Who was Ismail Pasha?

A visionary desiring to transform Egypt into a beacon of modernization in North Africa, but Ismail Pasha left a legacy of debt that brought his country to the hands of imperial powers.


Early Life

Born on December 31, 1830 in Cairo, Ismail Pasha was the 2nd son of Ibrahim Pasha, the Wali or Viceroy of Egypt, and the grandson of Wali Muhammad Ali, who founded the Aliwaya Dynasty of Egypt. Muhammad Ali and his successor’s familiarity with the west brought Ismail to Europe, in particular Paris, where he studied in the Ecole d’Etat-Major. There, he learned of the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment and witnessed the progress brought by the Industrial Revolution.
Ibrahim Pasha
After his studies, he returned to Cairo, only then to leave the Egypt once more. He served as a diplomat that brought him across Europe. During his stint in foreign affair service, he served in Rome and met with the Pope Gregory XVI. He returned to Paris and met with Napoleon III. He reached Istanbul and met with his country’s overlord the Ottoman Sultan. In 1861, he also served as a military commander of 14,000 men successfully defeating a rebellion in Sudan.

Ismail propelled to be the heir of Wali Said Pasha when his elder brother Ahmet Rifaat passed away. In 1863, when Said Pasha passed away, Ismail assumed the position of Wali without opposition.

Wali Ismail Pasha
Modernization

Modernization went to the forefront of Ismail’s agenda. His studies and acquaintance with progressive and enlightened ideas inspired him to modernize his country. He wanted Egypt to mimic the developments that transpired in Europe.

In his decision to modernize and develop Egypt, he followed in his predecessor’s up to his grandfather’s footstep. At this time, Egypt continued to be a vassal of the declining Ottoman Empire. Making Egypt modern prevented Istanbul from encroaching in the North African country’s autonomy. Moreover, a wealthy Egypt hoped to win respect and recognition to prevent their descent as another sphere of influence of another western power. Ismail hoped to follow in his ancestor’s legacy and even hoped to elevate his family and Egypt’s prestige.

Changes did came to the country under Ismail. Customs reformed to improve collection and government revenue. He improved communication by establishing a postal service and laying out telegraph wires.
Ali Mubarak
He advocated education and established a ministry dedicated in this sector hiring Ali Mubarak as head. Ali Mubarak spread headed the development of a modern educational system. Number of school increased. In 1873, his government established a school for girls which deemed by many as progressive. Language schools reopened and worked to translate Western works into Arabic and contribute to the progress of knowledge in the country. The opening of language schools brought back the acclaimed Egyptian language scholar Rifaa al-Tahtawi to return from his exile in Sudan.

Enlightenment ideas presented itself in Ismail’s government reform. In November 1866, he established the Assembly of Delegates. Although only served as an advisory body, it gave a voice of the population as village headmen composed the body. Eventually, the influence of the body grew. In 1876 it successfully urged Ismail to hand over landownership to peasants in exchange for paying taxes worth 6 years in advance.
Nubar Pasha
Ismail Pasha and his chief minister, Nubar Pasha, also enacted changes in the justice system with regards to foreigners. Extraterritoriality had been granted to many westerners which meant any committed by foreigners went to be tried and judged in consular courts. This meant confusion in law and jurisdiction plagued the justice system. Ismail and Nubar reformed this and introduced the mixed court. It meant judges both foreigner and Egyptian sat together to hear and passed judgment to cases. Somehow, it returned some sovereignty to Egypt.
Punch cartoon featuring Isma'il Pasha
during his visit to Britain in 1867
Egypt’s presence in international politics expanded under Ismail’s reign. In 1867, he visited Europe starting with Great Britain. He met with Queen Victoria who awarded him with the Grand Cross of the Order of Bath. Over the years he further received awards from different monarchies of Europe. He also paid a visit to Paris. In the course of his visit, he saw a newly redecorated Paris with magnificent buildings, wide boulevards, and elegant theaters. This inspired him to renovate Cairo as well.
Cairo (19th century)
Europeanization of Cairo set Ismail’s reign in stone. Palaces built inspired by European design. New wide boulevards, lush gardens, and magnificent bridges erected. He, then ordered the construction of grand opera houses and theaters. The Ezbekiah Opera House stood as a testament in this era of Cairo renovation. It opened in November 1869 with the performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto. In 1871, the prestige of the opera house enhanced with the premier of Aida’s Christmas Eve. Ismail spend as much as he could to make Cairo the “Paris on the Nile.”
Ezbekiah Opera House
His beautification extended beyond Cairo. Alexandria also received attention from the Wali. New roads laid that connected Alexandria to the rest of Egypt. New boulevards also crisscrossed the city which landscape also changed with the construction of western style buildings. It also received an improved port and break waters.

Ismail Pasha also paid attention to military affairs. In 1874, Egyptian forces annexed Darfur and strengthened their hold of Sudan. Ismail hired westerners to administer the region to prevent intrigue and avoid allegations of corruption. In 1875 to 1876, he, however, undertook an expensive military campaign to extend Egyptian borders into Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia). The conflict ended in Egyptian defeat and an end to the southern expansion of Egypt.
Suez Canal (1869)
Suez Canal

None brought more prestige to Ismail Pasha’s reign than the Suez Canal. The project began during the reign of Ismail’s uncle Said. Said and his friendship with a French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps brought a vision of a canal connecting the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean Sea shortening the travel between Europe and Asia. Said agreed to the megaproject that led to the establishment of the Universal Suez Maritime Corporation or Suez Canal Company (SCC). The company had the responsibility of carrying out the construction of the project with the initial budget of £ 6 million.

The ownership of the company varied. Said received 15% share of the company, which he later grew to 44% through buying of additional stocks. The Egyptian government received also 15% shares and the rest to be sold to the international market.

Said’s affection towards de Lessep and his project blinded him in the negative cost of labor to Egypt. As per original agreement, Egypt provided the labor of the canal. Cairo then resorted to the corvee system to acquire the labor needed. The system called on peasants to work at least a month per year in public work. In 1859, work began in the canal with 20,000 peasants working in the site in a virtual slave labor condition. Workers almost received nothing in salary for their labor. Worst, they suffered from horrible working conditions. They dug through the landscape with few to no tools at all under sultry heat. Every month, a new batch of 20,000 peasants endured this inhumane treatment. Many gave up on life digging the canal. By the end of construction, estimated death stood at 20,000.

Reaction to the mega project differed. France welcomed the development, especially with a French gaining the concession and French investors owning most of the company’s stock. Moreover, it gave France control of a new strategic route to the orient. Egypt welcomed the development, at least for the Wali Said and later Ismail, as increased the prominence and strategic value of their country. Istanbul, however, loathed the project as they saw the project as furthering the autonomy of a vassal state. Moreover, London also shared Sultan Abdulmecid I’s criticism of the project. Geopolitically, the canal placed a new shorter and vital route between Britain and her holdings in Asia under their rival French control. Hence, Said and Ismail’s desire to raise the significance of Egypt placed it under the crosshairs of the British.

The British acted to stop the construction of the canal. When word of the horrific conditions of canal workers reached Europe, anti-slave and civil rights movement lobbied for London to cease the work. Indeed, London pressured Istanbul that obliged with pleasure to order Cairo to stop the construction. Ismail ceased sending laborers and in response, the Suez Canal filed an arbitration case against Cairo to Napoleon III. Napoleon, unsurprisingly, judged in favor of the Suez Canal Company. Ismail had to pay the Suez Company an indemnity worth £ 3.8 million to be paid in the next 15 years as compensation for the changes made in the labor for the construction of the canal. De Lesseps then used the indemnity to purchased heavy machinery to finish the construction.

The Suez Canal opened in 1869 with a lavish ceremony attended by foreign dignitaries and royalties. The ceremony cost Egypt a total of £ 1 million. Personalities such as Empress Eugenie of France, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and Grand Duke Michael of Russia attended the inauguration. The ceremony culminated with a parade of ships from the royals attending the event crossing the length of the canal. The opening brought great pride and fanfare for Ismail Pasha.
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Debt Crisis

Egypt enjoyed prosperity and wealth during the initial years of Ismail Pasha’s reign. The American Civil (1861 – 1865) brought prices of cotton to skyrocket. Egyptian cotton brought huge revenue to the government that financed much of modernization program and construction projects. However, the good season ended with the end of the war. To finance his expensive agendas, Ismail used loans as a source of funds – an idea he got from Europe. He also had the idea of making his personal loans part of the state’s loan displaying the autocratic power of the Wali over Egypt.

Loans skyrocketed as expenses increased. In 1864, Egypt paid the indemnity from the arbitration worth £ 3.8 million through loans. Renovation of Cairo and Alexandria also took loans from Europe. Ismail increased expenditure when in 1868 he bribed officials to convince the Sultan to grant him and his successors the title Khedive or Viceroy and a shift in succession law from principle base on the eldest male to the principle of primogeniture. The title and the succession law amendment, however, came in exchange for an increase in the annual tribute of Cairo to Istanbul from £ 376,000 to £ 720,000, which later strained state budget. Continuous bribery further cost money to grant Egypt further autonomy in diplomacy and military affairs. In 1870’s, Ismail’s military campaigns to the Sudan and Abyssinia also ate a huge share in government budget.

Debt payment started to be an issue in the 1870’s. The state revenue worth £ 10 million found 1/3 of its size designated for debt payment. Taxation composed most of the state revenue and it already burdened the peasantry. When rate could no longer be raise, they resorted in collecting taxes in advance. Hence, in 1871, Ismail passed a law that gave land ownership and 50% discount in taxes to anyone who paid full taxes worth for 6 years in advance. Egyptian loans became high risk, hence Ismail began to borrow money with higher interest rates. Egypt issued bonds, but they only received higher debts that the money they received. Debt payment stressed the government by the middle of the 1870’s. In 1875, in desperation for cash, Ismail sold 44% shares or 176,602 stocks in the Suez Canal Company to the British Government for £ 3,976,582. In 1876, Egypt defaulted in its loans that amounted to £ 100 million, a sheer growth from the mere £ 3.292 million debt during the start of his rule in 1863.

Stephen Cave and John Stokes arrived in Egypt with a mission from the British parliament to assess the financial situation and capability of the Egyptian government. The mission arrived after Egypt’s default and in April1876 the report unsurprisingly criticized Cairo for its terrible management of their finances. The mission also proposed for a European intervention in Egyptian finances to stop the worsening situation.

Fall, Exile, and Death

The Caisse de la Dette Publique or the Commission of the Public Debt came to embody the intervention of Western powers in Egyptian affairs which began on May 2, 1876. Ismail and his government loss much of financial control to the commission. A French-British Dual Control came to effect. The British oversaw Egyptian revenue, while the French handled government expenditure. Debt repayments continued to be a challenged for Ismail’s government. Private Banks and financiers filed cases in the mixed court resulting to repossessions of Egyptian government assets. For instance, the Egyptian government loss to western financiers the operation of railways and ports to Alexandria. After that, state owned lands became property of creditors.
The ex-Khedive
as depicted by Théobald Chartran
in Vanity Fair (May 1881)
In 1878, another mission arrived from England. It criticized the absolute power of Ismail and forced the Pasha to accept a constitutional government. His power extremely curbed a cabinet led by Nubar Pasha ruled the country along with a British finance minister and a French public works minister. Ismail Pasha seemed to be initially delighted famously quoting, “My country is no longer part of Africa, but part of Europe.” A bravado statement as he sacked the cabinet within 6 months. But with debts and in mercy of the West, he reinstated the cabinet in 1879. Quagmire of debts worsened as Austria and even Germany’s Bismarck threatened to intervene in Egypt.

European rivalry then began to play a role in Ismail’s faith. The Anglo-French hated the prospect of German intervention in Egypt. They then moved fast to take control of the situation. Seeing Ismail might use the Germans, they acted first and pressured the Ottoman Sultan to replace the Khedive of Egypt. In June 1879, the Sultan sent a telegram to Ismail removing him from power and being replaced by his son Tewfik.

Ismail then went into an exile. He left Egypt for Naples before retiring to Emirghian in the Bosprus Strait at the request of the Sultan. There he resided in humiliation staying as a virtual prison until he passed away in March 2, 1985.

Summing Up

Ismail proved himself a reformer and a visionary. He had ideas of modernization and progress aimed to benefit Egypt. However, he lacked the financial prudence, practicality, patience, and discipline that led his reign to be unsustainable. Eventually, he succumbed to the Trojan horse called debt. Ismail gained much what he desired, but he let a cancerous debt to grow and eventually exploited by imperial powers. His reign earned him the nickname “the Magnificent,” but he sowed the seeds that led to the fall of Egypt to British domination.

See also:
Urabi Revolt

Bibliography:
Websites
"Ismail Pasha." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed on May 25, 2019. URL: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/egyptian-history-biographies/khedive-egypt-ismail

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Ismail Pasha.” In Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on May 25, 2019. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ismail-Pasha

Books:
Thompson, Jason. A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present. New York, New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2008.

Harlow, Barbara & Mia Carter. Archives of Empire V. 1: From the East India Company to the Suez Canal. London: Duke University Press, 2003.

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