Napoleon's Egypt: Invading The Middle East - Reenactor.ru

98 NAPOLEON’S EGYPTPasha’s brief tenure as a restoration of Ottoman order was contradicted by Europeanconsular reports, which lamented that the country remained in chaos.One of Hasan Pasha’s first moves was to abolish the irregular taxes demandedby the Ottoman Mamluks, especially of European merchants. 14 Al-Jabarti portrayed Hasan Pasha as determined to remake the administration ofOttoman Egypt. He met with the clerics of al-Azhar, who are said to have complainedbitterly about the tyranny and overtaxation imposed by the beys. Hethen constituted a new divan, or governing council, including commanding officersof the various Janissary units and retainers of the prominent, loyal beys. Hethus reversed the usurpation by “the leading Qazdaghli grandees” of the placeof “the governor’s council, or divan, in the citadel as loci of political power.” 15He also appointed new commanders of some of the seven Janissary barracks. Hemade a reactionary revolution, ordering the Janissaries to return to honoringtheir ancient customs and regulations. He gave the corps control once again ofthe spice customs and the revenues from the slaughterhouse, which had beenusurped by Ibrahim Bey. The Janissaries, emboldened, began throwing theirweight around with the shopkeepers and merchants, insisting on being madepartners in their businesses and extorting from them. Hasan Pasha gradually renegedon his pledge of lower taxes. He demanded a huge loan immediately fromthe Cairo merchants. He imposed a “liberation tax” on the peasantry, makingthem pay for his conquest of the country.The commodore forbade the Christians to ride horses, employ Muslimservants, or own slave girls or black slaves, to emphasize their status as second-classsubjects. Christians and Jews were also forbidden to bear the namesof the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an, which were for the most part thesame as the biblical prophets and patriarchs (the Arabic versions of Abraham,Moses, Joseph, Isaac, and so on). This measure was intended to make it easierto distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims by name, since religionwas not always easy to discern. Making the distinctions starker allowed a demotionof non-Muslims in status. He was perhaps too successful in his aim,insofar as the Muslim crowds began to accost the Christians, and he was constrainedto issue a decree guaranteeing them safety of life and property as“subjects of the Sultan.” He placed restrictions on the public circulation ofwomen as well.Hasan Pasha summoned the wives of the rebellious Mamluks and forcedthem to pay a large sum of money and to forfeit jewelry. Al-Jabarti recalled, “Ajeweled tiara and other objects were reclaimed from Züleyha, Ibrahim Bey’swife.” Murad’s wife successfully went into hiding, but Murad had given some of