Urabi Revolt

The Urabi Revolt was an uprising in Egypt in 1881-82 against the Khedive and European influence in the country. It was led by and named after Colonel Ahmed Urabi.

Egypt in the 1870s was corrupt, tyrannically misgoverned and in a state of financial ruin. Huge debts rung up by Isma'il Pasha could no longer be repaid and under pressure from the European banks that held the debt, the country's finances were being controlled by representatives of France and Britain. When Isma'il had tried to rouse the Egyptian people against this outside control he was deposed by the Europeans and replaced by his more pliable son Tawfiq.

The upper ranks of the civil service, the army, and the business world had become dominated by Europeans, who were paid more than native Egyptians. Within Egypt a parallel legal system for trying Europeans separately from the natives was set up. This angered the educated and ambitious Egyptians in the military and civil service who felt that the European domination of top positions was preventing their own advancement. The heavily taxed peasants, the fellahin, were also annoyed at their taxes going to Europeans who lived in relatively wealthy surroundings.

Just as important as European domination were the Turco-Circassians who controlled most of the other elite positions in the government and military. Mercenaries that had come to Egypt along with Mehmet Ali this elite was highly favoured by the Khedive. Turkish was still the official language of the army, and the Turks were more likely to be promoted. Of the ruling cabinet under Tawfiq every member was a Turco-Circassian.

The growing fiscal crisis in the country sparked the Khedive to drastically cut the army. From a height of 94,000 troops in 1874 the army was cut to 36,000 in 1879, with plans to shrink it even more. This created a large class of unemployed and disaffected army officers within the country.

The disastrous campaign in Ethiopia in 1875-1876 also angered the officers who felt that the government had sent them unwisely into the conflict.

Tension built over the summer of 1881 as both the Khedive and the Egyptian officers, now lead by Urabi, searched for supporters and gathered allies. In September the Khedive ordered Urabi's regiment to leave Cairo. Urabi refused and ordered the dismissal of the Turco-Circassian generals and the creation of an elected government. Unable to oppose the revolt Tawfiq agreed and a new chamber of deputies was established containing a number of Urabi's allies.

On January 8 of 1882 the French and British sent a joint note that asserted the primacy of the Khedive's authority. The note infuriated the parliamentarians and Urabi. The government collapsed and a far more radical one with Urabi as minister of war was created. This new government threatened the positions of Europeans in the government, and began also laying-off large numbers of Turco-Circassian officers.

This broad effort at reform was opposed by the European interests, and many of the large landowners, the Turkish and Circassian elite, the high ranking ulema, the Syrian Christians, and most of the wealthiest members of society. It had the support of most of the rest of the population including the lower ulema, the officer corps, and local leaders.

The Coptic Christians were divided between both sides. Their close affiliation with Europeans angered many and sometime made them a target, but the deep rivalry between Coptic and Syrian Christians led many to align with the rebels. The Coptic Patriarch lent his support to the revolt when it was at its peak, but later claimed that he was pressured into doing so. Urabi and other leaders of the revolt acknowledged the Copts as potential allies and worked to prevent any targeting of the minority, but were not always successful.

An effort to court the Ottoman Sultan began Khedive Tawfiq called on the sultan to quell the revolt, but the Sublime Porte hesitated to employ troops against Muslims who were opposing foreign Christian interference. Urabi asked the Sultan to depose Tawfiq, but again the Sultan hesitated.

On the afternoon of June 11, 1882 the political turmoil exploded into violence on the streets of Alexandria. Rioters attacked Greek, Maltese and Italian businesses and battles broke out in the streets. About fifty Europeans and 250 Egyptians were killed. The exact cause of the revolt is uncertain; both the Khedive and Urabi have been blamed for starting it, but there is no proof of either allegation.

In response the British fleet off Alexandria under Admiral Seymour bombarded the city. The French fleet also at Alexandria, refused to participate. The British then landed troops in the city to restore order.

As revolts spread across Egypt, the British House of Commons voted in favour of a larger intervention. In September of that year a British army was landed in the Canal Zone. The motivation for the British intervention is still disputed. The British were especially concerned that Urabi would default on Egypt's massive debt and that he might try to gain control of the Suez Canal. On September 13, 1882 the British forces defeated Urabi's army at the Battle of Tel al-Kebir. Urabi was captured and eventually exiled to the British colony of Ceylon.

While the British intervention was meant to be short term, it in fact persisted until 1952. Egypt was effectively made a colony until 1922. Urabi's revolt also had a long lasting significance as the first instance of Arab anti-colonial nationalism, which would later play a very major role in Egyptian history. Especially under Nasser, the revolt would be regarded as a glorious struggle against foreign occupation.

Historians have in general been divided, with one group seeing the revolt as a push for liberalism and freedom on the model of the French Revolution and others arguing it was little more than a military coup.