We are today witnessing remarkable activity in the re-writing of Egyptian history. Mursi Saad El-Din provides an Egyptian perspective of the life of one of the country's great rulers The need is being felt to re-evaluate important events and characters that have been either unsatisfactorily covered or which have been written about with a Western bias. A number of articles have recently appeared in the Arabic press about the life and achievements of Khedive Ismail whose story has all the elements of a saga, an epic, or a Greek tragedy in which fate played a part. Khedive Ismail is one of the historical personalities who has been unfairly judged, indeed maligned. The tone of most of the books written about him, both in Arabic and European languages, treat him as an extravagant, irresponsible money waster who allowed his ambitions to run wild, embarking on projects which brought ruin on Egypt and which eventually resulted in foreign occupation. Yet some few writers, all too few I might add, tried to be fair and explain the real forces which led to his downfall. One of these was Pierre Carabites, author of Ismail the Maligned, written in the 1940s. Ismail, the son of Ibrahim Pasha, was afflicted with an eye disease in his childhood which obliged him to stop taking regular lessons. No cure could be found for him in Egypt, so his anxious father took the boy to Syria. There he was advised not to strain his eyes, so the learnt his lessons orally, as Egyptian children learn the Qur'an. He started with poetry, memorising three or four lines at a time. To encourage him, his father promised that each time he learned a whole poem by heart he would be rewarded with permission to go horse-riding, his great passion. Not surprisingly, Ismail's memory improved, his appreciation of poetry increased, and he became a competent young horseman. When the Syrian interlude did not bring any improvement in Ismail's eye condition, his father sent him to Vienna where he came under the care of the best Austrian eye specialists. Vienna at that time was the capital of an empire, a centre for the arts and the social hub of Europe. There the young prince was received with respect and showered with affection; the reason was, of course, political. The Ottoman Empire was at loggerheads with the rest of Europe at the time, and any opposition to the Supreme Port by Mohamed Ali's regime - such as sending a prince to be educated in Europe - gained sympathy. The victories of the Egyptian armies were the talk of Europe, and Metternich was trying to woo Egypt. This was Ismail's first exposure to Europe and he was overwhelmed by culture: concerts and other musical events, historic buildings and art galleries. He began seriously to study French with view to continuing his interrupted studies in Paris, and he commanded a knowledge of the language such that Prince Metternich was able to write favourably of his progress to his father. After Vienna, Ismail went to Paris, joined the military school Saint-Cir. He returned to Egypt in the time of Abbas Pasha, who succeeded Mohamed Ali. Abbas nurtured suspicions against the youth, who was obliged to withdraw to his inherited estates, which he managed himself. This offered him a chance to get close to the peasants and understand and sympathise with their problems. Abbas was succeeded by Said Pasha, was Ismail was brought into the administration of the country. He acted as prince regent, was made president of Maglis Al-Ahkam (Law Court) and began to consider creating "mixed courts". Prior to this establishment, European consuls always intervened on the part of their respective nationals, and whenever there was a case between an Egyptian and a foreigner, or even between the government and foreigners, it was always the Egyptian who lost. Not surprisingly Ismail's reforms caused panic among European traders, who threatened to liquidate their businesses and leave the country. Negotiations began in a strained atmosphere, and the exchange of opinions and counter-opinions continued for 11 years. Ismail finally won the approval of the European government, and the establishment of his "mixed courts" was a victory for Egypt. When Egyptians of my generation were at school, we were taught that Ismail was responsible for Egypt's debts which were the result of his extravagance. Yet official documents reveal that he inherited an unmanageable legacy from his predecessor. Said's personal debts amounted to more than 6.5 million pounds; the concession he granted to Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1856 had been drawn up with such unfavourable provisions that the interest rate on loans was equal to, if not higher than the actual debts themselves, and he left a huge state debt to be tackled by Ismail. Although the real burden on the country's finances came from the Sues Canal, there were other factors as well: an epidemic that destroyed 700,000 head of cattle, a cholera outbreak which disrupted work, and two exceptionally high Nile floods which caused great losses. As for the canal, few people know that the actual concession was granted by Said Pasha, that de Lesseps was able to continue the work mainly through investments by Egyptians, and that he had to appease both Egyptian investors and France by keeping the project going. Whenever de Lesseps found himself in a tight corner, and not covered by French investing companies and banks, he resort to Ismail, who had no option but to come to his aid. One of the major criticisms levelled against Ismail is that, seeking to appease the Sublime Porte in Turkey, he paid a colossal sum of money in return for a firman (decree), bestowing semi- independence upon Egypt. The fact of the matter was that the dream of independence from Turkey had haunted Ismail's predecessors well before him. It was his efforts to develop Egypt, and promote industry by introducing European machinery to replace old and outdated equipment, that created a rift between him and the Sublime Port that led to a serious straining of relations. Ismail's aspiration to make Egypt "a part of Europe" was bound to upset the Ottoman ruler. In a conversation with the French consul in Cairo, Ismail said: "I march with civilization while Turkey stands still." He set about modernising major cities and towns by expanding municipal services to the public, including transport, street lighting, gas supply and water distribution. River and maritime transport flourished, and he recruited foreign technicians -- mostly French, English and Italian -- to help him carry out development projects. He adorned Cairo with European-style buildings. New quarters were developed in Abdin and Ezbekieh on the east bank of the Nile; at Abbasiya, Mataria, Zeytoun and Heliopolis; and on Gezira Island. On the west bank, at Giza, he established the Zoological and Orman Gardens, importing plant and animal species for observation and interest, the first time such a scientific approach had been conceived in the Middle East. The central railway station, Midan Al-Mehatta (now Ramses Square), saw the light of day. Ismail became a patron of arts, literature and archaeology, built an Opera House (modelled on the Paris Opera), founded the Geographical Society, a national library (Dar El-Kuttub), an observatory in Helwan, and an antiquities museum in Bulaq. His reign heralded a decisive change in modern history insofar that Egyptians learned and adopted modern European methods in many fields, and for the important educational and intellectual strides they made. Ismail showed great care in the education of children. Whereas Mohamed Aly's interest had been directed to the army, Ismail's preoccupation was with establishing a system of education similar to that of the founders of America -- as a means to democracy by studying the arts of writing, reading and accounting, administration and engineering , all with qualified professors. He opened a number of schools for Egyptians, and, as for his own family, he selected tutors with care and provided them with inspiring chaperons and mentors to accompany them on their studies abroad. Ismail's liberal attitude can be seen from the way he set about engaging a school mistress for his daughter Zeinab; he insisted that she be bilingual in English and French, and able to give piano lessons. In a series of firmanat (khedival laws) dated April 21, 1863, Ismail's stance in the protection and conservation of Egyptian monuments is evident. In one, he instructed antiquities inspectors "to carry out all the demands of Mariette Bey (director of the Antiquities Service) to facilitate his excavations in Upper Egypt", and stipulated that workmen on the sites should be adequately paid. His instructions are worth quoting: ï Bearing in mind that antiquities in Egypt are the strongest means to perpetuate the history of the kingdom, the conservation of these monuments is one of our dearest wishes [and] you must forbid their destruction or demolition, or using the stones for erecting government or private buildings ï Knowing that inhabitants of the villages often come across by chance pieces of antiquities, we have ordered that all such pieces should automatically become part of the Antiquities Service. These relics should be examined on the spot if they are huge and remain where they are found. But if their size is small they must be carried to the Antiquities Service. Consequently you must make our orders known to all governorates which come under your jurisprudence. ï Bearing in mind that the inhabitants of Luxor are in the habit of searching for and appropriating pieces of antiquities, using the stones for the construction of their dwellings, you are invested with the authority to stop them, making certain that such things should not take place. ï You must give instructions to all the moudara (governors) to realise the demands of Mariette Bey, director of Antiquities, supplying him with camels, horses, boats, wood, [other] material, and taking any necessary steps for the conservation and transport of the antiquities. Again, in an unprecedented step, the khedive issued a firman on April 10, 1870, regarding the organisation of a national library. He visited it during his reign, and expressed to the minister of education, Aly Mubarak, the wish that it should become a treasure house for books, manuscripts and any other printed matter. Dar al Kuttub started life with 300,000 volumes. In the final analysis, Ismail did make mistakes, but the magnitude of his achievements far outweigh them. He was the real father of Egyptian independence in that he separated Egypt from Constantinople, creating a new cadre of Western- oriented Egyptian élite. These became the political leaders of country who regenerated cultural, social and intellectual life. For the bumper celebration for the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, attended by European notables including the Empress Eugenie of France, Ismail enlarged his rest house at the food of the Pyramids to accommodate all the visitors. (The rest house was later purchased as a private house, and eventually became the Mena House Hotel.) One of the first-ever Cook's tour brought paying visitors to view the opening of the canal, and this was followed by others, notably on the Nile where Thomas Cook operated his own boat, The Sudan. Modern tourism was in full swing at the time when the country ran into debt. What I find rather surprising is that despite Ismail's ethnic origin -- he was great-grandson of the Ottoman founder of modern Egypt -- he was the adopted son of the country over which he ruled, and became an Egyptian. This reminds me of Alexander the Great and his visit to the Oracle of Amun at Siwa, where he claimed Egyptian kingship by virtue of recognition as leader by divine consent. Let us remember that Ismail promoted Egypt abroad in a manner no leader had previously done. He took part in international conferences on subjects ranging from health, hygiene and medicine, to postal and telegraphic services. Egypt was brilliantly represented at the Great Exhibition in Paris in 1867, followed that same year by an agricultural exhibition in Lyons and another exhibition in Philadelphia. Certainly he had expansionist dreams, but he was democratic, diplomatic and darling. True, he spent money on developing the city, and Egypt was in such debt that, on his abdication in 1879 -- engineered on account of the financial chaos -- the country was on the verge of bankruptcy. However, that does not alter the fact that he was a great ruler, reformer, developer and pathfinder, the most brilliant member of the Mohamed Aly family.
