, and the Kádee receives from his Náïb. On some occasions,
particularly in long litigations, bribes are given by each party, and
the decision is awarded in favour of him who pays highest. This
frequently happens in difficult law-suits; and even in cases respecting
which the law is perfectly clear, strict justice is not always
administered; bribes and false testimony being employed by one of the
parties. The shocking extent to which the practices of bribery and
suborning false witnesses are carried in Muslim courts of law, and among
them in the tribunal of the Kádee of Cairo, may be scarcely credited on
the bare assertion of the fact: some strong proof, resting on
indubitable authority, may be demanded; and here I shall give such
proof, in a summary of a case which was tried not long since, and which
was related to me by the Secretary and Imám of the Sheykh El-Mahdee, who
was then supreme Muftee of Cairo (being the chief Muftee of the
Hanafees), and to whom this case was referred after judgment in the
Kádee’s court.
A Turkish merchant, residing at Cairo, died, leaving property to the
amount of six thousand purses,[216] and no relation to inherit but one
daughter. The seyyid Mohammad El-Mahrookee, the Sháh-bandar (chief of
the merchants of Cairo), hearing of this event, suborned a common
felláh, who was the bowwáb (or door-keeper) of a respected sheykh, and
whose parents (both of them Arabs) were known to many persons, to assert
himself a son of a brother of the deceased. The case was brought before
the Kádee, and, as it was one of considerable importance, several of the
principal ’Ulama of the city were summoned to decide it. They were all
bribed or influenced by El-Mahrookee, as will presently be shown; false
witnesses were brought forward to swear to the truth of the bowwáb’s
pretensions, and others to give testimony to the good character of these
witnesses. Three thousand purses were adjudged to the daughter of the
deceased, and the other half of the property to the bowwáb. El-Mahrookee
received the share of the latter, deducting only three hundred piasters,
which he presented to the bowwáb. The chief Muftee, El-Mahdee, was
absent from Cairo when the case was tried. On his return to the
metropolis, a few days after, the daughter of the deceased merchant
repaired to his house, stated her case to him, and earnestly solicited
redress. The Muftee, though convinced of the injustice which she had
suffered, and not doubting the truth of what she related respecting the
part which El-Mahrookee had taken in this affair, told her that he
feared it was impossible for him to annul the judgment, unless there
were some informality in the proceedings of the court, but that he would
look at the record of the case in the register of the Mahkem′eh. Having
done this, he betook himself to the Básha, with whom he was in great
favour for his knowledge and inflexible integrity, and complained to him
that the tribunal of the Kádee was disgraced by the administration of
the most flagrant injustice; that false witness was admitted by the
’Ulama, however evident and glaring it might be; and that a judgment
which they had given in a late case, during his absence, was the general
talk and wonder of the town. The Básha summoned the Kádee and all the
’Ulama who had tried this case, to meet the Muftee in the Citadel; and
when they had assembled there, addressed them, as from himself, with the
Muftee’s complaint. The Kádee, appearing, like the ’Ulama, highly
indignant at this charge, demanded to know upon what it was grounded.
The Básha replied that it was a general charge, but particularly
grounded on the case in which the court had admitted the claim of a
bowwáb to a relationship and inheritance which they could not believe to
be his right. The Kádee here urged that he had passed sentence in
accordance with the unanimous decision of the ’Ulama then present. “Let
the record of the case be read,” said the Básha. The journal being sent
for, this was done; and when the secretary had finished reading the
minutes, the Kádee, in a loud tone of proud authority, said, “And I
judged so.” The Muftee, in a louder and more authoritative tone,
exclaimed, “And thy judgment is false!” All eyes were fixed in
astonishment, now at the Muftee, now at the Básha, now at the other
’Ulama. The Kádee and the ’Ulama rolled their heads and stroked their
beards. The former exclaimed, tapping his breast, “I, the Kádee of Misr,
pass a false sentence!” “And we,” said the ’Ulama, “we, Sheykh Mahdee!
we, ’Ulama el-Islám, give a false decision!” “O Sheykh Mahdee,” said
El-Mahrookee (who, from his commercial transactions with the Básha,
could generally obtain a place in his councils), “respect the ’Ulama as
they respect thee!” “O Mahrookee!” exclaimed the Muftee, “art thou
concerned in this affair? Declare what part thou hast in it, or else
hold thy peace: go, speak in the assemblies of the merchants, but
presume not again to open thy mouth in the council of the ’Ulama!”
El-Mahrookee immediately left the palace, for he saw how the affair
would terminate, and had to make his arrangements accordingly. The
Muftee was now desired, by the other ’Ulama, to adduce a proof of the
invalidity of their decision. Drawing from his bosom a small book on the
laws of inheritance, he read from it, “To establish a claim to
relationship and inheritance, the names of the father and the mother of
the claimant, and those of his father’s father and mother, and of his
mother’s father and mother, must be ascertained.” The names of the
father and mother of the pretended father of the bowwáb the false
witnesses had not been prepared to give; and this deficiency in the
testimony (which the ’Ulama, in trying the case, purposely overlooked)
now caused the sentence to be annulled. The bowwáb was brought before
the council, and, denying the imposition of which he had been made the
principal instrument, was, by order of the Básha, very severely
bastinaded; but the only confession that could be drawn from him by the
torture which he endured was, that he had received nothing more of the
three thousand purses than three hundred piasters. Meanwhile,
El-Mahrookee had repaired to the bowwáb’s master: he told the latter
what had happened at the Citadel, and what he had foreseen would be the
result, put into his hand three thousand purses, and begged him
immediately to go to the council, give this sum of money, and say that
it had been placed in his hands in trust by his servant. This was done,
and the money was paid to the daughter of the deceased.
In another case, when the Kádee and the council of the ’Ulama were
influenced in their decision by a Básha (not Mohammad ’Alee), and passed
a sentence contrary to law, they were thwarted in the same manner by
El-Mahdee. This Muftee was a rare example of integrity. It is said that
he never took a fee for a fetwa. He died shortly after my first visit to
this country.—I could mention several other glaring cases of bribery in
the court of the Kádee of Cairo; but the above is sufficient.
There are five minor Mahkem′ehs in Cairo; and likewise one at its
principal port, Boolák; and one at its southern port, Masr El-’Ateekah.
A Sháhid from the great Mahkem′eh presides at each of them, as deputy of
the chief Kádee, who confirms their acts. The matters submitted to these
minor tribunals are chiefly respecting the sales of property, and
legacies, marriages, and divorces; for the Kádee marries female orphans
under age who have no relations of age to act as their guardians; and
wives often have recourse to law to compel their husbands to divorce
them. In every country-town there is also a Kádee, generally a native of
the place, and never a Turk, who decides all cases, sometimes from his
own knowledge of the law, but commonly on the authority of a Muftee. One
Kádee generally serves for two or three or more villages.
Each of the four orthodox sects of the Muslims (the Hanafees, Sháfe’ees,
Málikees, and Hambel′ees) has its “Sheykh,” or religious chief, who is
chosen from among the most learned of the body, and resides in the
metropolis. The Sheykh of the great mosque El-Azhar (who is always of
the sect of the Sháfe’ees, and sometimes Sheykh of that sect), together
with the other Sheykhs above mentioned, and the Kadee, the Nakeeb
el-Ashraf (the chief of the Shereefs, or descendants of the Prophet),
and several other persons, constitute the council of the ’Ulama[217] (or
learned men), by whom the Turkish Báshas and Memlook chiefs have often
been kept in awe, and by whom their tyranny has frequently been
restricted: but now this learned body has lost almost all its influence
over the government. Petty disputes are often, by mutual consent of the
parties at variance, submitted to the judgment of one of the four
Sheykhs first mentioned, as they are the chief Muftees of their
respective sects; and the utmost deference is always paid to them.
Difficult and delicate causes, which concern the laws of the Kur-án or
the Traditions, are also frequently referred by the Básha to these
Sheykhs; but their opinion is not always followed by him: for instance,
after consulting them respecting the legality of dissecting human
bodies, for the sake of acquiring anatomical knowledge, and receiving
their declaration that it was repugnant to the laws of the religion, he,
nevertheless, has caused it to be practised by Muslim students of
anatomy.
The police of the metropolis is more under the direction of the military
than of the civil power. A few years ago it was under the authority of
the “Wálee” and the “Zábit;” but since my first visit to this country
the office of the former has been abolished. He was charged with the
apprehension of thieves and other criminals; and under his jurisdiction
were the public women, of whom he kept a list, and from each of whom he
exacted a tax. He also took cognizance of the conduct of the women in
general; and when he found a female to have been guilty of a single act
of incontinence, he added her name to the list of the public women, and
demanded from her the tax, unless she preferred, or could afford, to
escape that ignominy, by giving to him, or to his officers, a
considerable bribe. This course was always pursued, and is still, by a
person who farms the tax of the public women,[218] in the case of
unmarried females, and generally in the case of the married also; but
the latter are sometimes privately put to death, if they cannot, by
bribery or some other artifice, save themselves. Such proceedings are,
however, in two points, contrary to the law, which ordains that a person
who accuses a woman of adultery or fornication, without producing four
witnesses of the crime, shall be scourged with eighty stripes, and
decrees other punishments than those of degradation and tribute against
women convicted of such offences.
The office of the Zábit has before been mentioned. He is now the chief
of the police. His officers, who have no distinguishing mark to render
them known as such, are interspersed through the metropolis: they often
visit the coffee-shops, and observe the conduct, and listen to the
conversation, of the citizens. Many of them are pardoned thieves. They
accompany the military guards in their nightly rounds through the
streets of the metropolis. Here, none but the blind are allowed to go
out at night later than about an hour and a half after sunset, without a
lantern or a light of some kind. Few persons are seen in the streets
later than two or three hours after sunset. At the fifth or sixth hour,
one might pass through the whole length of the metropolis and scarcely
meet more than a dozen or twenty persons, excepting the watchmen and
guards, and the porters at the gates of the bye-streets and quarters.
The sentinel, or guard, calls out to the approaching passenger, in
Turkish, “Who is that?” and is answered in Arabic, “A citizen.”[219] The
private watchman, in the same case exclaims, “Attest the unity of God!”
or merely, “Attest the unity!”[220] The reply given to this is, “There
is no deity but God!” which Christians, as well as Muslims, object not
to say; the former understanding these words in a different sense from
the latter. It is supposed that a thief, or a person bound on any
unlawful undertaking, would not dare to utter these words. Some persons
loudly exclaim, in reply to the summons of the watchman, “There is no
deity but God: Mohammad is God’s Apostle.” The private watchmen are
employed to guard, by night, the sooks (or market-streets) and other
districts of the town. They carry a nebboot (or long staff), but no
lantern.
The Zábit, or A′gha of the police, used frequently to go about the
metropolis by night, often accompanied only by the executioner and the
“shealeg′ee,” or bearer of a kind of torch called “shealeh,” which is
still in use.[221] This torch burns, soon after it is lighted, without a
flame, excepting when it is waved through the air, when it suddenly
blazes forth: it therefore answers the same purpose as our dark lantern.
The burning end is sometimes concealed in a small pot or jar, or covered
with something else, when not required to give light; but it is said
that thieves often smell it in time to escape meeting the bearer. When a
person without a light is met by the police at night, he seldom attempts
resistance or flight; the punishment to which he is liable is beating.
The chief of the police had an arbitrary power to put any criminal or
offender to death without trial, and when not obnoxious, by law, to
capital punishment; and so also had many inferior officers, as will be
seen in subsequent pages of this work: but within the last two or three
years, instances of the exercise of such power have been very rare, and
I believe they would not now be permitted. The officers of the Zábit
perform their nightly rounds with the military guards merely as being
better acquainted than the latter with the haunts and practices of
thieves and other bad characters; and the Zábit himself scarcely ever
exercises any penal authority beyond that of beating or flogging.
Very curious measures, such as we read of in some of the tales of “the
Thousand and One Nights,” were often adopted by the police magistrates
of Cairo, to discover an offender, before the late innovations. I may
mention an instance. The authenticity of the following case, and of
several others of a similar nature, is well known. I shall relate it in
the manner in which I have heard it told.—A poor man applied one day to
the A′gha of the police, and said, “Sir, there came to me, to-day, a
woman, and she said to me, ‘’Take this “kurs,”[222] and let it remain in
your possession for a time, and lend me five hundred piasters:’ and I
took it from her, Sir, and gave her the five hundred piasters, and she
went away: and when she was gone away, I said to myself, ‘’Let me look
at this kurs;’ and I looked at it, and behold, it was yellow brass: and
I slapped my face, and said, ‘’I will go to the A′gha, and relate my
story to him; perhaps he will investigate the affair, and clear it up;’
for there is none that can help me in this matter but thou.” The A′gha
said to him, “Hear what I tell thee, man. Take whatever is in thy shop;
leave nothing; and lock it up; and to-morrow morning go early; and when
thou hast opened the shop, cry out, ‘’Alas for my property!’ then take
in thy hands two clods, and beat thyself with them, and cry, ‘’Alas for
the property of others!’ and whoever says to thee, ‘’What is the matter
with thee?’ do thou answer, ‘’The property of others is lost: a pledge
that I had, belonging to a woman, is lost; if it were my own, I should
not thus lament it;’ and this will clear up the affair.” The man
promised to do as he was desired. He removed everything from his shop,
and early the next morning he went and opened it, and began to cry out,
“Alas for the property of others!” and he took two clods, and beat
himself with them, and went about every district of the city, crying,
“Alas for the property of others! a pledge that I had, belonging to a
woman, is lost; if it were my own, I should not thus lament it.” The
woman who had given him the kurs in pledge heard of this, and discovered
that it was the man whom she had cheated; so she said to herself, “Go
and bring an action against him.” She went to his shop, riding on an
ass, to give herself consequence, and said to him, “Man, give me my
property that is in thy possession.” He answered, “It is lost.” “Thy
tongue be cut out!” she cried: “dost thou lose my property? By Allah! I
will go to the A′gha, and inform him of it.” “Go,” said he; and she
went, and told her case. The A′gha sent for the man; and, when he had
come, said to his accuser, “What is thy property in his possession?” She
answered, “A kurs of red Venetian gold.” “Woman,” said the A′gha, “I
have a gold kurs here: I should like to show it thee.” She said, “Show
it me, Sir, for I shall know my kurs.” The A′gha then untied a
handkerchief, and, taking out of it the kurs which she had given in
pledge, said, “Look.” She looked at it and knew it, and hung down her
head. The A′gha said, “Raise thy head, and say where are the five
hundred piasters of this man.” She answered, “Sir, they are in my
house.” The executioner was sent with her to her house, but without his
sword; and the woman, having gone into the house, brought out a purse
containing the money, and went back with him. The money was given to the
man from whom it had been obtained, and the executioner was then ordered
to take the woman to the Rumeyleh (a large open place below the
Citadel), and there to behead her; which he did.
The markets of Cairo, and the weights and measures, are under the
inspection of an officer called the “Mohtes′ib.” He occasionally rides
about the town, preceded by an officer who carries a large pair of
scales, and followed by the executioners and numerous other servants.
Passing by shops, or through the markets, he orders each shopkeeper, one
after another, or sometimes only one here and there, to produce his
scales, weights, and measures, and tries whether they be correct. He
also inquires the prices of provisions at the shops where such articles
are sold. Often, too, he stops a servant, or other passenger in the
street, whom he may chance to meet carrying any article of food that he
has just bought, and asks him for what sum, or at what weight, he
purchased it. When he finds that a shopkeeper has incorrect scales,
weights, or measures, or that he has sold a thing deficient in weight,
or above the regular market price, he punishes him on the spot. The
general punishment is beating or flogging. Once I saw a man tormented in
a different way, for selling bread deficient in weight. A hole was bored
through his nose, and a cake of bread, about a span wide, and a finger’s
breadth in thickness, was suspended to it by a piece of string. He was
stripped naked, with the exception of having a piece of linen about his
loins, and tied, with his arms bound behind him, to the bars of a window
of a mosque called the Ashrafeeyeh, in the main street of the
metropolis, his feet resting upon the sill. He remained thus about three
hours, exposed to the gaze of the multitude which thronged the street,
and to the scorching rays of the sun.
A person who was appointed Mohtes′ib shortly after my former visit to
this country (Mustaf′a Káshif, a Kurd) exercised his power in a most
brutal manner, clipping men’s ears (that is, cutting off the lobe, or
ear-lap), not only for the most trifling transgression, but often for no
offence whatever. He once met an old man, driving along several asses
laden with water-melons, and pointing to one of the largest of these
fruits, asked its price. The old man put his finger and thumb to his
ear-lap, and said, “Cut it, Sir.” He was asked again and again, and gave
the same answer. The Mohtes′ib, angry, but unable to refrain from
laughing, said, “Fellow, are you mad or deaf?” “No,” replied the old
man, “I am neither mad nor deaf; but I know that, if I were to say the
price of the melon is ten faddahs, you would say, ‘Clip his ear’; and if
I said _five_ faddahs, or _one_ faddah, you would say, ‘Clip his ear’;
therefore clip it at once, and let me pass on.” His humour saved
him.—Clipping ears was the usual punishment inflicted by this Mohtes′ib;
but sometimes he tortured in a different manner. A butcher, who had sold
some meat wanting two ounces of its due weight, he punished by cutting
off two ounces of flesh from his back. A seller of “kunáfeh” (a kind of
paste resembling vermicelli) having made his customers pay a trifle more
than was just, he caused him to be stripped, and seated upon the round
copper tray on which the kunáfeh was baked, and kept so until he was
dreadfully burnt. He generally punished dishonest butchers by putting a
hook through their nose, and hanging a piece of meat to it. Meeting, one
day, a man carrying a large crate full of earthen water-bottles from
Semennood, which he offered for sale as made at Kinë, he caused his
attendants to break each bottle separately against the vendor’s head.
Mustaf’a Káshif also exercised his tyranny in other cases than those
which properly fell under his jurisdiction. He once took a fancy to send
one of his horses to a bath, and desired the keeper of a bath in his
neighbourhood to prepare for receiving it, and to wash it well, and make
its coat very smooth. The bath-keeper, annoyed at so extraordinary a
command, ventured to suggest that, as the pavements of the bath were of
marble, the horse might slip, and fall; and also, that it might take
cold on going out; and that it would, therefore, be better for him to
convey to the stable the contents of the cistern of the bath in buckets,
and there to perform the operation. Mustaf′a Káshif said, “I see how it
is; you do not like that my horse should go into your bath.” He desired
some of his servants to throw him down, and beat him with staves until
he should tell them to stop. They did so; and beat the poor man till he
died.
A few years ago there used to be carried before the Mohtes′ib, when
going his rounds to examine the weights and measures, etc., a pair of
scales larger than that used at present. Its beam, it is said, was a
hollow tube, containing some quicksilver; by means of which, the bearer,
knowing those persons who had bribed his master, and those who had not,
easily made either scale preponderate.
As the Mohtes′ib is the overseer of the public markets, so there are
officers who have a similar charge in superintending each branch of the
Básha’s trade and manufactures; and some of these persons have been
known to perpetrate most abominable acts of tyranny and cruelty. One of
this class, who was named ’Alee Bey, “Názir el-Kumásh” (or Overseer of
the Linen), when he found a person in possession of a private loom, or
selling the produce of such a loom, generally bound him up in a piece of
his linen, soaked in oil and tar; then suspended him, thus enveloped, to
a branch of a tree, and set light to the wrapper. After having destroyed
a number of men in this horrible manner, he was himself, among many
others, burnt to death, by the explosion of a powder-magazine on the
northern slope of the Citadel of Cairo, in 1824, the year before my
first arrival in Egypt. A friend of mine, who spoke to me of the
atrocities of this monster, added, “When his corpse was taken to be
buried, the Sheykh El-’Aroosee (who was Sheykh of the great mosque
El-Azhar) recited the funeral prayers over it, in the mosque of the
Hasaneyn; and I acted as ‘muballigh’ (to repeat the words of the Imám):
when the Sheykh uttered the words, ‘Give your testimony respecting him,’
and when I had repeated them, no one of all the persons present, and
they were many, presumed to give the answer, ‘He was of the virtuous’:
all were silent. To make the circumstance more glaring, I said again,
‘Give your testimony respecting him:’ but not an answer was heard; and
the Sheykh, in confusion, said, but in a very low voice, ‘May God have
mercy upon him.’ Now we may certainly say of this cursed man,” continued
my friend, “that he is gone to hell: yet his wife is constantly having
‘khatmehs’ (recitations of the Kur-án) performed in her house for him;
and lights two wax candles, for his sake, every evening, at the niche of
the mosque of the Hasaneyn.”
Every quarter in the metropolis has its sheykh, called “Sheykh
el-Hárah,” whose influence is exerted to maintain order, to settle any
trifling disputes among the inhabitants, and to expel those who disturb
the peace of their neighbours. The whole of the metropolis is also
divided into eight districts, over each of which is a sheykh, called
“Sheykh et-Tumn.”
The members of various trades and manufactures in the metropolis and
other large towns have also their respective sheykhs, to whom all
disputes respecting matters connected with those trades or crafts are
submitted for arbitration; and whose sanction is required for the
admission of new members.
The servants in the metropolis are likewise under the authority of
particular sheykhs. Any person in want of a servant may procure one by
applying to one of these officers, who, for a small fee (two or three
piasters), becomes responsible for the conduct of the man whom he
recommends. Should a servant so engaged rob his master, the latter gives
information to the sheykh, who, whether he can recover the stolen
property or not, must indemnify the master.
Even the common thieves used, not many years since, to respect a
superior, who was called their sheykh. He was often required to search
for stolen goods, and to bring offenders to justice; which he generally
accomplished. It is very remarkable that the same strange system
prevailed among the ancient Egyptians.[223]
The Coptic Patriarch, who is the head of his church, judges petty causes
among his people in the metropolis; and the inferior clergy do the same
in other places; but an appeal may be made to the Kádee. A Muslim
aggrieved by a Copt may demand justice from the Patriarch or the Kádee:
a Copt who seeks redress from a Muslim must apply to the Kádee. The Jews
are similarly circumstanced. The Franks, or Europeans in general, are
not answerable to any other authority than that of their respective
consuls, excepting when they are aggressors against a Muslim: they are
then surrendered to the Turkish authorities, who, on the other hand,
will render justice to the Frank who is aggrieved by a Muslim.
The inhabitants of the country-towns and villages are under the
government of Turkish officers and of their own countrymen. The whole of
Egypt is divided into several large provinces, each of which is governed
by an ’Osmánlee (or a Turk); and these provinces are subdivided into
districts, which are governed by native officers, with the titles of
“Mamoor and Názir.” Every village, as well as town, has also its Sheykh,
called “Sheykh el-Beled;” who is one of the native Muslim inhabitants.
All the officers above mentioned, excepting the last, were formerly
Turks; and there were other Turkish governors of small districts, who
were called “Ká-shifs,” and “ Káïm-makáms:” the change was made very
shortly before my present visit to this country; and the Felláheen
complain that their condition is worse than it was before; but it is
generally from the tyranny of their great Turkish governors that they
suffer most severely.
The following case will convey some idea of the condition of Egyptian
peasants in some provinces. A Turk,[224] infamous for many barbarous
acts, presiding at the town of Tanta, in the Delta, went one night to
the government-granary of that town, and, finding two peasants sleeping
there, asked them who they were, and what was their business in that
place. One of them said that he had brought 130 ardebbs of corn from a
village of the district; and the other, that he had brought 60 ardebbs
from the land belonging to the town. “You rascal!” said the governor to
the latter; “this man brings 130 ardebbs from the lands of a small
village; and you, but 60 from the lands of the town.” “This man,”
answered the peasant of Tanta, “brings corn but once a week; and I am
now bringing it every day.” “Be silent!” said the governor; and,
pointing to a neighbouring tree, he ordered one of the servants of the
granary to hang the peasant to one of its branches. The order was
obeyed, and the governor returned to his house. The next morning he went
again to the granary, and saw a man bringing in a large quantity of
corn. He asked who he was, and what quantity he had brought; and was
answered, by the hangman of the preceding night, “This is the man, Sir,
whom I hanged by your orders, last night; and he has brought 160
ardebbs.” “What!” exclaimed the governor: “has he risen from the dead?”
He was answered, “No, Sir; I hanged him so that his toes touched the
ground; and when you were gone, I untied the rope: you did not order me
to _kill_ him.” The Turk muttered, “Aha! hanging and killing are
different things: Arabic is copious: next time I will say kill. Take
care of Aboo-Dá-ood.”[225] This is his nick-name.
Another occurrence may here be aptly related, as a further illustration
of the nature of the government to which the people of Egypt are
subjected. A felláh, who was appointed Názir (or governor) of the
district of El-Manoofeeyeh (the southernmost district of the Delta), a
short time before my present visit to Egypt, in collecting the taxes at
a village, demanded, of a poor peasant, the sum of sixty riyáls (ninety
faddahs each, making a sum total of a hundred and thirty-five piasters,
which was then equivalent to about thirty shillings). The poor man urged
that he possessed nothing but a cow, which barely afforded sustenance to
himself and his family. Instead of pursuing the method usually followed
when a felláh declares himself unable to pay the tax demanded of him,
which is to give him a severe bastinading, the Názir, in this case, sent
the Sheykh el-Beled to bring the poor peasant’s cow, and desired some of
the felláheen to buy it. They saying that they had not sufficient money,
he sent for a butcher, and desired him to kill the cow; which was done:
he then told him to divide it into sixty pieces. The butcher asked for
his pay; and was given the head of the cow. Sixty felláheen were then
called together; and each of them was compelled to purchase, for a
riyál, a piece of the cow. The owner of the cow went, weeping and
complaining, to the Názir’s superior, the late Mohammad Bey, Deftardár.
“O my master,” said he, “I am oppressed and in misery: I had no property
but one cow, a milch cow: I and my family lived upon her milk; and she
ploughed for me, and threshed my corn; and my whole subsistence was
derived from her: the Názir has taken her, and killed her, and cut her
up into sixty pieces, and sold the pieces to my neighbours—to each a
piece, for one riyál; so that he obtained but sixty riyáls for the
whole, while the value of the cow was a hundred and twenty riyáls, or
more. I am oppressed and in misery, and a stranger in the place, for I
came from another village; but the Názir had no pity on me. I and my
family are become beggars, and have nothing left. Have mercy upon me,
and give me justice: I implore it by thy hareem.” The Deftardár, having
caused the Názir to be brought before him, asked him, “Where is the cow
of this felláh?” “I have sold it,” said the Názir. “For how much?” “For
sixty riyáls.” “Why did you kill it and sell it?” “He owed sixty riyáls
for land: so I took his cow, and killed it, and sold it for the amount.”
“Where is the butcher that killed it?” “In Manoof.” The butcher was sent
for, and brought. The Deftardár said to him, “Why did you kill this
man’s cow?” “The Názir desired me,” he answered, “and I could not oppose
him: if I had attempted to do so, he would have beaten me, and destroyed
my house: I killed it; and the Názir gave me the head as my reward.”
“Man,” said the Deftardár, “do you know the persons who bought the
meat?” The butcher replied that he did. The Deftardár then desired his
secretary to write the names of the sixty men, and an order to the
sheykh of their village to bring them to Manoof, where this complaint
was made. The Názir and butcher were placed in confinement till the next
morning; when the sheykh of the village came, with the sixty felláheen.
The two prisoners were then brought again before the Deftardár, who said
to the sheykh and the sixty peasants, “Was the value of this man’s cow
sixty riyáls?” “O our master,” they answered, “her value was greater.”
The Deftardár sent for the Kádee of Manoof, and said to him, “O Kádee,
here is a man oppressed by this Názir, who has taken his cow, and killed
it; and sold its flesh for sixty riyáls. What is thy judgment?” The
Kádee replied, “He is a cruel tyrant, who oppresses every one under his
authority. Is not a cow worth a hundred and twenty riyáls, or more? and
he has sold this one for sixty riyáls: this is tyranny towards the
owner.” The Deftardár then said to some of his soldiers, “Take the
Názir, and strip him, and bind him.” This done, he said to the butcher,
“Butcher, dost thou not fear God? Thou hast killed the cow unjustly.”
The butcher again urged that he was obliged to obey the Názir. “Then,”
said the Deftardár, “if I order thee to do a thing, wilt thou do it?” “I
will do it,” answered the butcher. “Slaughter the Názir,” said the
Deftardár. Immediately, several of the soldiers present seized the
Názir, and threw him down; and the butcher cut his throat, in the
regular orthodox manner of killing animals for food. “Now, cut him up,”
said the Deftardár, “into sixty pieces.” This was done: the people
concerned in the affair, and many others, looking on; but none daring to
speak. The sixty peasants who had bought the meat of the cow were then
called forward, one after another, and each was made to take a piece of
the flesh of the Názir, and to pay for it two riyáls; so that a hundred
and twenty riyáls were obtained from them. They were then dismissed; but
the butcher remained. The Kádee was asked what should be the reward of
the butcher; and answered that he should be paid as he had been paid by
the Názir. The Deftardár therefore ordered that the head of the Názir
should be given to him; and the butcher went away with his worse than
valueless burden, thanking God that he had not been more unfortunate,
and scarcely believing himself to have so easily escaped until he
arrived at his village. The money paid for the flesh of the Názir was
given to the owner of the cow.
Most of the governors of provinces and districts carry their oppression
far beyond the limits to which they are authorized to proceed by the
Básha; and even the sheykh of a village, in executing the commands of
his superiors, abuses his lawful power: bribes, and the ties of
relationship and marriage, influence him and them, and by lessening the
oppression of some, who are more able to bear it, greatly increase that
of others. But the office of a sheykh of a village is far from being a
sinecure: at the period when the taxes are demanded of him, he
frequently receives a more severe bastinading than any of his inferiors;
for when the population of a village does not yield the sum required,
their sheykh is often beaten for their default: and not always does he
produce his own proportion until he has been well thrashed. All the
felláheen are proud of the stripes they receive for withholding their
contributions; and are often heard to boast of the number of blows which
were inflicted upon them before they would give up their money. Ammianus
Marcellinus gives precisely the same character to the Egyptians of his
time.[226]
The revenue of the Básha of Egypt is generally said to amount to about
three millions of pounds sterling.[227] Nearly half arises from the
direct taxes on land, and from indirect exactions from the felláheen:
the remainder, principally from the custom-taxes, the tax on palm-trees,
a kind of income-tax, and the sale of various productions of the land;
by which sale, the government, in most instances, obtains a profit of
more than fifty per cent.
The present Básha has increased his revenue to this amount by most
oppressive measures. He has dispossessed of their lands almost all the
private proprietors throughout Egypt, allotting to each, as a partial
compensation, a pension for life, proportioned to the extent and quality
of the land which belonged to him. The farmer has, therefore, nothing to
leave to his children but his hut, and perhaps a few cattle and some
small savings.
The direct taxes on land are proportioned to the natural advantages of
the soil. Their average amount is about 8_s._ per feddán, which is
nearly equal to an English acre.[228] But the cultivator can never
calculate exactly the full amount of what the government will require of
him: he suffers from indirect exactions of quantities (differing in
different years, but always levied per feddán) of butter, honey, wax,
wool, baskets of palm-leaves, ropes of the fibres of the palm-tree, and
other commodities: he is also obliged to pay the hire of the camels
which convey his grain to the government shooneh (or granary), and to
defray various other expenses. A portion of the produce of his land is
taken by the government,[229] and sometimes the whole produce, at a
fixed and fair price, which, however, in many parts of Egypt, is
retained to make up for the debts of the insolvent peasants.[230] The
felláh, to supply the bare necessaries of life, is often obliged to
steal, and convey secretly to his hut, as much as he can of the produce
of his land. He may either himself supply the seed for his land, or
obtain it as a loan from the government: but in the latter case he
seldom obtains a sufficient quantity, a considerable portion being
generally stolen by the persons through whose hands it passes before he
receives it. To relate all the oppressions which the peasantry of Egypt
endure from the dishonesty of the Mamoors and inferior officers would
require too much space in the present work. It would be scarcely
possible for them to suffer more, and live. It may be hardly necessary,
therefore, to add, that few of them engage, with assiduity, in the
labours of agriculture, unless compelled to do so by their superiors.
The Básha has not only taken possession of the lands of the private
proprietors, but he has also thrown into his treasury a considerable
proportion of the incomes of religious and charitable institutions,
deeming their accumulated wealth superfluous. He first imposed a tax (of
nearly half the amount of the regular land-tax) upon all land which had
become a “wakf” (or legacy unalienable by law) to any mosque, fountain,
public school, etc.; and afterwards took absolute possession of such
lands, granting certain annuities in lieu of them, for keeping in repair
the respective buildings, and for the maintenance of those persons
attached to them, as Názirs (or wardens), religious ministers, inferior
servants, students, and other pensioners. He has thus rendered himself
extremely odious to most persons of the religious and learned
professions, and especially to the Názirs of the mosques, who too
generally enriched themselves from the funds intrusted to their care,
which were, in most cases, superabundant. The _household_ property of
the mosques and other public institutions (the wakfs of numerous
individuals of various ranks) the Básha has hitherto left inviolate.
The tax upon the palm-trees has been calculated to amount to about a
hundred thousand pounds sterling. The trees are rated according to their
qualities; generally at a piaster and a half each.
The income-tax, which is called “firdeh,” is generally a twelfth or more
of a man’s annual income or salary, when that can be ascertained. The
maximum, however, is fixed at five hundred piasters. In the large towns
it is levied upon individuals; in the villages upon houses. The
income-tax of all the inhabitants of the metropolis amounts to eight
thousand purses, or about forty thousand pounds sterling.
The inhabitants of the metropolis and of other large towns pay a heavy
tax on grain, etc. The tax on each kind of grain is eighteen piasters
per ardebb (or about five bushels); which sum is equal to the price of
wheat in the country after a good harvest.[231]
-----
Footnote 208:
Though his territory has been greatly lessened since the above was
written, his power in Egypt remains nearly the same.
Footnote 209:
The government of Egypt, from the period of the conquest of this
country by the Arabs, has been nearly the same as it is at present in
its influence upon the manners and customs and character of the
inhabitants; and I therefore do not deem an historical retrospect
necessary to the illustration of this work. It should, however, be
mentioned that the people of Egypt are not now allowed to indulge in
that excessive fanatical rudeness with which they formerly treated
unbelievers; and hence European travellers have one great cause for
gratitude to Mohammad ’Alee. Restraint may, at first, increase, but
will probably, in the course of time, materially diminish the feeling
of fanatical intolerance.
Footnote 210:
“Khideewee” is a relative adjective formed from the Turkish “Khideev,”
which signifies “a prince.”
Footnote 211:
Thus pronounced in Egypt, but more properly “Kyáhya,” or “Ketkhud′a.”
Footnote 212:
A very arbitrary power is often exercised in this and similar courts,
and the proceedings are conducted with little decorum. Many Turkish
officers, even of the highest rank, make use of language far too
disgusting for me to mention, towards persons brought before them for
judgment, and towards those who appeal to them for justice.
Footnote 213:
He used to arrive in Cairo in the beginning of Ramadán; but the
beginning of the first month, Moharram, has of late been fixed upon,
instead of the former period.
Footnote 214:
The Egyptian piaster is now equivalent to the fifth part of a
shilling, or 2¼_d._
Footnote 215:
This law is borrowed from the Jews. See Deut. xix. 15.—A man may
refuse to give his testimony.
Footnote 216:
A purse is the sum of five hundred piasters, and was then equivalent
to nearly seven pounds sterling, but is now equal to only five pounds.
Footnote 217:
In the singular “’A′lim.” This title is more particularly given to a
professor of jurisprudence. European writers generally use the plural
form of this appellation for the singular.
Footnote 218:
Since this was written, the public women throughout Egypt have been
compelled to relinquish their licentious profession.
Footnote 219:
“Ibn beled.” If blind, he answers, “Aama.”
Footnote 220:
“Wahhed;” or, to more than one person, “Wahhedoo.”
Footnote 221:
Baron Hammer-Purgstall is mistaken in substituting “Meshaaledschi” for
“Shealeg′ee.” The officer who bears the latter appellation does not
carry a mesh′al, but a twisted torch. The mesh′al is described and
figured in Chap. vi.
Footnote 222:
An ornament worn on the crown of the head-dress by women, described in
the Appendix to this work.
Footnote 223:
See Diodorus Siculus, lib. i., cap. 80.
Footnote 224:
Suleymán A′gha, the Silahdár.
Footnote 225:
Aboo-Dá-ood, Aboo-’Alee, etc., are patronymics, used by the Egyptian
peasants in general, not as signifying “Father of Dá-ood,” “Father of
’Alee,” etc., but “whose father is (or was) Dá-ood,” “—— ’Alee,” etc.
Footnote 226:
Lib. xxii. The more easily the peasant pays, the more is he made to
pay.
Footnote 227:
Some estimate it at _five_ millions; others, at little more than _two_
millions.
Footnote 228:
The feddán has lately been reduced: it was equal to about an English
acre and one-tenth a few years ago; and somewhat more at an earlier
period.
Footnote 229:
Of some productions, as cotton, flax, etc., the government always
takes the whole.
Footnote 230:
Even the debts of the peasantry of one village are often imposed upon
the inhabitants of another who have paid all that is justly due from
them.
Footnote 231:
The above account of the government of Egypt, having been written in
the years 1834 and 1835, is not altogether correct with respect to the
present time (1842). Great changes are now being made in various
departments; and as the Básha has no longer to maintain an enormous
military and naval force, he will be able to ameliorate very
considerably the condition of the people whom he governs. Most of the
evils of which the people of Egypt have hitherto had to complain have
arisen from the vast expense incurred in war, from the conscription,
and from the dishonesty of almost all the Básha’s civil officers.
----------------------------