The History of Egypt Before Imperialism
Before British imperialism, ancient Egypt was ruled by kings called “pharaohs” for most of its history. It was a province of the Byzantine, or East Roman, empire. Sometime between 639 and 642 A.D, Muslim Arab armies attacked and conquered Egypt. This conquest transformed Egypt. The country became a province of the Islamic empire and it was ruled by Arab Muslim leaders called “caliphs”. Caliphs of different dynasties ruled Egypt for many years, until 1250, when a group known as the Mamluks revolted and seized control of Egypt. Mamluks were slaves from Turkey, Mongolia, and Circassia, a formerly independent mountainous country located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, who received special military training and rose to high positions in the army and the government. For over 200 years, different Mamluk groups competed for leadership and led Egypt to create a prodigious amount of art, architecture, and literature. In 1517, Ottoman forces invaded Egypt from Syria and overthrew the Mamluks, making Egypt a part of the Ottoman empire. However, the Mamluks continued to fight the Ottomans for power until the mid-1700’s. The Mamluks were finally defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte and his French forces in 1798 in the Battle of the Pyramids. Just one year later, Napoleon returned to France, but his troops remained in Egypt. Before long, in 1801, the Ottomans, with British assistance, were able to force the French from Egypt. One officer of the Ottoman army that helped drive the French out of Egypt was Muhammad Ali. He gained power rapidly and had established himself as Egypt’s ruler by 1805. During his time as ruler, Muhammad Ali focused on the modernization and industrialization of Egypt. One of Muhammad Ali’s successors was his son, Said Pasha, who ruled from 1854 to 1863. Said was responsible for granting a French company a contract to build a canal through the Isthmus of Suez. This canal would immensely shorten the sailing route between Europe and eastern Asia by connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. This canal became known as the Suez Canal and opened in 1869. Egypt’s shares of ownership in the Suez Canal Company were sold to British government in 1875 to pay off debts created by Said’s nephew, Ismail, who ruled Egypt from 1863 to 1879. The United Kingdom continued to purchase shares in the Suez Canal, for their interest in the canal was increasing.