The Pasha's Peasants: Land, Society and Economy in Lower Egypt, 17401858 (Cambridge Middle East Library)

This Is A Revisionist Study Of The Eighteenth- And Nineteenth-century Rural Origins Of Modern Egypt, Dealing With The First Phase Of The Rise Of The Modern State And The Country's Incorporation Into The World Economy. Professor Cuno Uses Previously Underexploited Sources - Court Records, Fatwas, And Land-tax Registers - To Shed New Light On Changes In The System Of Peasant Land Tenure, Urban-rural Commerce, The Rural Social Structure, And The Interplay Of Formal Law With Peasant Customs And Attitudes. The Author Challenges Traditional Interpretations Of Egypt's Past Which Draw Too Sharp A Distinction Between The 'ottoman' And 'modern' Periods, A Distinction Closely Related To The Notion That Contact With Europe Brought On The 'awakening' Of The Modern Nation. Cuno Offers A New Perspective On Changes Introduced In The Agrarian Regime By Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805-48) By Comparing Them With The Policies Of Earlier Rulers. He Also Refutes The View That Cash-crop Agriculture, The Commoditization Of Land, And A Stratified Rural Society Were Nineteenth-century Developments, Showing Instead That They Were Centuries-old Features Of The Egyptian Countryside. The Pasha's Peasants Will Be Of Interest Not Only To Students Of Egyptian And Middle East History But Also To Those With A General Interest In Issues Of Law And Society, Peasants, And The Making Of The Modern Non-western World. Rural Egypt Before The Reforms Of Muhammad Ali -- Rural Egypt During And After The Reforms Of Muhammad Ali. Kenneth M. Cuno. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 256-264) And Indexes. Frontmatter List of tables (page xiii) Preface (page xv) List of abbreviations (page xvii) Note on the use of dates, vocabulary, transliteration, and spelling (page xviii) Introduction (page 1) PART I Rural Egypt before the reforms of Muhammad Ali 1 The agrarian administration (page 17) 2 The iltizam system and the mulazims (page 33) 3 Commercial relations in the countryside (page 48) 4 Peasant land tenure (page 64) 5 The rural notables (page 85) PART II Rural Egypt during and after the reforms of Muhammad Ali 6 Centralization, expansion, and the limits to expansion (page 103) 7 Taxation, the monopoly system, and the peasantry (page 121) 8 The redistribution of land (page 147) 9 The rural notables (page 166) 10 The emergence of a new rural order, 1842-58 (page 179) Conclusion and epilogue (page 198) Appendix 1 Weights and measures (page 208) Appendix 2 Currency (page 211) Appendix 3 The court records and the land-tax registers (page 216) Notes (page 220) Select bibliography (page 256) General index (page 265) Index of Egyptian locales (page 275) This is a pathbreaking study of the rural origins of modern Egypt, dealing with the period of the rise of the modern state and the country's incorporation into the world economy. Throughout Egypt's history the ecology of the Nile valley has influenced the patterns and rhythms of rural life.