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Lot Essay
This manuscript contains the endowment deed of Muhammad 'Ali Pasha of Egypt concerning the madrasa and library he had built in his home town of Kavala. These institutions were to be supported by the revenues from the island of Thasos which had been granted to Muhammad 'Ali by Sultan Mahmud II for this purpose.
Muhammad 'Ali was a commander from Kavala in Macedonia who was sent to dislodge the French from Egypt as part of the Ottoman-Albanian army. He contrived to remain in Egypt as the ruler, forcing the Sultan to recognise him as Pasha while he brutally deposed the old Mamluk ruling class. This endowment deed issued early in this reign demonstrates the extent of Ottoman power and influence within their very large empire.
The scribe describes himself as a pupil of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Hajj Mustafa al-Tawfiq, writing master in the household of the Pasha. Although the document was drawn up in Egypt rather than in the Ottoman capital it is purely Ottoman in its illumination.
Muhammad 'Ali was a commander from Kavala in Macedonia who was sent to dislodge the French from Egypt as part of the Ottoman-Albanian army. He contrived to remain in Egypt as the ruler, forcing the Sultan to recognise him as Pasha while he brutally deposed the old Mamluk ruling class. This endowment deed issued early in this reign demonstrates the extent of Ottoman power and influence within their very large empire.
The scribe describes himself as a pupil of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Hajj Mustafa al-Tawfiq, writing master in the household of the Pasha. Although the document was drawn up in Egypt rather than in the Ottoman capital it is purely Ottoman in its illumination.