Lesson 17: Egypt under the Successors of Muhammad Ali and Isma'il — Education, Culture, Government and Army

01Education under Isma'il

• Isma'il sought to rebuild Egypt on European models, influenced by his life there, and found that the basic means was education.
• He cared for the education of girls and founded two schools for girls in Cairo.
• He attended to industrial, agricultural, surveying and accounting education, and likewise to the primary and secondary schools.
• His patronage of education went so far that he held school ceremonies to open the school year, attended by senior statesmen, in which prizes were given to the successful leading pupils.

02Cultural life under Isma'il

• The abolition of monopoly had negative effects on cultural life, but it flourished under Isma'il: the way opened for a varied cultural movement with a strong effect on building Egypt's cultural personality.

Societies and institutions

• The Society of Knowledge (Ma'arif, 1868): to spread culture by authorship and publication through public subscription; it printed a group of classic books in history, jurisprudence and literature.
• The House of Books (Dar al-Kutub, 1870).
• The Geographic Society (1875): to care for geographical research.
• The Islamic Charity Society (1878): to found special schools for the education of boys and girls and to aid the poor, with the aim of confronting the excess of the foreign schools that had spread in Egypt.

The press

• He worked to found scientific, literary and political newspapers and granted the press freedom of writing — especially late in his reign, when he clashed with European ambitions and felt the weight of foreign intervention.
• The newspapers deserve credit for enlightening minds and spreading sciences and knowledge; some foreign-language newspapers also appeared.

Results

• The level of public service rose, since posts were filled by graduates of the schools and institutes and by returned mission members; the environment suited the emergence of scholars in various specialisms.
• Because foreigners and their institutions were numerous, there arose a general tendency to imitate Europeans in way of life, dwelling, dress and food.

03The executive and legislative authorities

Under Abbas and Said

• Absolute rule and the concentration of powers continued, and the Council of Shura was more neglected than before.
• The number of diwans (ministries) was reduced because political and economic activity contracted after Muhammad Ali was brought low; they became four only, dealing with sovereign affairs, after economic activity was left free to individuals.

Under Isma'il

• Isma'il was the man of an ambitious development project, but in the matter of rule he belonged to the age of absolute government.
• The conditions of foreign intervention caused by the debt crisis made the foreigners share with him the affairs of government.
• The Council of Ministers (Majlis al-Nuzzar, 1878) was an executive authority for whatever the Khedive said.
• The Council of Deputies (Shura al-Nuwwab, 1866) was no more than an advisory body, not a legislative one; Isma'il wanted it as a façade giving rule polish and lustre.

Why the council was only a façade

• It was not formed because of popular demand but was a grant from the ruler.
• The right to stand was confined to certain social strata: most members were omdehs, sheikhs and notables, with a few owners of commercial and industrial concerns.
• Educated men who were not notables had no share in its membership.

04The judiciary

• Under Said the Haqqaniyya became known as Majlis al-Ahkam, functioning as a supreme court of appeal in the country.
• The sharia courts continued in matters of personal status and the transfer of ownership throughout the land.
• Beside them new courts or councils were created to settle civil and commercial questions, known as the councils of the regions (majalis al-aqalim).
• A special body named the Commission of Egypt (Qumisiyun Misr, 1861) was created, competent for cases brought by foreigners against Egyptians, except real estate and ownership.
• In Isma'il's era the consular courts were unified into one court known as the Mixed Courts (1875), established to hear disputes between Egyptians and foreigners and between foreigners of different nationalities.

05Military power under the successors

• The shrinking of Muhammad Ali's influence through the London Settlement and the firman of 1841, and the shrinking of Egypt's borders, had negative effects on military organisation.

Abbas and Said

• After that, people began to love military service and no longer saw it as a form of social discrimination.

The era of Isma'il

• Sending a military mission to France from the best officers of the army to absorb experience.
• Bringing a French military mission of officers to organise the Egyptian military schools; some of these men took over the directorship of certain schools.
• Renewing the fleet, restoring activity to the Alexandria arsenal, renewing its naval school and building another beside the arsenal.
• Issuing two newspapers for military affairs to educate servicemen (1873).
• Care of the merchant fleet and founding a commercial navigation company that revived foreign trade and eased sea communications with other countries.
• The army weakened late in Isma'il's reign because of the financial crisis and the disorder of government affairs, until it fell under English control after the occupation of 1882.

06Exam traps and key takeaways

• Isma'il's motive for education: rebuilding Egypt on European models after his life abroad — the "means" answer is always education.
• Dates of the societies: Ma'arif 1868 · Dar al-Kutub 1870 · Geographic 1875 · Islamic Charity 1878. The Islamic Charity Society's stated purpose is to face the foreign (missionary) schools.
• Press freedom came late in his reign, triggered by the clash with European ambitions — not from the start.
• Diwans under Abbas and Said fell to four, sovereign affairs only, because the economy was freed to individuals.
• Shura al-Nuwwab (1866) = advisory, not legislative; Majlis al-Nuzzar (1878) = executive carrying out the Khedive's word. Swapping these is the standard trap.
• Three reasons the council was a façade: grant not demand · candidacy restricted to notables · no share for educated non-notables.
• Judiciary chain: Haqqaniyya → Majlis al-Ahkam (Said); Commission of Egypt 1861 excludes real estate/ownership; Mixed Courts 1875 unify the consular courts.
• Said's conscription reform = all classes, short term (previously poor only, unlimited); England blocked the renewal of his fleet.
• Military papers began 1873; the army's final weakness is tied to the debt crisis and ended under English control after 1882.