CHAPTER 26: CRISIS IN THE ARAB
ISLAMIC HEARTLANDS
Pages 624-629
Primary Sources: Sultan Abdul Mejid pgs. 319-323
NOTES LAYOUT
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Create 3 Sections
 What
Europe is doing
 What Islamic Heartland Leaders are doing
 What “the people” are doing
Where ever you see cause and effect, use an arrow
with key words written on the line of the arrow to
show connections.
CRISIS IN THE ARAB ISLAMIC HEARTLANDS
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Arab people of Fertile Crescent, Egypt, coastal
Arabia, and N. Africa have long lived under
Ottoman-Turkish rule.
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Decline of the Ottomans leaves them at risk for
conquest by European powers
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Most resented Turkish domination, but could relate as
Muslim and protectors and defenders of the faith.
Capture of Indonesian areas, India, Algeria causes the
panic/crisis
Muslims now feeling displaced by Europe as a
leading civilization
EGYPT AND NAPOLEON
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1798: Napoleon invades Egypt, sending shock waves through
Islamic world
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Napoleon didn’t want Egypt for his empire, but was using it to destroy
British power in India
July 1798: slips past British blockade, puts armies ashore
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Napoleon’s armies are met by tens of thousands of cavalry bent on
defending the Mamluk regime (ruled as vassal of Ottoman sultans)
Murad (head of coalition of Mamluck households) dismisses the invader as a
donkey boy he could drive out
Murad’s contempt for Napoleon is an example of the ignorance of events in
Europe
Crushing defeats (armor and spears vs. artillery)
Shows vulnerability of Muslim areas to European aggression
Victory in Egypt does little to help the French
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British catch up to French fleet and sink most of it at Battle of Aboukir
(1798), Napoleon must abandon army and sneak back to Paris
Spares Egypt of European conquest for a brief period of time
MUHAMMAD ALI
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Emerges as an effective ruler of Egypt
Impressed by weapons and discipline of the French, spends time and resources
attempting to build a western style army
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Creates best fighting force in the Middle East
Invades Syria, war fleet threatens Istanbul
Other reforms fail to fundamentally transform Egyptian society
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Conscription of peasantry
Hires French officials to train troops
Imports western arms
Adopts tactics, modes of organization and supply
To build economic base orders peasants to increase production of cotton, hemp,
indigo, other high demand crops from Europe
Efforts to improve harbors and irrigation
Ambitious attempts to reform education, but little accomplished
Failure to build industrial sector (Opposition and competition from Europe)
Dies 1848, successors content to confine claims to Egypt and Sudanic lands
Khedives : descendents of Ali who rule after 1867, remain formal rulers of
Egypt until military coup of 1952 brings Gamel Abdul Nasser to power
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN EGYPT
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Problems:
 Landlord
class gets rich, peasant class go hungry
 Long Term: Egypt is dependant on a single export
(cotton)
 Revenue collected wasted on extravagance of the
palace or wasted on military campaigns
 Debt to European financiers
 European
nations allow debt because they want access to
cheap cotton and to share in a possible canal across the
Isthmus of Suez
SUEZ CANAL
Completed in 1869
 Transforms Egypt into a very strategic
location
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 Link
between European powers and colonial
empires in Asia and East Africa
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Control of it is key
STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE
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Discussions begin among Muslim intellectuals and political activists to determine how to ward off the
growing European menace
 Egypt, Muslim University of al-Azhar become key meeting places
 Ideas
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Jihad to rid Muslim lands of infidels
Return to patterns of religious observance and social interaction from the golden age of Muhammad
Borrow scientific learning and knowledge from the west (al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh) = innovation
All agree Muslim unity, but had different ideas on how to renew Islam
Britain and France have interest in stability and accessibility of Egypt because of the debts and
canal.
 Bankers buy shares of the canal, ask government to intervene when khedives are unable to
meet loan payments
Ahmad Orabi leads revolt in 1882 after kehdive tries to save money by disbanding Egyptian
regiments and dismissing Egyptian officers
 Riots in city of Alexandria, mutinies within army cause khedive to seek British assistance
 British bomb coastal batteries, send troops ashore to crush Orabi’s rebellion, secures power of
the khedive
Leads to decades of dominance by British, who try to rule through puppet khedives, British advisors
to Egyptian administrators, British officials control Egypt’s finances and foreign affairs
Begins European control over Islamic heartlands
SUEZ CANAL
SUDANIC OPPOSITION
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British are drawn into the conflict with the Sudanic
region south of Egypt.
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Egyptian began efforts to control Sudan in 1820, met with
great resistance
Opposition: Camel and cattle herding nomads
Areas along Nile were easier to control, so towns such as
Khartoum were where you would find Egyptian authority
(still resented though)
Reasons for resentment: corruption, taxes, show favoritism
to some Sudanic tribes, attempts in 1870’s to end profitable
slave trade
By 1870’s Egyptian oppression and British intervention has
caused deep resentment and hostility
MUHAMMAD ACHMAD
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Educated by local Sufi brotherhood, family claims descent from Muhammad
Mahdi- promised deliverer
Breaks with Sufi master, has own following, has visions that show
remarkable future, escapes from Egyptian effort to capture him, now seen
as divinely appointed leader of revolt against foreigners
Leads Jihad against Egyptians and British
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There are several movements in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 18th century
Represents Islamic response to dilution of Islam in Africa and threat of Europe
Promises to purge Islam of superstitious beliefs and degrading practices
that had built up over centuries
Win several victories against the Egyptians (aided by guerrilla tactics and
confidence of followers), come to control most of the area of modern day
Sudan
Dies of typhus at height of power, a capable successor was found
KHALIFA ABDALLAHI
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One of Mahdi’s (Achmad) most skillful military commanders
Under Abdallahi, the Mahdists build a strong, expansive state
Want to control society (no smoking, drinking, severe punishment for
theft, prostitution, adultery)
Religious and ritual practices are heavily enforced
Ban on slavery lifted
Most foreigners imprisoned or expelled
Mahdist armies attack or threaten neighboring states for a decade
1896: British General Kitchener sent to end the threat
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Spears and magical garments of the Mahdists are no match for the
machine guns and artillery
Battle of Omdurman: thousands of Mahdists cavalry are slaughtered
Within a year, the Mahdist state collapses, British power advances into
interior of Africa
SULTAN ABDUL MAJID
In what ways do you see a “western” influence
over Sultan Abdul Majid in his Imperial
Rescript?
 How does this proclamation impact Majid’s
subjects?
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