What was the Urabi Revolt?

Urabi Revolt displayed a resolved of a people to resist against economic and political incursion of a foreign power.

Egypt in 1881

The Egypt that erupted in revolt against the Khedive began with the reign of Ismail Pasha. From 1863 to 1879, Khedive Ismail Pasha drowned Egypt with debt that amounted to £ 100 million. The debts gave the great powers of Europe – France and Great Britain – to take control of Egypt’s government and finances. Thus, Egypt bent its knee to 3 powers already – the Ottoman Empire (overlord of Egypt since the 15th century), France, and Great Britain. In 1879, France and Britain decided to remove the stubborn Ismail Pasha and be replaced by a more timid Khedive.

Khedive Tawfiq Pasha assumed power in 1879 and commanded little to no respect from the population. Though educated in Egypt, Egyptians felt no love to their Khedive that embodied foreign influence in the country. Despite serving the government as head of Council of Minister in 1879, he failed to oppose or reject proposals and petitions of seasoned politicians. More so, he did not opposed any demands of foreign powers.

Tewfik Pasha

Foreign influence strengthened further under Tawfiq’s rule. British and French composed the state council. Austerity measures enacted by the Council burdened the population across all social spectrum. They also dissolved the Assembly of Delegate that stood as the country’s legislature despite having advisory capacity only. In July 1880, the foreign controlled Council enacted the Law of Liquidation. The law called for a 50/50 split of state revenue with half going to debt servicing and the second to the Egyptian government.

Rise of Egyptian Nationalism

Nationalist sentiment rose along with Egyptians disgusted of foreign intervention in Egypt and for the abuse they suffered within their own country. Even from 1877, Egyptian intellectuals began to criticize the Khedive for its weakness to assert Egypt’s rights and sovereignty.

Nationalism or at least opposition to foreign intervention grew among the wealthy and the military. In 1881, officials and affluent formed the Nationalist Party or the al-Hizb al-Watani. In the military Colonel Ahmad Urabi embodied the rise of nationalist sentiment.

Ahmed Urabi

Ahmad Urabi came from the lower spectrum of Egyptian society, Born to a peasant family in 1839, he attended the al-Azhar University – a leading Islamic education institution in Cairo. Then, he served in the military and attained the rank colonel during the Egyptian-Abyssinian War of 1875 to 1876. After the war he joined a nationalist society starting with the objective of abolishing inequality in the military that favored Turkish and Circassian officers. The society also adhered to the ideas of Jamal ed-Din el Afghani, a scholar that called for today known as Pan-Islamism and promoted the study of western science and technology to be used to defend against western intervention.

The Revolt

1881 Mutiny

Ideals and actions came together in 1881 with a mutiny that fanned nationalist momentum. In January 1881, Colonel Urabi and 2 other officers (Abd el-Al and Ali Fahmi) petitioned Prime Minister Riyaz Pasha for the dismissal of war minister Uthman Rifqi, a Circassian, for making bias promotions within the military. Riyaz told Rifqi the petition and Urabi along with the 2 other officers arrested and court martialed.

Dissent grew within 2 regiments from which the arrested came from. Support for the arrested officers grew and the military surrounded the building of the ministry of war. They then also took control of Cairo, hence placing the capital in their mercy. Urabi and others set freed and 2,000 troops marched to the Khedive’s palace to demand the dismissal of Minister Rifqi. The weak Khedive complied, dismissed Rifqi, and replaced with Mahmud Sami el-Barudi.

Mahmud Sami el-Barudi also proved himself as a staunch nationalist. With another seasoned politician Mohammad Sharif Pasha, they founded the Nationalist Party. Barudi and Urabi formed an alliance making the military a strong hold of nationalism in the country

Dismissal of Minister Barudi

Khedive Tawfiq loathed the arrangement with the mutineers. He hated Minister el-Barudi and the Colonel Urabi. The foreign powers also felt disturbed by Minister el-Barudi and Colonel Urabi and the growing anti-foreign sentiment within the country. The Khedive then waited for the euphoria of the nationalist to die down before making a move until September 1881.

Minister el-Barudi found himself dismissed by Khedive Tawfiq. He also discovered in September 9, 1881 that Colonel Urabi and 2 nationalist regiments received orders to transfer to the provinces. It seemed the Khedive wanted to secure the capital from hostile forces.

The removal of el-Barudi and the transfer of Urabi led to another mutiny by soldiers who marched to the Khedive’s Abdeen Palace. They demanded the reinstatement of el-Barudi as war minister, the removal of Prime Minister Riyaz Pasha, the creation of a constitution, and increase in the salary of soldiers.

British consul Auckland Colvin negotiated with the mutineers on behalf of the Khedive’s government. They informed the mutineers that Riyaz would be removed and replaced by Mohammad Sherif.

Mohammad Sherif assumed the Premiership. He co-founded with el-Barudi the Nationalist Party. Sherif, however, belonged to the elite class and viewed the nationalist military as rebels and troublemakers. Though a nationalist, he believed in negotiations and compromise with foreign powers rather than radical stance against foreigners such as those of Urabi.

Sherif, with the thought of the rebellious soldiers as a threat to himself as well, he asked the mutineers to disperse. He also ordered the 2 regiments to follow their order to move out the capital. Urabi and their regiments did so but crying first the words “The Egyptians are imprisoned, exiled, strangled, drowned in the Nile, starved and robbed. The most ignorant Turk is preferred to the best Egyptian!” Sherif’s actions made his government unpopular immediately.

Sherif continued to be unpopular with the Egyptians. He made the Egyptians felt ever more betrayed by allowing the continuation of British and French control of finance. In December 1881, he convened the Chamber of Notables to allow the Dual Control to remain and mend the people’s anger. His expectation failed. The Chamber rejected the Dual Control even with a French and British flotilla docking in the harbor of Alexandria meant to pressure them. In humiliation and clearly without support, on February 5, 1862, Sherif resigned as Prime Minister and Mahmud Sami assumed the position.

Mahmud Sami Government

Sami’s government promoted the nationalist ideals through their slogan “Egypt for Egyptians.” Colonel Urabi also received a position in the government as War Minister. Khedive Tawfiq still feared the new government and sought an Anglo-French intervention. The French and British felt the same as the Khedive.

London and Paris moved to show their might to the new Egyptian government. In May 1882, French and British navies staged a military exercise in the bay of Alexandria to send a message of intimidation. On May 25, 1882, encouraged by western military support, Khedive Tawfiq dismissed Mahmud Sami. This move, however, failed as the population and military protested the decision. Anti-foreign sentiment rose as the act of the Khedive appeared to be demand from the foreign powers. Mahmud Sami and Urabi embodied the Egyptians and the Khedive portrayed foreign subjugation of Egypt.

Alexandria Riots of 1882

Alexandria, center of commerce of Egypt, became a focus of tensions. Numerous Egyptians and foreigners lived in the city and the recent events brought tensions to their extremes. In June 11, 1882, tensions resulted to riots as a British servant fought with an Egyptian that grew into a racial fight. Fires set along with the death of many Egyptians and foreigners. By the end of the bloody carnage, 50 Europeans and 140 Egyptians loss their lives in the Alexandria Riot. Khedive Tawfiq feared the same violence to arise in Cairo and so fled to Alexandria and sought the protection of the British in their consulate.

The international community took attention to the growing violent political developments in Egypt. An international conference convened in Istanbul in June 23, 1882 to solve the political upheaval in Egypt. For the Ottoman Empire, however, the conference sought to intervene in an affair they saw as internal. The conference ended with the European powers agreeing not to use force unless provoked.

London needed Egypt as the Suez laid strategically vital to the connection between Britain and the rich colonies of India and oriental trade with China. They saw intervention as necessary to keep stability in Suez, and so they looked for a pretext for intervention which presented itself on July 1882.

Alexandria Bombarded

Fort Silsileh began to be repaired by the Egyptian army in July 1882 in sight of the British squad anchored in the Alexandria Bay. Egyptian army worked to fix the neglected fort that have not seen its maintenance for decades. The British, however, saw it as a preparation for an attack and demanded to stop the work. The fort advised that they only meant to repair.

The British navy sent an ultimatum on July 10, 1882 demanding the surrender of the fort within 24 hours. Egyptian military and War Minister Urabi refused. The western powers already had control over finance and the Khedive, Urabi rejected to surrender Egypt’s rights to repair their own defenses.

In the morning of July 11, 1882, the British opened fire in the city. The bombardment led to fires that spread throughout the city. Egyptian forces and civilians fled. On July 16, 1882, British forces landed in Alexandria.

War began with the aggressive bombardment by the British. Egypt roared in anger over the attack on Alexandria and Cairo declared war. Urabi declared the Khedive a traitor and the Egyptian military mobilized to protect the country from British offensives.

Bombardment of Alexandria

Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882

Urabi laid their defenses in Alexandria expecting a British landing. However, the British attacked Suez on August 2, 1882 intending to secure the Canal Zone. British presence in the zone grew further with landings in Port Said and Ismailia. From the Suez Canal, British forces advance towards Cairo. Urabi mustered his forces and prepared to stand in Tall al-Kabir. An battle ensued on September 13, 1882. Defection of some Bedouin allies led to the crumble of Egytian defense lines that forced Urabi to retreat to the capital. The Chamber of Notables intervened and voted to surrender to the British.

On September 14, 1882, Cairo surrendered against the wishes of Urabi who was then arrested. Many nationalist also faced arrest and trial. On December 1882, Urabi received a death sentence. The British, though, wanted to prevent Urabi to become a martyr and pleaded for an exile of the Colonel to Ceylon. This succeeded and Urabi went into exile to the South Asian Island. 

Tell El Kebir by Henri Louis Dupray

Aftermath and Legacy

Egypt fell further to the pits of European imperialism. With the British military in control of the country, Tawfiq resumed his position of Khedive, but with little to no power at all. The British ruled Egypt behind the façade of the Khedive. The real authority in the country laid in the British Consul General Sir Evelyn Baring, the Earl of Comer, who sat as the de facto governor-general.

Eventually Urabi returned to Egypt by 1901 and lived for another decade until his passing. Urabi earned a reputation as an anti-imperialist and nationalist figure. His life and struggled parallel the life of another Egyptian nationalist and soldier Gamal Abdel Nasser who stood for independence from foreign influence. Urabi’s struggle in 1881 and 1882 became a first in a long struggle for Egyptian independence.

See also:

Who was Ismail Pasha?

Bibliography:

Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Muhammad Tawfiq Pasha." Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on May 26, 2019. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad-Tawfiq-Pasha

Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Urabi Pasha." Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on May 26, 2019. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Urabi-Pasha 

Lutsky, Vladimir. "Modern History of the Arab Countries." marxist.org. Accessed on May 26, 2019. URL: https://www.marxists.org/subject/arab-world/lutsky/index.htm