Egypt's Colonial Experience

When the Ottomans conquered Egypt, colonialism began to impact the lives of Egyptians. While being under the control of the Ottomans, Ottoman soldiers harshly treated many Egyptians. For example, Ottoman soldiers plundered people's houses, kidnapped women from streets and public baths, and took anything they wanted without paying. (C) Similarly, Ottoman administrators and mamluk beys separately taxed Egyptians. (C) They justified their actions to the Egyptians by claiming “the taxes were rightfully due to them.” (C) Another occurrence of harsh treatment inflicted to Egyptians took place when an Ottoman governor sent a troop of Ottoman soldiers from Syria to villages in Egypt. The Ottoman soldiers not only attacked these villages, but also raped the women and seized women, children, and other movable items. (C) 

Although Egyptians suffered from Ottoman soldiers, the Ottoman Empire (and other conquerors, such as Britain and France) influenced Egypt in the long run, politically, culturally, linguistically, religiously, and educationally. During the Ottoman’s control over Egypt, a viceroy, with the help of an advisory council, ruled the land. Also, during the Ottoman’s reign, inspectors collected taxes from four different provinces. (A) Similarly, in modern day Egypt, there is a local council who assists the governor. These local councils also collect taxes from real estate within the governorate. (A)

Unfortunately, though, much history and culture was lost during the period of the Ottoman’s rule. For example, Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, was the only historian noteworthy during that time. (A) In addition, the Ottoman’s architectural achievements were also lacking.

Although Arabic is the official language of Egypt, many Egyptians are fluent in both English and French, the languages of Egypt’s prior conquerors. In addition, “the modern forms of style, word sequence, and phraseology are simpler and more flexible than in Classical Arabic and are often directly derivative of English or French.” (A)

Religiously, the Ottomans did not influence Egypt in the long run. For example, although Copts are the largest Christian domination in the present day Egypt, their traditions date from before the Arab conquest in the 7^th century. (A) However, the Ottomans continued to engage the participation of Copts in Egypt, by employing them in the financial offices of the bureaucracy. (A)

The French, one of Egypt’s conquerors, influenced Egyptian education. For example, during the 1950s, the majority of the foreign schools in Egypt were French. (A) As if today, many of these schools have been Egyptianized. Therefore, this demonstrates not only the influence of French culture in Egyptian education, but also the integration of French and Egyptian cultures.