Burckhardt, John Lewis, 1784-1817; Nile River Valley -- Description and travel; Nubia -- Description and travel
The city of Cairo has been lately exposed to serious
disturbances. The Pasha, after his return from Arabia, attempted to
introduce the Nizam Djedid, and began to drill both his infantry
and cavalry according to European tactics. The discontent of
the troops soon broke out into open rebellion, and Mohammed Aly,
who had carried his victorious arms to the remotest parts of the
Turkish empire, had the mortification to see his capital exposed to
the fury and avidity of his own soldiers, who stripped the greater
part of the shops, and sacked all the principal Bazars of the town,
after which they retreated quietly to their quarters, having in
vain endeavoured to break open the gate of the Frank street. The
Nizam Djedid has now been given up, and the Pasha, conscious of
the strength of the rebels, has not deemed it advisable to adopt
any strong measures of punishment; but in order to conciliate the
good will, and in case of need the assistance, of the town’s
people, he has reimbursed to them, out of his own pocket, the whole
amount of their loss, which has been calculated at four millions
of piastres. The rebellion happened during the first days of last
month. Many Franks have left Cairo. Several of them have been much
ill treated, and shot at by the soldiers, even after the two days
of plunder. It was the vulgar belief that the Franks had persuaded
the Pasha to the adoption of European tactics.
The Wahabi war draws to a conclusion. The Pasha on quitting Arabia
let his son Tousoun Pasha, at the head of his small army, in the
northern parts of the country. In April last, during the time of
my residence at Medina, Tousoun took possession of the province of
Kasyne, a fertile district between Medina and Derayeh, the chief
seat of the Wahabi; he fought there several battles with the Wahabi,
in one of which Ibrahim Aga, his treasurer, the first officer of
his court, was killed after a desperate resistance. This man, who
was Governor of Medina during the latter part of my stay there,
was a Scotchman, who had been taken at the battle of Rosetta, and
who had turned Turk and was become the favourite of Tousoun Pasha,
whose life he had once saved in an engagement with the Bedouins. His
determined bravery, and faithful attachment to the cause of the
Pasha would probably have procured him the rank of a Pasha of two
tails, if he had had the good fortune to return to Egypt. Before
he fell under the lances of the Wahabi he killed five of them
with his own hand. The Chief of the Wahabi, Abdallah Ibn Saoud,
was apprehensive that the repeated advantages gained by Tousoun
Pasha might cause the principal of his adherents to join his enemy;
he therefore commenced negotiations. In the month of June he paid
a visit to Tousoun Pasha, and although the articles of peace were
not ultimately settled during their conferences, yet little doubt
was entertained when the last dispatches were sent off from Arabia
that they would soon be concluded. Abdallah Ibn Saoud, in returning
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account