Nile, which devolves its majestic flood at some little distance. The
suburbs, however, Misr el attiké, and Bulak, or the port, form two
points of contact with the river. To the South-East and East is a
ridge of the extensive chain which runs along the course of the Nile
to Upper Egypt, sometimes receding, and leaving a plain of about a
league broad, at other places opposing its barrier to the stream. To
the North a plain extends to the Delta, which it resembles in soil
and productions. Immediately under the mountain is the castle, now
incapable of defence, though esteemed of great strength, before the
invention of artillery.
To an eye accustomed to the cities of Europe, their wide streets,
and general uniformity, the view of the capital of Egypt might appear
mean and disgusting. Yet it is termed by the natives “Misr without
an equal, Misr the mother of the world.” Convenience is comparative,
and ideas of it must vary with manners and customs. The narrowness
of the streets appears even necessary to a native, to protect him
from the fierce effulgence of the meridian sun: a slight canopy,
extended from house to house, affords him more pleasure than any
architectural prospect could convey.
For about the space of three hundred years Egypt had been governed
by the military aristocracy of the Mamlûks, when it was subdued by
Sultan Selim, in the year 1517. Sensible of the distance, defended
situation, and refractory spirit of the province, he thought it
politic to enter into a compromise with its former government and
antient prejudices. It was likewise well known, that the secure
situation of the country, little exposed to any external attack,
would have favoured the ambitious designs of a rival Pasha.
By an institution still observed in some instances, he ordained, that
the Pasha should be contented to share the power of the Beys, and
that the duration of his authority should depend on their collective
will. The Beys must necessarily have separate personal interests,
which sometimes lead them to intestine outrage and bloodshed; yet,
with regard to any external power or influence, their interests are
universally the same. As allies or as enemies they form one body and
one soul. Selim was too confident in the power and splendour of the
Ottoman arms, and in his own character of chief of their religion,
to entertain any suspicion that the commands of the Porte would ever
be treated except with distinguished respect.
The power of the Pasha was at first very extensive; but has, by the
intrigues and ambition of the Beys, been gradually reduced almost
to a cipher.
His jurisdiction was rather civil than military. He was always
president of the Diwan, which was held in the castle where he
resided. But that council now commonly meets in the palace of one
of the chief Beys, except when a firmân or mandate is received from
Constantinople, when the Beys are summoned to the castle to hear the
commands of the Porte. The few who attend, as soon as the reading
is finished, answer, as is usual, _Esmâna wa taâna_, “We have
heard, and we obey.” On leaving the castle, their general voice
is _Esmâna wa awsîna_, “We have heard, and shall disobey.”
In the year 1791, Salah Aga, a slave of Murad Bey, was deputed from
the government of Egypt to negotiate their peace with the Porte.—He
carried presents of horses, rich stuffs, &c. A spontaneous tribute,
which the Porte was in no condition to enforce, implied obligation on
the part of the latter.—He was well received, and afterwards was
appointed _Waquîl es Sultân_, “Agent or Attorney to the Sultan
in Kahira.” It is probable this office was given him to incline
him to second the efforts of the Court in disuniting the Beys;
but it was ineffectual. These had formerly experienced the evils
of division, and now were united by common interest, grown rich,
and well provided with slaves. So that, as I have understood, no
tribute has since that time found its way to Constantinople.
As the Beys are chosen from among the Mamlûks, it may be proper to
begin with some account of that extraordinary class of men. They
remain, as they have ever been, military[9] slaves imported from
Georgia, Circassia, and Mingrelia. A few have been prisoners, taken
from the Austrians and Russians, who have exchanged their religion
for an establishment. The Beys give general orders to their agents
at Constantinople, to purchase a certain number every year, and many
are brought to Egypt by private merchants on speculation. When the
supply proves insufficient, or many have been expended, black slaves
from the interior of Africa are substituted, and if found docile,
are armed and accoutred like the rest.
Particular attention is paid to the education of these favoured
slaves. They are instructed in every exercise of agility or strength,
and are in general distinguished by the grace and beauty of their
persons. The gratitude of the disciples is equal to the favour of
their masters, whom they never quit in the hour of danger. If they
have a disposition for learning they are taught the use of letters;
and some of them are excellent scribes: but the greater part neither
can read nor write, a striking example of which deficiency is
observable in Murad Bey himself.
The inferior Mamlûks constantly appear in the military dress,
and are commonly armed with a pair of pistols, a sabre, and a
dagger. They wear a peculiar cap of a greenish hue, around which
is wreathed a turban[10]. The rest of their dress resembles that
of other Mohammedan citizens, and is restricted to no particular
colour: but another singularity is their large drawers of thick
Venetian cloth, of a crimson colour, to which are attached their
slippers of red leather. On horseback they add to their arms a pair
of large horse-pistols, and the _Dubbûs_ or battle-axe. In battle
many of them wear an open helmet, and the antient ring armour of
interwoven links of steel, worn under part of their dress, and thus
concealed. These are dear, sometimes costing five hundred piastres,
or about forty pounds. Some of them are made at Constantinople,
others in Persia. Their horses are of the finest Arabian breeds, and
are often purchased at three or four purses, 150l. to 200l. sterling.
They have no pay, as they eat at a table in the house of their
master, the Bey, Cashef, or other officer. Any military officer may
purchase a slave, who becomes _ipso facto_ a Mamlûk. The name, from
_Malek_ to possess, implies merely a person who is the property of
another. After a proper education, the candidate thus constituted
a Mamlûk, receives a present of a horse and arms from his master,
together with a suit of clothes, which is renewed ever year in the
month Ramadân. The generosity of their masters, and rewards or
extortions from others, afford them supplies of money either for
avarice or debauchery. Some of them, admitted to peculiar favour
by the Beys, as chasnadars or pursebearers, &c. acquire great
wealth. They are rather gay and thoughtless, than insolent; fond of
shew, and unprincipled in their means of acquiring it. They seldom
marry till they acquire some office.
Though born of Christian parents, they seem highly satisfied with
their condition; which they have been known to refuse to exchange
for freedom. The majority are regarded by the Arabs as little strict
in the principles or duties of Mohammedism.
It is worthy of remark, that though the Mamlûks in general be
strong and personable men, yet the few who marry very seldom have
children. As the son even of a Bey is not honoured with any particular
consideration, the women perhaps procure abortions. However this be,
of eighteen Beys, whose history I particularly knew, only two had
any children living.
Hardy, capable of every fatigue, of undaunted courage, and eminent
skill in horsemanship and the use of the sabre, the Mamlûks may be
regarded as by far the best troops in the East. But in a regular
battle, conducted by manœuvres, and large or rapid movements,
they are equally inferior to European troops.
Being distinguished by favouritism or merit, the Mamlûk becomes
a Cashef, and in time a Bey. The chief cause of preference arises
from political adherence to some powerful leader.
The government of Kahira, and Egypt in general, is vested in
twenty-four Beys, each of whom is nominally chosen by the remaining
twenty-three, but in fact appointed by one of the most powerful. The
_Yenk-tchery aga_, and several other officers, are enumerated among
the twenty-four Beys.
Besides being governors of certain districts of Egypt, several
of the Beys receive other dignities from the Porte. Such are the
_Shech el Bellad_, or governor of the city; the _Defterdar_,
or accountant-general; the _Emîr el Hadj_, or leader of the
sacred caravan; and the _Emîr es Saïd_, or governor of the upper
Egypt[11]. These officers have also revenues allotted them by the
Porte, ill-defined, and liable to much abuse.
Of the other Beys, each appoints all officers and governors within
his district, putting into it some slave of his own, who is compelled
to render an account of the receipts; of which a part passes to
support the grandeur of his master. An opulent Bey may have from 600
to 1000 purses annually; the revenue of Murad Bey more than doubles
that sum. The inferior Beys may have 300 purses or 15,000l.
The chief judicial authority in Kahira is delegated to a _Mulla_,
who is annually appointed from Constantinople; but his jurisdiction
is principally directed to cases of doubt and difficulty. There are
besides _Cadis_ in all the districts, or _parishes_, if so it may
be expressed, which, in this great city, amount to more than two
hundred. There are Imâms, or priests of the four sects, each having
the direction of the adherents of that sect. The _Shech-el-Bikkeri_
is an office of great respect, having special authority over the
she-rîfs. There are other exclusive jurisdictions, which need not
be specified.
The revenue of the Cadis arises solely from a tenth of the value of
the thing litigated. Justice or injustice is speedily administered,
but is often influenced by bribery.
Every Bey sits in judgment on cases of equity. These personages
are very observant of their respective jurisdictions; and no Bey
will imprison a man liberated by another. Though sometimes too
impetuous, they nevertheless display great acuteness and knowlege
of characters. This government at least possesses every advantage
of publicity, as every Bey is a magistrate.
But the justice of the rulers is ever open to the omnipotent influence
of gold. During my residence at Kahira an instance happened worthy of
commemoration. Two Syrian Christians, of the Maronite persuasion,
had been successively farmers of the customs, and had acquired
great wealth: a quarrel arising between them, one made a reflection
peculiarly grating on the other, who went to the Bey, and thus
addressed him: “This city is not wide enough for me and such a
one. You must put one of us to death. If you will put him to death,
here are ten thousand sequins.” Said and done instantly.
Each Bey appoints his Cashefs or lieutenants. These officers preside
each over a town or village, collecting the revenues, and judging
small causes; but an appeal lies to the Bey. The Beys and Cashefs are,
from their ignorance, constrained to employ Copts as accomptants in
adjusting and receiving the revenues, that duty being of an intricate
nature, and requiring great local knowlege. The authority of a Cashef
is as arbitrary as that of a Bey.
_Revenue of Egypt._
The more considerable sources of revenue, as well of the Porte at this
day, as of the Chalifé while the sovereignty remained with the Arabs,
are nearly coëval in their institution with Mohammedism itself.
The innovations which have since had place derive their authority
from the dispensing power of the sovereign, or are reconciled with
the primitive institutes by the ingenuity of the legal professors.
The most antient tribute due from the subject to government was
the _zecchât_, a tenth of all the permanent productions of the
earth. According to its original establishment, this did not affect
property under a certain value, and was exigible of an unbeliever
in a twofold proportion. It was imposed by Mohammed himself,
and applied, as would appear, to the relief of the necessitous;
the prophet expressly forbidding his own family to share in it, as
unworthy of their rank, and, at the same time, allotting to them a
fifth part of the plunder obtained in war. This impost continues
to be levied, but is applied to needful expenses or unnecessary
prodigality, rather than to soften the lot of the indigent, its
original purpose. Ostentatious charities satisfy the scruples of the
monarch, and blind the eyes of the people to this misapplication. The
tax is not now applicable to land or houses, but to the merchandize
imported into the country. The duties on these, when demanded of
Mohammedans, are taken under the name of _zecchât_.
The second impost is the _charâge_, which signifies the product
of lands. It is intended to denote, not only any tax on land, but
also on the persons of _dhummies_, i.e. Christians and Jews; though
in the latter case it receives the appellation of Jizie (جزيه),
the capitation tax, or _salvage_ for their persons, which otherwise,
according to the letter of the Korân, the true believer is not
bound to spare.
In modern times, the public revenue of the Porte, which is derived
from various sources, is known under the name of Miri; the private one
of the emperor is supplied in a different way, and termed _Chasné_.
The nature of the revenue of each province depended at first, in a
great measure, on the manner in which that province was originally
acquired; and, even now, the same distinction in some cases
operates. Irak was to be protected under one condition of tribute,
Egypt under another. The immediate successors of Mohammed appear
to have been guided in many instances by sound policy, and to have
tempered the rage of fanaticism, by some attention at least to the
well-being even of their heretical subjects. The imposts in Egypt,
one of their earliest territorial acquisitions, and the inhabitants
of which had many of them embraced Islamism, were not distinguished
by any remarkable severity; and if that country have since been
impoverished and depopulated, it appears not to result from the
original institutions, so much as from the abuses which happened at
an early period of the Egyptian Chalifat, and which may contaminate
the mildest and most reasonable establishments. These abuses, which
have long been gradually increasing, are now multiplied to a point,
beyond which, consistently with the being of the peasantry, they
cannot well be extended.
The principal local tribute is a tax on land of two patackes each
_foddân_, all over the country; which, whether the effect of a
compact between the Arabian victor and the natives, or an impost
in force under the former government, was continued by Sultan
Selim. Taking the cultivable lands in Egypt at two million one hundred
thousand acres, this should give the sum of twelve thousand nine
hundred purses, or at the present exchange of 630,000l. sterling; but
at this time only two-thirds of these lands are actually cultivated,
which reduces the sum to 420,000l. On the other hand, however, the
Beys are not contented with this legitimate revenue, but insist on
receiving in many instances five or six patackes per foddân[12],
which again raises this single branch of revenue to a million and
a quarter, or even more. There are however some districts in the
Upper Egypt always several years in arrear.
The other articles are, the customs of Alexandria, Damiatt, Suez,
Cossîr; and what is drawn from the commerce of Africa in its passage
by Charjé, Assiût, and at Kahira itself. Of these it is difficult to
form any correct idea. The caravan with which I returned to Assiût
paid, in duties on the commodities it brought, a sum not less than
150 purses. I estimated the value of those commodities at nearly
two thousand three hundred purses, or 115,000l. sterling.
The _Jizié_ is much less considerable than it might be supposed,
from the following considerations. 1. That though there be many entire
villages of Copts in the Upper Egypt, several of them are rebellious,
and pay nothing. 2. The same people is very numerous in the towns;
but a great proportion of them consists of ecclesiastics, or of
persons in the service of the Beys, and both these descriptions are
exempt. The Greeks and Armenians are but few, and many of them pay
the _Jizié_ in other places, being only travellers. On the whole,
I doubt whether that tax in Egypt amounts to more than fifteen
hundred purses. The remaining revenue is made up of casualties;
as forfeitures, small imposts, and tolls, passing on the Nile, and
other parts of the interior; and above all, the incalculable profit
arising from continued plunder of all ranks and denominations. Five,
ten, twenty to thirty thousand patackes are demanded, in one day,
of the Christians engaged in commerce, at another of the Mohammedans,
and at another of the Franks. Advantage was taken of the unprotected
state in which the French merchants found themselves after the
commencement of the war, and all, except three, were in consequence
obliged to leave Kahira, and retire to Alexandria.
I never could learn that the wandering Arabs, or Bedouins, paid any
regular tribute. They were often plundered and repulsed when they came
in bodies too near the city; but in general the Beys appeared to be
inclined to keep them in good humour, for their personal security,
in case of being expelled from the government. The article of
salt, for there are _salines_ close to the sea, which supply all
Egypt with culinary salt, pay a low impost in entering Kahira,
and another at Assiût. All the prostitutes, the public baths,
the places where brandy is sold, (_Chummari_,) &c. &c. are under a
particular jurisdiction, and pay something to government.
In Kahira every trade or profession has its shech or leader, who has
great authority over the rest of his order; and this circumstance
tends much to the good order of the city. The gates no less, which
are at the end of every street, and which, though not capable of
resisting violence, impede the progress, and render difficult the
escape of ill-intentioned persons. The articles above enumerated
form collectively the _Miri_ or public revenue; 1200 purses of which
should be annually forwarded to Constantinople, but it is retained by
the Beys, under pretence of repairing mosques and other public works.
The Pasha receives, for his whole expenses, one thousand mahbûbs,
or three thousand piastres per day. His establishment however is
large, so that this is not esteemed a rich pashalik.
Murad Bey is accustomed to have from the mint daily, for his pocket
expenses, five hundred half mahbûbs, and his wife the same. This
amounts to fifteen hundred piastres, and is only a small part of
his disbursements.
The value of land in Egypt is far from being inconsiderable, as is
evident from the large amount of the annual impost which is paid
for it. Yet not having been present at the formalities of bargain
and sale, I feel myself unprepared to give an exact estimate of it.
The same may be said of the value of labour; for as the agricultural
labourer is paid in the produce, a number of circumstances combine to
diminish the value of what is thus received. Comparing the wages of
the husbandman with the price of other labour, I should be inclined
to state them at about six medines, or one-seventh of a piastre per
day, which, as his toil is often remitted, cannot exceed forty-five
piastres annually. Exclusively of the value of the peasant’s
clothing, which lasts long, it is scarcely possible that the maize,
lentils, milk, butter, &c. on which he feeds, can amount to less
than three paras or medines daily, for each individual.
_Tenure of Lands._
An explicit declaration of Mohammed himself, “That property, after
the death of the proprietor, cannot be detained from division among
his heirs,” shews in how great respect inheritance was held by him,
and how little he was inclined to consider as annexed to the sovereign
power, the property of the lands of the countries it governed.
But the same moderation and good policy has not been found among
his successors. His code has been perverted to sanction abuses,
or trampled on by the insolence of power.
In many of the countries over which the Othman emperor exercises or
claims the sovereign authority, the property of the land is claimed by
the Government in right of conquest; and though material exceptions
must have had place in Egypt, with respect to the great number who
embraced Mohammedism, or consented to pay the _Jizié_, and who
consequently did not forfeit their lands, all these distinctions are
now confounded, and, alienations, forfeitures, and, more than all,
violence, have reduced the whole to one undistinguished mass.
The greater part of the lands in Egypt, is to be considered as
divided between the Government, and the religious bodies who perform
the service of the mosques, who have obtained possession of what
they now hold by the munificence of princes and rich men, or by the
measures taken by individuals for the benefit of their posterity. The
property of the mosques is called _wakf_, a term signifying, in its
technical acceptation, the appropriation of a thing in such a way,
that the proprietor’s right in it shall continue, but the profit
belong to some charitable establishment.
From the right which the Government claims to inheritances, and the
ruinous fines paid on readmission, those who have landed property
frequently make this appropriation to the mosque, and their lands
become part of the _wakf_ of that establishment. The Government then
has no farther claim on them. But the appropriator takes care, at the
same time, that his next heir, or if a minor, trustees on his behalf,
under the name of _Mutwâlli_, shall receive the rents, and so on,
as long as any heirs remain in the family. The individual continues
in the secure receipt of his income, paying however annually a small
proportion of it to the administrators of the mosque.
It will hence be observed, that in Egypt, a large proportion of
the tenants and cultivators hold either of the Government, or the
procurators of the mosques. To the personal ease of the cultivator,
and the general good of the whole, it is of little consequence
which. For there is one circumstance common to them both, viz. that
their lands, becoming unoccupied, are never let but on terms ruinous
to the tenant. For as there is a number of bidders, and the managers
of them are exorbitant in their demands, the tenant becomes accessory
to his own misery, by engaging to pay the owner so large a portion
of the product, that his profits are absolutely insignificant.
These contracts are of various forms, but commonly made for a
given number of years, or for life, in the nature of leases. The
occupier, assisted by his family, is the cultivator; and in the
operations of husbandry scarcely requires any other aid. When the
Nile rises, those who are employed to water the fields are commonly
hired labourers. Volney[13] has said generally, that the peasants
of Egypt are _hired labourers_. It will hence be seen to how small
a portion of them those terms can be properly applied.
The hired servants of the great are paid chiefly by having their food
provided for them, and receiving occasionally presents of clothes;
excepting what they obtain by extortion, opportunities of which are
given even to the lowest menial, by the system of terror established
in the country.
The tenant of land commonly holds no more than he and his family
can cultivate, and gather the produce of. Yet he is far from being
a villain, attached to the soil, having always the power of quitting
his farm to obtain another in a different quarter. It however often
happens, that families are connected with a particular spot for a
great length of time. I have met with persons of that description
at _Ben-Ali_ near Assiût, whose ancestors of the fifth remove had
resided in the same spot. “I used to smoke tobacco,” (said one
of them, a very old man,) “but it cost me almost a para a-day,
and times are always growing worse, so now I am satisfied with a dry
reed, till the master (ربنا) free me from these embarrassments.”