1882 Egypt Prime Minister Ahmed Urabi Orabi Pasha Signed Royalty Firman Document

Description: LOT-O359. For your consideration is an exceedingly rare and historically important original antique c.1882 Khedive of Egypt Mohamed Tewfik Pasha period royal Egyptian military manuscript firman berat document, hand-signed and sealed by Egypt Prime Minister Ahmed Urabi / Orabi Pasha, as Undersecretary / Minister of War. Royal Egypt manuscript firman document measures 8.5" x 14.25". Paper type is laid. Original marks and folds. Minor paper loss. Absolutely beautiful Islamic calligraphy text. Museum quality. One of a kind. Authentic and correct. Ahmed Urabi (Arabic: ; 31 March 1841 21 September 1911), also known as Ahmed Ourabi or Orabi Pasha, was an Egyptian military officer. He was the first political and military leader in Egypt to rise from the fellahin (peasantry). Urabi participated in an 1879 mutiny that developed into the Urabi revolt against the administration of Khedive Tewfik, which was under the influence of an Anglo-French consortium. He was promoted to Tewfik's cabinet and began reforms of Egypt's military and civil administrations, but the demonstrations in Alexandria of 1882 prompted a British bombardment and invasion which led to the capture of Urabi and his allies and the imposition of British control in Egypt. Urabi and his allies were sentenced by Tewfik into exile far away in British Ceylon as punishment. He was born in 1841 in the village of Hirriyat Razna near Zagazig in the Sharqia Governorate, approximately 80 kilometers to the north of Cairo. Urabi was the son of a village leader and one of the wealthier members of the community, which allowed him to receive a decent education. After completing elementary education in his home village, he enrolled at Al-Azhar University to complete his schooling in 1849. He entered the army and moved up quickly through the ranks, reaching lieutenant colonel by age 20. The modern education and military service of Urabi, from a fellah, or peasant background, would not have been possible without the modernising reforms of Khedive Isma'il, who had done much to eliminate the barriers between the bulk of the Egyptian populace and the ruling elite, who were drawn largely from the military castes that had ruled Egypt for centuries. Isma'il abolished the exclusive access to the Egyptian and Sudanese military ranks by Egyptians of Balkan, Circassian, and Turkish origin. Isma'il conscripted soldiers and recruited students from throughout Egypt and Sudan regardless of class and ethnic backgrounds in order to form a "modern" and "national" Egyptian military and bureaucratic elite class. Without these reforms, Urabi's rise through the ranks of the military would likely have been far more restricted. Urabi served during the Ethiopian-Egyptian War (1874-1876) in a support role on the Egyptian Army's lines of communication. He is said to have returned from the war - which Egypt lost - "incensed at the way in which it had been mismanaged", and the experience turned him towards politics and decisively against the Khedive. He was a galvanizing speaker. Because of his peasant origins, he was at the time, and is still today, viewed as an authentic voice of the Egyptian people. Indeed, he was known by his followers as 'El Wahid' (the Only One), and when the British poet and explorer Wilfrid Blunt went to meet him, he found the entrance of Urabi's house was blocked with supplicants. When Khedive Tewfik issued a new law preventing peasants from becoming officers, Urabi led the group protesting the preference shown to aristocratic officers (again, largely Egyptians of foreign descent). Urabi repeatedly condemned severe prevalent racial discrimination of ethnic Egyptians in the army. He and his followers, who included most of the army, were successful, and the law was repealed. In 1879, they formed the Egyptian Nationalist Party in the hopes of fostering a stronger national identity. He and his allies in the army joined with the reformers in February 1882 to demand change. This revolt, also known as the Urabi revolt, was primarily inspired by his desire for social justice for the Egyptians based on equal standing before the law. With the support of the peasants as well, he launched a broader effort to try to wrest Egypt and Sudan from foreign control, and also to end the absolutist regime of the Khedive, who was himself subject to European influence under the rules of the Caisse de la Dette Publique. The Arab-Egyptian deputies demanded a constitution that granted the state parliamentary power. The revolt then spread to express resentment of the undue influence of foreigners, including the predominantly Turko-Circassian aristocracy from other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Urabi was first promoted to Bey, then made under-secretary of war, and ultimately a member of the cabinet. Plans were developed to create a parliamentary assembly. During the last months of the revolt (July to September 1882), it was claimed that Urabi held the office of Prime Minister of the hastily created common law government based on popular sovereignty. Feeling threatened, Khedive Tewfik requested assistance against Urabi from the Ottoman Sultan, to whom Egypt and Sudan still owed technical fealty. The Sublime Porte hesitated in responding to the request. The British were especially concerned that Urabi would default on Egypt's massive debt and that he might try to gain control of the Suez Canal. Therefore, they and the French dispatched warships to Egypt to prevent such an eventuality from occurring. Tewfik fled to their protection, moving his court to Alexandria. The strong naval presence spurred fears of an imminent invasion (as had been the case in Tunisia in 1881) causing anti-Christian riots to break out in Alexandria on 12 June 1882. The French fleet was recalled to France, while the Royal Navy warships in the harbor opened fire on the city's artillery emplacements after the Egyptians ignored an ultimatum from Admiral Seymour to remove them. The Battle of Kassassin was fought at the Sweet Water Canal, when on August 28, 1882, the British force was attacked by the Egyptians, led by 'Urabi.[11] They needed to carve a passage through Ismailia and the cultivated Delta. Both attacks were repulsed. The Household Cavalry under the command of General Drury Drury-Lowe led the "Moonlight Charge", consisting of the Royal Horse Guards and 7th Dragoon Guards galloping at full tilt into enemy rifle fire. Their ranks were whittled down from the saddle, but still they charged headlong, ever forward. Sir Baker Russell commanded 7th on the right; whereas the Household was led by Colonel Ewart, c/o of the Life Guards. They captured 11 Egyptian guns. Despite only half a dozen casualties, Wolseley was so concerned about the quality of his men that he wrote Cambridge for reforms to recruiting. Nonetheless, these were the elite of the British army and, these skirmishes were costly. Legend and a poem "At Kassassin", say the battle began as it was getting dark. On September 9, Urabi seized what he considered his last chance to attack the British position. A fierce battle ensued on the railway line at 7 am. General Willis sallied out from emplacements to drive back the Egyptians, who at 12 pm returned to their trenches. Thereupon Sir Garnet Wolseley arrived with the main force, while the Household Cavalry guarded his flank from a force at Salanieh. A total force of 634 officers and 16,767 NCOs and men were stationed at Kassassin before they marched on September 13, 1882, towards the main objective at Tell El Kebir where another battle was fought, the Battle of Tell El Kebir. In September a British army landed in Alexandria but failed to reach Cairo after being checked at the Battle of Kafr El Dawwar. Another army, led by Sir Garnet Wolseley, landed in the Canal Zone and on 13 September 1882 they defeated Urabi's army at the Battle of Tell El Kebir. From there, the British force advanced on Cairo which surrendered without a shot being fired, as did Urabi and the other nationalist leaders. Urabi was tried by the restored Khedivate for rebellion on 3 December 1882. He was defended by British solicitor Richard Eve and Alexander Meyrick Broadley. According to Elizabeth Thompson, Urabi's defense stressed the idea that despite the fact that he had been illegally incarcerated by Riyad Pasha and the Khedive Tewfik he had still responded in a manner allowed under Egyptian law and with the hopes that the khedivate remain after his intervention, thus demonstrating loyalty to the Egyptian people as required by his duties. In accordance with an understanding made with the British representative, Lord Dufferin, Urabi pleaded guilty[clarification needed] and was sentenced to death, but the sentence was immediately commuted to one of banishment for life. He left Egypt on 28 December 1882 for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). His home in Halloluwa Road, Kandy (formerly owned by Mudaliyar Jeronis de Soysa) is now the Orabi Pasha Cultural Center. During his time in Ceylon, Urabi worked to improve the quality of education amongst the Muslims in the country. Hameed Al Husseinie College, Sri Lanka's first school for Muslims was established on 15 November 1884 and after eight years Zahira College, was established on 22 August 1892 under his patronage. In May 1901, Khedive Abbas II, Tewfik's son and successor permitted Urabi to return to Egypt. Abbas was a nationalist in the vein of his grandfather, Khedive Isma'il the Magnificent, and remained deeply opposed to British influence in Egypt. Urabi returned on 1 October 1901, and remained in Egypt until his death on 21 September 1911.

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