State Peasants And Land In Mid Nineteenth Century Egypt

An alternative reading of the relationship between the state and smallholder peasants in mid-nineteenth-century Egypt This book examines the rural history of Egypt during the middle years of the nineteenth century, a period that is often glossed over, or altogether forgotten. Drawing on a wide array of archival sources, some only rarely utilized by other scholars, it argues that state policy targeting the peasant land tenure regime was informed by the dual economic principles of the Ottoman, or traditional, philosophy of statecraft, and that the workings of the relevant regulations did not produce extensive peasant land loss and impoverishment. Maha Ghalwash presents a rich, detailed analysis of such crucial issues as land legislation, tax impositions, the system of tax collection, modes of land acquisition, large-scale peasant abandonment of land, the emergence of surplus lands, the formation of large, privileged estates, distribution of village land, female land inheritance, and the nature of peasants’ political activity. In investigating these issues, she highlights peasant voices, experiences, and agential power. Traditional interpretations of the rural history of nineteenth-century Egypt generally specify an avaricious state, so indifferent to peasant well-being that it consistently developed harsh policies that led to unremitting, extensive peasant impoverishment. Through an examination of the relationship between the absolutist state and the majority of its subject population, the peasant smallholders, during 1848–63, this study shows that these ideas do not hold for the mid-century period. State, Peasants, and Land in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Egypt will be of interest to students of Middle East history, especially Egyptian rural history, as well as those of peasant studies, subaltern studies, gender studies, and Ottoman rural history.

"This book examines the rural history of Egypt during the middle years of the nineteenth century, a period that is often glossed over, or altogether forgotten. Drawing on a wide array of archival sources, some only rarely utilized by other scholars, it argues that state policy targeting the peasant land tenure regime was informed by the dual economic principles of the Ottoman, or traditional, philosophy of statecraft, and that the workings of the relevant regulations did not produce extensive peasant land loss and impoverishment. Maha Ghalwash presents a rich, detailed analysis of such crucial issues as land legislation, tax impositions, the system of tax collection, modes of land acquisition, large-scale peasant abandonment of land, the emergence of surplus lands, the formation of large, privileged estates, distribution of village land, female land inheritance, and the nature of peasants' political activity. In investigating these issues, she highlights peasant voices, experiences, and agential power. Traditional interpretations of the rural history of nineteenth-century Egypt generally specify an avaricious state, so indifferent to peasant well-being that it consistently developed harsh policies that led to unremitting, extensive peasant impoverishment. Through an examination of the relationship between the absolutist state and the majority of its subject population, the peasant smallholders, during 1848-63, this study shows that these ideas do not hold for the mid-century period. State, Peasants, and Land in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Egypt will be of interest to students of Middle East history, especially Egyptian rural history, as well as those of peasant studies, subaltern studies, gender studies, and Ottoman rural history."--

Previous studies of nineteenth-century Egypt have often been premature in identifying the existence of an independent nation state. In a way which will permanently affect our view of Egyptian history, this book argues that in the mid-nineteenth-century period Egypt was still an Ottoman province, with a provincial Ottoman elite which was only gradually becoming Egyptian. Part one discusses the creation of a dynastic order in Egypt, especially under Abbas Pasa (1848-1854), and the formation of an Ottoman-Egyptian ruling class. Part two deals with the non-elite groups, the vast majority of Egypt's population. A final chapter offers a convincing picture of the social and cultural life of the period in a way which has never before been attempted in a Middle East context. The author's valuable knowledge of Ottoman and Arabic as well as European documents and his use of a wide variety of sources, including police and court records, chronicles and travel literature, have enabled him to make an important contribution to a neglected period of Egyptian history and indeed to our understanding of other provinces and dependencies in the region.

This is a revisionist study of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century rural origins of modern Egypt, dealing with the first phase of the rise of the modern state and the country's incorporation into the world economy. Professor Cuno uses previously underexploited sources - court records, fatwas, and land-tax registers - to shed new light on changes in the system of peasant land tenure, urban-rural commerce, the rural social structure, and the interplay of formal law with peasant customs and attitudes. The author challenges traditional interpretations of Egypt's past which draw too sharp a distinction between the 'Ottoman' and 'modern' periods, a distinction closely related to the notion that contact with Europe brought on the 'awakening' of the modern nation. Cuno offers a new perspective on changes introduced in the agrarian regime by Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805-48) by comparing them with the policies of earlier rulers. He also refutes the view that cash-crop agriculture, the commoditization of land, and a stratified rural society were nineteenth-century developments, showing instead that they were centuries-old features of the Egyptian countryside. The Pasha's peasants will be of interest not only to students of Egyptian and Middle East history but also to those with a general interest in issues of law and society, peasants, and the making of the modern non-Western world.

In Egypt, the landowning class first arose in the early part of the nineteenth century from land grants given to extended family members and friends of the ruler Muhammad ‘Ali. The development of capitalism and, with it, the evolution of law and social practice allowed these land grants gradually to take on the attributes of private property, a process that culminated in 1891 in land becaming a form of property like any other. From these developments a class of large landowners emerged and began to defend their interests, both economic and political. In two seminal Arabic works published in the 1970s, the authors Abbas and El–Dessouky traced the formation of this class, exploring the multiple factors that influenced the rise and power of landowners. Combined into one volume and translated into English for the first time, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of landownership and its effects on Egyptian society. The authors draw from extensive archival sources, successfully integrating in their work the competing forces of the state, the landlords, and the peasants. By moving beyond much of the familiar scholarship on landholders, this book presents a new interpretation of Egyptian politics and society.

Traces the history of the Bakhtiyari tribal confederacy of the Zagros Mountains through momentous times that saw the opening of their territory to the outside world. This book opens new ground by approaching 19th-century Iran from its edge and placing the tribal periphery at the heart of a tale about empire and assimilation in the modern Middle East.

Joel Beinin's book offers a survey of subaltern history in the Middle East.

The book provides a unique account of the very active economic, social and political roles of nineteenth-century women.