0.3 Identifying historical figures: the souvenir of egypt  (Page 2/6)

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Regional encyclopedia

Let's get more specific. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East and North Africa is an encyclopedia limited to the region of theIslamic World known as the Middle East.The table of contents reveals the diversity of the entries in the work from cultural subjectsto countries.

"The French invasion of Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte and the short occupation (1798-1801) which followed exposed Egypt to Western ideas and technology (seeModern History). French withdrawal was followed by the foundation of a new dynasty under Muhammad 'Ali, an officer from Kavala in Macedonia who led Albanian soldiers to Egypt in thenominal service of the Ottomans. Muhammad 'Ali held power from 1805 until his death in 1849, establishing virtual independence from Istanbul and initiating a process of modernizationwhich reached its peak during the period of rule of his grandson, Khedive Isma'il. A negative legacy of Muhammad 'Ali's successors, Sa'id and Isma'il, was to saddle Egypt with anunmanageable foreign debt. The debt led to assumption by Britain and France during the last quarter of the nineteenth century of a large degree of control over the economy. Isma'il wasforced to abdicate in 1879; in 1882 British forces invaded Egypt to suppress a movement of opposition to the Khedive's rule and the growth of foreign control, led by an army officers,Ahmad 'Urabi. In one form or another British control continued until 1936, when an Anglo-Egyptian Treaty gave Egypt a limited independence. Full independence was only securedafter the last of the dynasty founded by Muhammad 'Ali, King Faruq, was overthrown by the nationalist 'Free Officers' Movement.'"