Responding to readership requests, Jill Kamil summarises the religious dynamics between Muslims and Copts during the Ottoman era The Ottoman Turks, who by the 16th century had built up a great empire in Asia Minor with its capital in Istanbul, marched on Syria. Sultan Selim I defeated the Egyptian Mamluk army at Aleppo and continued his victorious advance. He subjugated Palestine, and then cast his sights on Egypt. The following year, 1517, a decisive encounter took place at the gates of the Egyptian capital. The Ottoman force managed to overcome Egypt's magnificently-clad but ill-exercised Mamluk army of horsemen and wrest power from their hands. Egypt, the onetime capital of a mighty empire, was reduced to the status of a province. Egypt was twice offered semi-independence status, but refused. As a consequence, a new form of government was established. The Turkish sultan ruled the country through a series of viceroys who served for relatively short periods. The Mamluks, as leading landowners, were allowed to maintain households of Circassian slave soldiers even while they themselves were held in check by a crack regiment of Ottoman troops. These troops were sent to maintain law and order, make sure that tribute was paid to Istanbul each year, and ensure that the pilgrimage routes across North Africa to Mecca were protected. In order to increase the revenue, Egypt's new masters took steps to expand the area of cultivation by confiscating any land the title of which could not be verified and reclassifying it as state controlled -- thus increasing the state income by more than 80 per cent. Failure to deliver the required grain or other produce led to physical trial, fines and further confiscation of land. Over time, the Ottoman troops came to associate with the landowning Mamluks until they formed a single governing class. The rural population suffered. Crop failures from a low Nile, famine, and outbreaks of plague in 1619 and in 1643 resulted in an untenable situation. Imperial taxes levied on non-Muslims in towns and villages were the same, irrespective of size or the number of working men. Time and again the peasant farmers revolted, demanding that something be done about the increasingly intolerable conditions and the drainage of the country's resources into the Ottoman treasury, to no avail. For much longer than is usually acknowledged, Christians had remained a majority in Egypt. A bilingual Arabic-Christian literature becomes evident in the Abbasid period (the era of Haroun Al-Rashid, the caliph of The Arabian Nights, 768 to 809), when Copts probably still formed 50 per cent of the population. It would appear that Islam became dominant under the Fatimids in the 11th century, as evidenced by the Coptic literature beginning to be translated into Arabic, and Patriarch Kirollos's admonishment to lay Copts to lead virtuous lives and obey the laws and practices of the country. However, not until the 13th century -- 600 years after the invasion -- did Arabic became the language of everyday life, with Copts forming a minority. The Black Death, the plague that originated from Central Asia and struck Egypt in the middle of the 14th century, took a further toll on their numbers. The centuries of Ottoman rule have been labelled as a period of great trial for religious minorities, and Copts have woven countless examples of harassment into their history of persecution. Interestingly, however, their most serious period of distress predates Ottoman rule. The 15th-century Arab historian Al-Maqrizi, whose work is known collectively as Khitat, wrote about discrimination against Copts in the reign of Sultan Al-Salih (1351 -- 1354) when riots broke out. He described Christian officials being attacked in the streets, the forbidding of public celebrations of Christian feasts or the building of new churches, and a general breakdown in Christian institutions. He wrote of conversions to Islam among Copts, of fanatical groups looting and simultaneously destroying churches all over the country, of Copts being obliged to wear distinguishing clothing, and of a census on monks for the first time. As is not unusual in historical records, the blame for conditions that already existed was placed on the newcomers, in this case the Ottoman Turks. Ottoman rule is frequently regarded as a period of cultural and artistic stagnation, perhaps because public mosques ( masjid) were built on a smaller scale and were less artistically adorned than the college mosques of earlier times. They were nevertheless numerous. Muslim architectural design is an exercise in geometry -- from window grilles to carved and sculptured domes, from tile decoration to elaborate woodwork -- and slim, elegant minarets are a feature of Ottoman architecture. For centuries craftsmen in Egypt produced work of great beauty and ingenuity. Guilds ( tawaaif ) were ethnic groups representing crafts or trades composed of apprentices and masters. They were encouraged under the Ottomans because they maintained high standards and helped fulfil an important administrative function in the collection of taxes and price control. Pen and ink were as revered by the Ottoman Turks as swords and lances in other cultures. No dynasty valued calligraphy as highly, and calligraphers formed one of the city's main trade guilds. The written word is regarded as one of the greatest Islamic art forms and has a special place in Muslim culture, being tightly bound up with the Quranic revelation to the Prophet Mohamed, especially to glorify the name of God and quote passages from the Quran. Decorative inscriptions cover the surfaces of all their mosques and palaces, ranging from its most simple form to an unbelievably complex rendition. The mystical bond between Islam and the art of writing was so sacred that its reproduction on a machine was considered blasphemous. When a printer was introduced into the mediaeval world (from the 15th century every major city had a printing house), Muslim ulema (scholars and lawyers) remained opposed to its use. The first printing press in Egypt was introduced by the French. The Ottoman Turks were much given to spectacle and took delight in presenting themselves to the public as grand, powerful, wealthy rulers. On the occasion of the opening of the Khalig, the canal that branched off the Nile at the port of Babylon and flowed through the heart of Cairo at the peak of the flood season, the river bank at Fustat and the east bank of Roda Island were lit up with thousands of torches, and the multi-ethnic population crowded the banks of the river, congregated in kiosks overlooking the Nile, or sailed in boats to the sound of music. Like Sham Al-Nessim (the official first day of Spring) this was a national holiday. Religious holidays were often shared. Muslims who lived around the mosque of Amr in Old Cairo, for example, took part in the Christian celebrations like Palm Sunday, and Christians honoured Muslim festivals such as the Eid Al-Fitr (the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan). The Jewish moulid celebrated in the synagogue of Ben Ezra was likewise shared by Muslims and Christians. According to the London Jewish Chronicle dated 20 June, 1906, the population of Old Cairo joined the celebrations on that occasion, which reached "a state of frenzy when the Ark bearing the sacred scrolls was opened". To be sure, under Ottoman rule there were periods of tension, accusation, and counter allegation, not infrequently accompanied by confrontation and loss of life, but perhaps this was not so much for reasons of faith as an antagonistic finger pointing when, say, a Christian embraced Islam perforce in order to marry, and then reverted to Christianity; or when neighbours infringed on another's rights, frequently in land disputes. Two annual pilgrimages should be mentioned: the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and the Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The former was the greatest festivity of the year, when the kiswa, the richly-adorned, locally-woven carpet was despatched in a convoy to cover the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed. Placed within an elaborate canopy of gold-embroidered silk and mounted on a richly caparisioned camel, it was transported across Sinai. Its protection was one of the principal sources of popular respect, and men, women and children flocked into the streets to watch the colourful spectacle led by the Am Al-Hagg, the commander of the pilgrimage, followed by the wali (governor), high- ranking officials, hami al-hara (the supervisors of various neighbourhoods of the city), mounted troops, and with dancers and musicians bringing up the rear. The annual Christian pilgrimage (for which permission had to be obtained) also drew large crowds. As with the Hagg, no expense was spared in its planning. The participants congregated outside the Church of the Holy Virgin in Haret Al-Rum (south of Bab Zeweila), and the caravan was led by religious dignitaries, some borne in wooden palanquins mounted on camels, followed by members of the congregation, and men, women and children who carried with them all that was needed for an extended stay in the Holy Land. Copts have woven so many stories of friction and discord and into their history of persecution that it has come to be regarded as an historical reality. Perhaps, however, the dissension between the ruling power and the subjected peoples was not as drastic as we are led to suppose. Specialised scholars in Islamic art and architecture on the one hand, and Coptic studies on the other, tend to view their chosen fields as closed or tightly bonded units and research them independently of one another. Consciously or otherwise they overlook that human populations interact with one another; that while ethnic, cultural and religious boundaries separate Muslim and Christian, the nature of those boundaries are fluid. The upper strata of Ottoman society, especially rich merchant communities and traders in coffee and spices shipped from Yemen, who were principally Muslims of Turkish or Maghribi (North African) origin, lived in luxurious houses constructed of limestone, richly furnished with diwan (low benches) covered with mats that were woven and sold in a district called Al-Hosaria. The houses had wooden doors and window grilles produced by talented wood-workers that until today are located in the district known as Al-Raba, near Bab Zeweila. Influential ulema, high-ranking officers and state officials also lived in elegant houses, as did wealthy members of the Christian communities -- Copts largely earned a living in bureaucratic duties and as guild supervisors, and Christian Armenians were principally jewellers, watchmakers and tailors. In this rich urban environment, coffee shops were popular, the fez was the headgear, Turkish cuisine was a status symbol, and the humble category of the population, Muslim and Christian, found ready employment as petty traders, servants, labourers, porters and vendors. Night- watchmen were in high demand, donkey-boys and water-carriers made a living, not to mention the mass of anonymous construction workers, craftsmen and artists. One might well ask whether, in the Turkish province of Egypt, the Copts were a persecuted, demoralised and despairing minority who bore the brunt of Ottoman discrimination, or (to quote W.G. Browne in his Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria from the Year 1792 to 1798) "...an acute and ingenious people... generally writers and accountants... industrious and laborious... zealous in their faith..."? The truth of course lies somewhere between the two. So, in conclusion let me quote from Aziz Atiya's The Coptic Encyclopedia. He writes that under Ottoman rule "Copts were under such great pressure from the authorities that, in order to continue earning a respectable livelihood, many, especially those with scribal skills, converted to Islam."
