Abdurrahman El-Caberti ve Giovanni Reggio’nun Anlatılarında “Kahire Kale Katliamı” (Mart 1811) ve Memlüklerin Mısır’dan Tasfiyesi

Abstract

There is a strong emphasize for the constituent figures/leaders instead of different institutions, traditions and processes in the modern Egypt historiography. According to this trend, dominated in the historiography, Muhammad Ali Pasha represents the spirit of Egyptian resistance against the Ottomans-'foreign' rulers and motivates the Egyptian identity. Muhammad Ali is known to have imported European ideas and institutions, challenging and reforming the traditional society. However, in terms of power relations, a despotic portrait accompanied his "enlightened" identity, because he often ruthlessly eliminated his political opponents. The subject of this article is toward the Citadel Massacre in Cairo (March 1811) planned and committed by Muhammad Ali Pasha, which brought to the end to the historical-political power of Mamluks in Egypt. In 1811, The Pasha was the only political weapon in the hands of the Sublime Porte against the Wahhabis who occupied the Hijaz. In fact, the Castle Massacre was made in the celebration day in honor of his son, Tosun Pasha, who had been appointed governor of Jeddah. Muhammad Ali Pasha's the first and largest political eliminationis formed in the center of this research. In this study it is used also the Al-Jabarti's famous historian work, 'Aca'ibü'l-Âsâr fi'l-Tarâcim ve'l-Ahbâr (History of Egypt), the letters of Giovanni Reggio, a British agent in Cairo and archival materials from the Ottoman and British archives related to the subject.