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 With the conquest in 1517 CE of

Karim Saada
Egypt by the Ottomans, Cairo lost
“ This copiously illustrated volume explores the little-known religious CHAHINDA KARIM its position as the capital of the Islamic

OTTOMAN
buildings erected in Cairo during the three centuries before 1800 when empire to Istanbul but it retained an

KARIM
Egypt was ruled from the Ottoman capital at Istanbul. Combining eminent position as the second most
important city, with Egypt still
meticulous first-hand observation with extensive research in the historical

CAIRO
regarded as one of the wealthiest
sources and archival documents, Karim shows how patrons and builders provinces of the new empire. Round
adapted foreign ideas and forms to local styles and techniques to create minarets with pointed hoods, as

OTTOMAN CAIRO
dozens of buildings that contribute to Cairo’s unique architectural heritage.” symbols of the new rulers, began

—Jonathan Bloom, Boston College RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE filling the landscape alongside the
CHAHINDA KARIM is an adjunct octagonal minarets with pavilion tops
FROM SULTAN SELIM of the Mamluks, new mosques,
professor of Islamic art and architecture
“ Chahinda Karim’s comprehensive and well-illustrated survey fills a TO NAPOLEON zawiyas, and madrasas/takiyas were
at the American University in Cairo,
where she has taught since 1984. She generational gap in scholarship on Cairo’s Ottoman architecture, and built to emphasize the continuation
was also an adjunct professor at Helwan reminds us of the formidable power of this magnificent city to mold all of Sunni Islamic rule, while the use
University for almost twenty years. of tiles imported from Turkey
stylistic influences into a formal and spatial character all its own.”
Professor Karim obtained her BA and introduced new decorative styles
MA from the American University
—Nasser Rabbat, Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the city’s existing rich carvings and
in Cairo, and her PhD in Islamic art marble paneling.
and architecture from Cairo University. “ A welcome contribution to the history of Islamic architecture in Cairo and
She has written widely on Mamluk This book invites readers and students
of architecture in the Ottoman Empire, this amply illustrated and accessible
architecture, particularly the Bahri to revisit a long-overlooked era of
documentation of religious monuments from four centuries fills a gap in the Cairo’s architectural evolution, offering
Mamluk period, for numerous journal
articles and collected volumes. literature and stimulates further interest in the field.” a unique study of Ottoman religious
—Doris Behrens-Abouseif, SOAS, University of London buildings still standing today. It
provides detailed descriptions and
walk-throughs of the buildings through
its rich collection of plans and
photographs, shedding light on the
ISBN: 978-1-649-03084-9
continuous evolution of architecture
in Cairo even after the city had ceased
Cover photo by Menna Elmahi to be the capital of the Islamic empire.
Jacket design by studio medlikova The American University in Cairo Press
Printed in the United States of America www.aucpress.com 9 781649 030849
ottoman
cairo
ottoman
cairo Religious Architecture
from Sultan Selim
to Napoleon

Chahinda Karim
With contributions by Menna M. El Mahy

The American University in Cairo Press

Cairo New York
First published in 2021 by
The American University in Cairo Press
113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt
One Rockefeller Plaza, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10020
www.aucpress.com

Copyright © 2021 by Chahinda Karim

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978 1 6490 3084 9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for

1 2 3 4 5 25 24 23 22 21

Designed by Sally Boylan

Printed in China
 Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Preface ix
Note to the Reader xi
List of Illustrations xiii

Historical Introduction 1
The Origin of the Ottomans and the Architecture of the Beyliks in Anatolia 1
The Ottomans of Egypt 6

Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century 11
The Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak (1502–20) 12
The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani (1519) 18
The Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi (1522) 27
The Role of Sufism at the Beginning of the Ottoman Period 28
The Zawiya and Dome of Shaykh Seoud (1534) 34
The Mosque of Shahin al-Khalwati (1537) 35

Chapter 2: Buildings of the Sixteenth Century 43

The Buildings of Suleiman Pasha 43
The Mosque of Suleiman al-Khadim in the Citadel (1528) 43
The Mosque of Suleiman Pasha in Bulaq (1531) 51
The Takiya-Madrasa Suleimaniya (1543) 52
The Mosque of Muhibb al-Din Abu al-Tayyib (early 16th century) 58
The Mausoleum Dome of Prince Suleiman 62
The Mosque of Dawud Pasha (1548) 64
The Mosque of Mahmud Pasha (1567) 67
The Mosque of Sinan Pasha 72

v
vi Contents

The Mosque of Messih Pasha (1575) 77

The Mosque of Murad Pasha (1578) 79

Chapter 3: Buildings of the Seventeenth Century 87

The Mosque of al-Malika Safiya (1610) 87
The Mosque of al-Burdayni (1616–29) 90
The Mosque of Alti Barmak (1621–22 and 1711) 94
The Mosque of Yusuf Agha al-Hin (1625) 97
The Mosque of Taghribirdi (1634) 102
The Mosque of Marzuq al-Ahmadi (1635) 106
The Zawiya of Ridwan Bey (1650) 109
The Mosque of ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir (1655) 110
The Mosque of ‘Abidy Bey (1660) 116
Ribat al-Athar, also known as Athar al-Nabi (1662) 119
The Mosque of Aqsunqur al-Faraqani al-Habashli (1669) 123
The Mosque of Mustafa Jorbagi Mirza (1698) 127

Chapter 4: Buildings of the Eighteenth Century 133

The work of ‘Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda: The Zawiya (1729) 134
The Mosque of al-Amir ‘Uthman Katkhuda al-Qazdughli (1734) 135
The Mosque of al-Fakahani (1735) 139
The Mosque of al-Shaykh Mutahhar (1744) 143
The Complex of Sultan Mahmud I (1750) 144
The work of ‘Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda: Al-Azhar Mosque (1753) 149
The Mosque of Yusuf Jorbagi (1763) 151
The Mosque of Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab (1774) 154
The Takiya Refa‘iya (1774) 158
The Mosque of al-Sadat al-Wafa’iya (1784) 161

Conclusion 167

Annex: Four Ottoman Sabil-Kuttabs 175

An Introduction 175
Sabil of Khusruw Pasha (1535) 180
Sabil of Taghribirdi (1634) 183
Sabil of Sultan Mahmud I (1750) 184
Sabil of Mustafa III (1758) 186

List of Ottoman Governors in Egypt 191

Glossary 195
Abbreviations 197
Notes 199
Bibliography 213
Index 219
 Acknowledgments

T
his book would have never come to light My sincere thanks also go to Professors Bernard
without the encouragement of my students at O’Kane, Ellen Kenney, Leonor Fernandes, and
the American University in Cairo, who kept Amira Elbendary, my long-time colleagues at the
asking me about a book that offers a comprehensive Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations at
study on Ottoman architecture in Cairo. Several years AUC, and my dear friend and former colleague
ago, when I was preparing a course for graduate stu- Doris Behrens-Abouseif for their constant encour-
dents of Islamic Art and Architecture at the American agement and readiness to help whenever needed.
University in Cairo (AUC), I was faced with the fact Members of a family with close ties that keep
that there were few secondary sources in English and them together will always be the wall you can lean
Arabic available for students to refer to, and most of on at all times. Thank you may not be enough to
the pictures in the sources were of poor quality. We express my gratitude to my daughter Soad Mahmoud
were lucky to be in Cairo and were thus able to go and Saada, who bore with my changing moods; my son
visit as many buildings as possible during the semester. Karim Mahmoud Saada who, despite his busy sched-
This book finally provides a much-needed comprehen- ule, channeled his love of photography to go out with
sive study for students of Islamic architecture, religious me to photograph monuments; and to my youngest
architecture, and medieval architecture in Cairo, as daughter Laila Mahmoud Saada who, despite being
well as for the reader interested in the city of Cairo. far away, agreed to read and help edit the final version
Foremost, my thanks go to Menna M. El Mahy, of the manuscript before I submitted it.
my former student, teaching assistant, and now my A book on Ottoman architecture cannot mate-
colleague at AUC, who agreed to help me with collect- rialize without the support of the team at the Rare
ing data, taking pictures, and editing the manuscript. Books Library at the American University in Cairo.
I can say with certainty that without her, I would have Special thanks go to Eman Maher Morgan for her
probably given up the project some time ago. tremendous help in finding sources and maps, and

vii
viii Acknowledgments

for her support during the lockdown period of for their belief that in spite of my very busy schedule
COVID-19. over the many years as an adjunct lecturer in Islamic
Finally, I shall always remain grateful to my late par- Art and Architecture at AUC, the Faculty of Tourism
ents, Dr. Sayed Karim (architect) and Doreya Loutfi, of Helwan University, and Cairo University, as well as a
and to my late husband Dr. Mahmoud Youssef Saada, licensed guide to the history and monuments of Egypt,
Vice President of the Academy of Scientific Research, I would still one day sit down and start writing.
 Preface

T
here is a common conception that portrays real estate, land or a commercial structure were thus le-
Ottoman religious architecture as an apparent gally bound to finance the administration and upkeep
decline in taste and craftsmanship when com- of the religious institutions. These endowments were
pared to the architecture of their predecessors. Nezar either khayri (pious) or ahli (to secure private proper-
AlSayyad’s Cairo: Histories of a City mentions that during ty within a family) as dictated by the founder. A waqf
the late nineteenth century, the architects of the Comité allowed the founder to provide an income for his fam-
de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art Arabe “op- ily and descendants and was a means to keep an estate
erated under the assumption that only Mamluk archi- intact rather than broken up into small parts because
tecture was truly representative of medieval Cairo. They of the rule of succession. During the Mamluk period,
did not consider the Ottoman architectural legacy to be the revenue-producing estate or land was usually in the
worthy of preservation, nor did they possess a general, same area as the pious institution, which helped the
let alone thorough, understanding of Cairo’s complex urbanization of the center of the city.2 The prestige of
architectural history.”1 This book aims to argue against a foundation was tied to the size and number of the
the existing “cliché” through a survey and analysis of a properties in its endowment. Large urban waqfs some-
large number of buildings from the year 1517 to the end times became real urban projects, and could lead to the
of the eighteenth century. remodeling of a quarter.3
There is a wealth of primary sources on Ottoman These waqf documents can be found in the Citadel
religious architecture in Cairo, the most important of Archives of the Dar al-Wathaʼiq al-Qawmiya (Dar al-
which for this study are the waqf (plural awqaf) doc- Wathaʼiq) and the archives of the Ministry of Religious
uments. These were a source of great interest to the Endowments (also known as the Ministry of Awqaf).
Ottomans when they entered Cairo. Waqfs secured a A list of the waqf documents was published by Doris
source of income for religious institutions that played Behrens-Abouseif in Egypt’s Adjustment to Ottoman
an important role in Mamluk Egypt. Revenues from Rule: Institutions, Waqf and Architecture in Cairo (16th

ix
x Preface

& 17th Centuries) and in Muhammad Hamza Isma‘il Doris Behrens-Abouseif, “Sufi Architecture in Early
al-Haddad’s Mawsuʻat al-ʻimara al-islamiya fi Misr: min Ottoman Cairo,” in Annales Islamologiques 20, and
al-fath al-ʻuthmani ila nihayat ʻahd Muhammad ʻAli, Behrens-Abouseif’s article on the Takiya of Ibrahim
923–1265 AH/1517–1848 CE, while many extracts al-Kulshani in Muqarnas V (1988).
of waqf deeds have been published in Muhammad Unfortunately, Arabic, English, and French sec-
Abu al-‘Amayim’s Athar al-Qahira al-islamiya fi al-ʻasr ondary sources available to students, scholars, and
al-ʻuthmani. interested readers are not many. An introduction to
Waqf documents are a great help to researchers Ottoman sources about Egypt has been dealt with by
when describing a building at the time of its foun- Nelly Hanna in her Ottoman Egypt and the Emergence
dation and comparing it with its present state of of the Modern World: 1500–1800. Several books and
preservation. I depended very much on the readings articles also proved to be very helpful, the earliest of
of several endowment deeds in the above-mentioned which is Hasan ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s Tarikh al-masajid
books, which proved to be a great help in trying to al-athariya allati salla fiha faridat al-jum‘a sahib al-jala-
visualize the changes that occurred in a building over la and his article in Majallat al-‘imara, “al-Ta’thirat
time. One can add here the collection of microfilms al-‘uthmaniya ‘ala al-ʻimara al-islamiya fi Misr.” In ad-
housed at the Arab League and the Egyptian Ministry dition, the volumes by Su‘ad Mahir, Masajid Misr wa
of Culture (al-Majlis al-A‘la lil-Thaqafa). awliya’uha al-salihun, and Ülkü Bates’s study on the
Primary sources that proved very helpful in this Ottoman architecture of Egypt were very helpful.
study were Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Iyas al-Hana- More specialized studies tended to focus on a certain
fi’s Badaʼiʻ al-zuhur fi waqaʼiʻ al-duhur, al-Bakri’s Kashf patron, namely Dirasat fi watha’iq Dawud Basha wali
al-Korba fi Raf‘ al-Talaba,4 Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti’s Misr by Amal ‘Amri and Tarek Swelim’s article on the
‘Aja’ib al-athar fi al-tarajim wa-l-akhbar, Muhammad Mosque of Sinan Pasha, as well as Ahmed El-Masry’s
ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman Sakhawi’s al-Dawʼ al-lamiʻ li-ahl thesis on the buildings of Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim.
al-qarn al-tasiʻ, Shihab al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad Several books and articles analyze the decorative style of
ibn ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ‘Abdallah al-Qalqashandi’s Subh Ottoman architecture in Cairo, including Muhammad
al-aʻsha fi sinaʻat al-inshaʼ, Jalal al-Din ‘Abd al-Rah- Marzuq’s al-Funun al-zukhrufiya al-islamiya fi al-‘asr
man al-Suyuti’s Husn al-muhadara fi akhbar Misr al-‘uthmani and Behrens-Abouseif’s article “The ‘Abdel
wa-l-Qahira, and finally ‘Ali Pasha Mubarak’s al-Khitat Rahman Katkhuda Style in 18th Century Cairo” in
al-tawfiqiya al-jadida li-Misr al-Qahira wa-muduniha Annales Islamogiques. The two volumes by Muhammad
wa-biladiha al-qadima wa-shahira, the first six volumes Ahmad ‘Abd al-Latif on Ottoman minarets, Mawsu’at
of which are on Cairo. al-ma’adhin al-‘uthmaniya were of great help. The
The early works of Hautecoeur and Wiet, titled book by Mahmud al-Husayni, al-Asbila al-‘uthmani-
Les mosquées du Caire and the article by John Alden ya bi-madinat al-Qahira, is a comprehensive study on
Williams, “The Monuments of Ottoman Cairo,” were public water fountains built in Cairo during Ottoman
the only written sources until recent times, and their rule that proved to be one of the important sources
importance cannot be underestimated because they referred to in this book’s annex: Four Ottoman Sabil-
formed the basis for many later works. The many pub- Kuttabs. Publications that focus on certain districts
lications by André Raymond proved to be of primary include Hanna’s article in Annales Islamologiques on
importance and very useful. Sources on Sufi architec- the district of Bulaq in Cairo, and Behrens-Abouseif’s
ture in Egypt during the Ottoman period include the article on al-Azbakiya.
article by Leonor Fernandes, “Some Aspects of the Finally, several unpublished master’s and PhD
Zawiya in Egypt at the Eve of the Ottoman Conquest,” theses from AUC and other universities contributed
in Annales Islamologiques 19, and her joint article with to the writing of this study.
 Note to Reader

I
t is impossible to attempt to deal with all the as well as mausoleums, fall under the category of
buildings erected by the Ottomans in Cairo pious institutions, but in most cases no prayers or
during their reign. Therefore, it was necessary to official teachings took place in them. An annex with
decide to concentrate either on a specific century or the discussion of four sabil-kuttabs written by Menna
on a specific type of building over an extended longer M. El Mahy is included at the end of this book. The
period of time. The choice made here was to limit the decision to conclude this book at the end of the
discussions to one type of building, namely religious eighteenth century, before Muhammad ‘Ali’s rule, was
ones, where prayers and religious teachings took place. also based on two reasons: the first is that the change
This includes mosques, zawiyas and takiyas. Sabil- in the political structure of the ruling dynasty led to
kuttabs and mausoleums are included only when a different architectural style, and the second is that
attached to religious buildings, for two reasons: the the dynasty founded by Muhammad ‘Ali, which ended
first is the large number of freestanding sabil-kuttabs with the deposal of King Faruq in 1952, deserves a
that still stand in Cairo, and the second is that these, complete study in itself.

xi
 Illustrations

Unless otherwise indicated, photographs without attributions are by Menna M. El Mahy.

Integrated Images 1.6. The inner window openings do not correspond

Introduction to the outer ones so that openings run oblique-
I.1. Mosque of Yıldırım Bayezid in Mudurnu ly through the thickness of the wall inside the
(plan after Archnet). Mausoleum of Khayrbak.
I.2. Mosque of Murad I in Bursa (plan after 1.7. The square area between the mausoleum and
Archnet). the outer window with its Qurʾanic inscription
I.3. Üç Şerefeli Mosque in Edirne (plan after and shallow dome.
Archnet). 1.8. The interior of the dome of the Mausoleum
of Khayrbak with its large stone stalactite
Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to pendentives.
Ottoman 1.9. The interior of the Mausoleum of Khayrbak.
1.1. The façade and mausoleum of Khayrbak. 1.10. The plan of the Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani
1.2. The entrance of the Mosque and Madrasa of (after Doris Behrens-Abouseif, “The Takiyat
Khayrbak. Ibrahim al-Kulshani in Cairo,” 46).
1.3. The recess in the vestibule, opposite the 1.11. The mihrab of the mosque of Takiya al-Kul-
entrance of the Mosque and Madrasa of shani (courtesy of the World Monuments Fund
Khayrbak. Inscription from Qur’an 2:25. website).
1.4. The plan of the Madrasa and Mausoleum of 1.12. The entrance to the platform of the Takiya of
Khayrbak (plan after Archnet). al-Kulshani from the vestibule.
1.5. The dikka of the Mosque and Madrasa of 1.13. A detail of the calligraphy on one of the walls
Khayrbak. of the cells naming the building a khanqah.

xiii
xiv Illustrations

1.14. Plans of the Takiya of al-Kulshani showing 1.30. The minaret of the Mosque of Shahin
nonextant structures (plan after the Comité). al-Khalwati.
1.15. An archive photograph by Louis Hautecoeur 1.31. A detail of the green tiles found on the top of
showing the nonextant structure on the right of the minaret of the Mosque of Shahin al-Khalwati.
the mausoleum dome of al-Kulshani (after Louis 1.32. The entrance of the Mosque of Shahin
Hautecoeur and Gaston Wiet, Les mosquées du al-Khalwati.
Caire). 1.33. The mausoleum dome of Shahin al-Khalwati.
1.16. The inscription bands adorning the inte-
rior of the mausoleum dome of the Takiya of Chapter 2: Buildings of the Sixteenth Century
al-Kulshani. 2.1. The façade of the Mosque of Suleiman Pasha
1.17. The northwestern façade of the Zawiya of al-Khadim in the Citadel (courtesy of Jehan Reda).
Hasan al-Rumi. 2.2. The plan of the Mosque of Suleiman Pasha
1.18. The plan of the Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi al-Khadim (after Archnet).
(plan after the Comité). 2.3. The qibla iwan of the Mosque of Suleiman
1.19. An archive photograph by Creswell of the en- Pasha al-Khadim (courtesy of Museum with No
trance of the Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi (courtesy Frontiers Islamic Art online collection).
of the V&A online art collection). 2.4. The minbar and higher side iwan in the Mosque
1.20. The marble slab with the foundation inscrip- of Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim (courtesy of
tion of the Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi. Museum with No Frontiers Islamic Art online
1.21. The southwestern façade of the Zawiya of collection).
Hasan al-Rumi. 2.5. The dikka of the Mosque of Suleiman Pasha
1.22. An archive photograph by Creswell of the in- al-Khadim (courtesy of Museum with No
terior of the Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi (courtesy Frontiers Islamic Art online collection).
of the V&A online art collection). 2.6. The entrance to the domed prayer area from
1.23. An archival photograph of the southwestern the courtyard (courtesy of Museum with No
façade of the Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi and its Frontiers Islamic Art online collection).
rear behind the qibla wall where it had a vaulted 2.7. The portico of the courtyard of the Mosque of
kitchen and khilwas (after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim (courtesy of Museum
al-Qahira al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 15). with No Frontiers Islamic Art online collection).
1.24. The plan of the dome of the Zawiya of Shaykh 2.8. The courtyard of the Mosque of Suleiman
Seoud (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahi- al-Khadim, which shows the domed shrine of
ra al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 40). Abu Mansur ibn Qasta (courtesy of Museum
1.25. The Mosque of Shahin al-Khalwati built on with No Frontiers Islamic Art online collection).
the Muqattam Hills (after Archnet). 2.9. The interior of the domed shrine of Abu
1.26. A plan of the Mosque of Shahin al-Khalwati Mansur ibn Qasta with the headdress-decorated
(plan by the Ministry of Antiquities). tombstones (courtesy of Getty Images).
1.27. The surviving structures of the Mosque of 2.10. The plan of the Mosque of Suleiman al-Khad-
Shahin al-Khalwati. im in Bulaq (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar
1.28. A plan of the Mosque of Shahin al-Khalwati al-Qahira al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 58).
showing the cells below the level of the mosque 2.11. The foundation inscription of the Takiya-
(plan by the Ministry of Antiquities). Madrasa Suleimaniya.
1.29. The mihrab of the Mosque of Shahin 2.12. The plan of the Takiya-Madrasa Suleimaniya
al-Khalwati. (by the author).
 Illustrations xv

2.13. The entrance of the Takiya-Madrasa 2.31. The interior of the Mosque of Mahmud
Suleimaniya and the Mosque of Sultan Qaytbay in Pasha (after Archnet).
Qal‘at al-Kabsh. 2.32. The lantern of the Mosque of Mahmud Pasha
2.14. The vaulted corridor leading to the courtyard of (after Archnet).
the Takiya-Madrasa Suleimaniya. 2.33. An archive photograph by Creswell of the
2.15. The courtyard of the Takiya-Madrasa dikka of the Mosque of Mahmud Pasha (courte-
Suleimaniya. sy of the V&A online art collection).
2.16. The mihrab of the Takiya-Madrasa Suleimaniya. 2.34. A drawing of the Mosque of Sinan Pasha
2.17. The plan of the Mosque of Muhibb al-Din Abu (after Description de l’Égypte, Vol I. pl. 25, cour-
al-Tayyib (after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira tesy of the World Digital Library Online Art
al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 19). Collection).
2.18. The façade of the Mosque of Muhibb al-Din 2.35. The plan of the Mosque of Sinan Pasha (after
Abu al-Tayyib (by Karim Saada). Archnet).
2.19. The rear façade of the mausoleum of Prince 2.36. An aerial view of the Mosque of Sinan Pasha
Suleiman (after Archnet). (after Archnet).
2.20. The interior of the Mosque of Muhibb al-Din 2.37. Archive photographs of the Mosque of
Abu al-Tayyib (by Karim Saada). Sinan Pasha (courtesy of the V&A online art
2.21. The foundation inscription of the Mosque of collection).
Dawud Pasha. 2.38. The entrance opposite the mihrab of the
2.22. The façade of the Mosque of Dawud Pasha. Mosque of Sinan Pasha.
2.23. The main entrance of the Mosque of Dawud 2.39. The minaret of the Mosque of Sinan Pasha
Pasha. (drawing from Description de l’Égypte, Vol. I,
2.24. The plan of the Mosque of Dawud Pasha (plan pl. 25, courtesy of the World Digital Library
after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira al-islamiya Online Art Collection).
fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 67). 2.40. The plan of the Mosque of Messih Pasha
2.25. An archive photograph showing the interi- (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
or of the Mosque of Dawud Pasha (courtesy of 2.41. The dikka of the Mosque of Sinan Pasha.
Ibrahim Ramadan’s online compilation of photo- 2.42. The façade of Mesih Pasha Mosque.
graphs, plans, and elevations of Cairene Islamic 2.43. The interior of the Mosque of Messih Pasha.
Monuments, al-Athar al-islamiya fi-l-Qahira 2.44. An archive photograph by Creswell of the in-
wa-l-muhafazat al-ukhra). terior of the Mosque of Messih Pasha (courtesy
2.26. The main façade of the Mosque of Mahmud of the V&A online art collection).
Pasha. 2.45. An archive photograph of the façade of the
2.27. The nonextant sabil of the Mosque of Mahmud Mosque of Murad Pasha in Cairo (courtesy of
Pasha (drawing after Description de l’Égypte Vol. Ibrahim Ramadan).
I, pl. 67, courtesy of the World Digital Library 2.46. The main entrance of the Mosque of Murad
Online Art Collection). Pasha.
2.28. An archive photograph by Francis Frith from 2.47. The interior of the Mosque of Murad Pasha.
the Citadel in Salah al-Din Square (courtesy of the 2.48. The original marble mosaic floor of the cen-
J. Paul Getty Museum online art collection). tral corridor of the Mosque of Murad Pasha (by
2.29. The minaret of the Mosque of Mahmud Pasha. the Ministry of Antiquities).
2.30. The plan of the Mosque of Mahmud Pasha (af- 2.49. The plan of the Mosque of Murad Pasha
ter Max Herz Pasha). (plan courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
xvi Illustrations

Chapter 3: Buildings of the Seventeenth Century 3.19. The qibla iwan of the Mosque of Yusuf
3.1. The only surviving gate that led to the Agha al-Hin (by Karim Saada).
Mosque of al-Malika Safiya. 3.20. The roundel with “Muhammad” and “‘Ali”
3.2. An elevation drawing of the Mosque found in the northeastern sidilla in the Mosque
of al-Malika Safiya (by the Ministry of of Yusuf Agha al-Hin.
Antiquities). 3.21. The southwestern façade of the Mosque of
3.3. The plan of the Mosque of al-Malika Safiya Taghribirdi (by Karim Saada).
(after Archnet). 3.22. The entrance of the Mosque of Taghribirdi.
3.4. An archive photograph by Creswell of the en- 3.23. The plan of the Mosque of Taghribirdi
trance of the domed prayer area of the Mosque (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira
of al-Malika Safiya (courtesy of the V&A online al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 169).
art collection). 3.24. The qibla wall of the Mosque of
3.5. The interior of the Mosque of al-Malika Safiya. Taghribirdi.
3.6. An archive photograph by Creswell of the 3.25. The elevation of the Mosque of Marzuq
dikka of the Mosque of al-Malika Safiya (cour- al-Ahmadi (by the Ministry of Antiquities).
tesy of the V&A online art collection). 3.26. The mihrab of the Mosque of Marzuq
3.7. The southwestern façade of the Mosque of al-Ahmadi (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
al-Burdayni (after Archnet). 3.27. The plan of the Zawiya of Radwan Bey
3.8. The entrance of the Mosque of al-Burdayni. (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira
3.9. A detail of the inscription on the minaret of al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 195).
the Mosque of al-Burdayni. 3.28. The interior of the Zawiya of Radwan Bey.
3.10. The plan of the Mosque of al-Burdayni (plan 3.29. The arched gateway and the vestibule of the
after Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art Arabe d’après Mosque of ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir (by Karim Saada).
les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle 3.30. The foundation panel of the Mosque of
jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe). ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir (by Karim Saada).
3.11. The elevation of the Mosque of Alti Barmak 3.31. The façade of the Mosque of ‘Uqba ibn
(by the Ministry of Antiquities). ‘Amir (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
3.12. The mausoleum dome and minaret of the 3.32. A closeup on the dome of the mausoleum
Mosque of Alti Barmak (courtesy of Ibrahim of the Mosque of ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir (courtesy of
Ramadan). Ibrahim Ramadan).
3.13. The plan of the Mosque of Alti Barmak (plan 3.33. The green painted tombstone attributed to
after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira al-islami- be the original tomb of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As.
ya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 155). 3.34. The plan of the Mosque of ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amir
3.14. The main façade of the Mosque of Yusuf (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira
Agha al-Hin (by Karim Saada). al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 199).
3.15. The northeastern façade of the Mosque of 3.35. The interior of the Mosque of ‘Uqba ibn
Yusuf Agha al-Hin (by Karim Saada). ‘Amir (by Karim Saada).
3.16. The western façade of the Mosque of Yusuf 3.36. The entrance to the mausoleum of ‘Uqba
Agha al-Hin (by Karim Saada). ibn ‘Amir (by Karim Saada).
3.17. The plan of the Mosque of Yusuf Agha al- 3.37. The dome of the mausoleum of ‘Uqba ibn
Hin (plan by the Ministry of Antiquities). ‘Amir (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
3.18. The durqa‘a, iwans, and sidillas of the 3.38. The western façade of the Mosque of Sidi
Mosque of Yusuf Agha al-Hin (by Karim Saada). Ruwaysh (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
 Illustrations xvii

3.39. The plan of the Mosque of Sidi Ruwaysh (plan 4.2. The plan of the Zawiya of ‘Abd al-Rahman
after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira al-islamiya Katkhuda (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar
fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 202). al-Qahira al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 289).
3.40. The interior of the Mosque of Sidi Ruwaysh. 4.3. The northeastern façade of Kikhya Mosque.
3.41. An exterior view of the Mosque of Athar 4.4. An archive photograph showing the building
al-Nabi (by Karim Saada). that blocked the main façade of Kikhya Mosque.
3.42. The plan of the Mosque of Athar al-Nabi (plan 4.5. The different plans of Kikhya Mosque (by
after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira al-islamiya al-Haddad, Mawsuʻat al-ʻimara, 644 and The
fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 211). Ministry of Information).
3.43. The two octagonal columns that contain 4.6. The interior of Kikhya Mosque.
thuluth script in the Mosque of Athar al-Nabi 4.7. The elevation of the Mosque of al-Fakahani (by
(courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan). The Ministry of Antiquities).
3.44. The mihrab and recess in the mausoleum 4.8. The main entrance and maqsura of the Mosque
of the Mosque of Athar al-Nabi (courtesy of of al-Fakahani.
Ibrahim Ramadan). 4.9. The side entrance of the Mosque of al-Fakahani.
3.45. The boat that was hanging from the dome 4.10. The plan of the Mosque of al-Fakahani (by the
of the Mosque of Athar al-Nabi (courtesy of Ministry of Antiquities).
Ibrahim Ramadan). 4.11. The façade of the Mosque of al-Shaykh
3.46. The elevation of the Mosque of Aqsunqur Mutahhar.
al-Faraqani al-Habashli (courtesy of Ibrahim 4.12. A detail of the signature of ‘Ali Shaltut in the
Ramadan). semidome of the portal of the Mosque of al-
3.47. The plan of the Mosque of Aqsunqur Shaykh Mutahhar.
al-Faraqani al-Habashli (plan after Abu 4.13. The plan of the Mosque of al-Shaykh
al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahira al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr Mutahhar (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar
al-ʻuthmani, 222). al-Qahira al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 293).
3.48. The interior of the Mosque of Aqsunqur 4.14. The façade of the Takiya and Sabil of Sultan
al-Faraqani al-Habashli. Mahmud I (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
3.49. The marble with impost blocks in the side iwan. 4.15. The main entrance to the Takiya and Sabil of
3.50. The northwestern façade of the Mosque of Sultan Mahmud I (courtesy of Historic Cairo
Mustafa Jorbagi Mirza. Online photographs).
3.51. The entrance of the Mosque of Mustafa 4.16. The entrances to the sabil and kuttab of the
Jorbagi Mirza. Takiya and Sabil of Sultan Mahmud I.
3.52. The plan of the Mosque of Mustafa Jorbagi 4.17. The plan of the Takiya and Sabil of Sultan
Mirza (plan after Abu al-‘Amayim, Athar al-Qahi- Mahmud I (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
ra al-islamiya fi-l-ʻasr al-ʻuthmani, 256). 4.18. The plan of the Mosque of al-Azhar (after
3.53. The rear of the minbar of the Mosque of Archnet).
Mustafa Jorbagi Mirza. 4.19. A drawing of Bab al-Muzayyinin (the Barbers’
Gate) by Émile Prisse d’Avennes (Émile Prisse
Chapter 4: Buildings of the Eighteenth Century d’Avennes, L’Art Arabe).
4.1. A drawing by Émile Prisse d’Avennes of 4.20. The minarets of the Mosque of al-Azhar (cour-
the Zawiya of ‘Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda tesy of the Historic Cairo online photographs).
in al-Mugharbalin Street (after Émile Prisse 4.21. An archive photograph of Bab al-Sa‘ayida in
d’Avennes, L’Art Arabe). al-Azhar Mosque (after Ibrahim Ramadan).
xviii Illustrations

4.22. An archive photograph of the courtyard inside 4.41. The entrance to the Complex of al-Sadat al-Wa-
Bab al-Sa‘ayida in al-Azhar Mosque (after Ibrahim fa’iya (by Karim Saada).
Ramadan). 4.42. The main façade of the Complex of al-Sadat
4.23. Bab al-Shurba and shops found behind the qib- al-Wafa’iya (by Karim Saada).
la wall of al-Azhar Mosque (courtesy of Thesaurus 4.43. The plan of the Mosque of al-Sadat al-Wafa’iya
Islamicus Foundation). (plan by the Ministry of Antiquities).
4.24. A detail of Bab al-Shurba of al-Azhar Mosque 4.44. The qibla wall of the Mosque of al-Sadat al-Wa-
(courtesy of Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation). fa’iya (by Karim Saada).
4.25. The elevation of the Shawazliya Mosque (by the
Ministry of Antiquities). Conclusion
4.26. The southern elevation of the Mosque of Yusuf 5.1. Map of Cairo (after Description de l’Égypte Vol. I,
Jorbagi (by the Ministry of Antiquities). pl. 26, courtesy of the World Digital Library Online
4.27. The carvings on the façade of the Mosque of Art Collection).
Yusuf Jorbagi (by the Ministry of Antiquities).
4.28. The plan of the Mosque of Yusuf Jorbagi (by the Annex: Four Ottoman Sabil-Kuttabs
Ministry of Antiquities). 6.1. The façade of the Sabil of Khusruw Pasha (courte-
4.29. The façade of the Mosque of Muhammad Bek sy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
Abu al-Dhahab (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan). 6.2. The plan of the Sabil and Kuttab of Khusruw
4.30. The plan of the Mosque of Muhammad Bek Pasha (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
Abu al-Dhahab (by the Ministry of Antiquities). 6.3. The shadirwan of the Sabil of Taghribirdi.
4.31. The main and side entrances of the Mosque of 6.4. The ceiling of the Sabil of Taghribirdi.
Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab. 6.5. A detail of the windows of the Sabil of Sultan
4.32. The shallow dome above the mausoleum of Mahmud I.
Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab. 6.6. An archive photograph that shows the metal
4.33. The three entrances to the prayer area of the grilles of the Sabil of Sultan Mahmud I (courtesy of
Mosque of Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab. Ibrahim Ramadan).
4.34. The mihrab and minbar of the Mosque of 6.7. The tilework in the Sabil of Sultan Mahmud I
Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab. (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan).
4.35. A detail of a drawing by Émile Prisse d’Avennes 6.8. The façade of the Sabil of Sultan Mustafa III
of al-Azhar Mosque showing the full bulbs that (courtesy of Archinos Architecture).
topped the minaret of the Mosque of Muhammad 6.9. The Dutch delft tilework inside the Sabil of Sultan
Bek Abu al-Dhahab and their state nowadays (after Mustafa III (courtesy of Archinos Architecture).
Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art Arabe).
4.36. The northern façade of the Takiya Refa‘iya. Color Image Section
4.37. The nonextant upper floor of rooms of the Plate 1.1. The rear of the Mosque and Madrasa of
Takiya Refa‘iya (courtesy of Historic Cairo online Khayrbak, Alin Aq, and the Zawiya of Shaykh
photographs). ‘Abdallah al-Baz.
4.38. The plan of the Takiya Refa‘iya (plan after the Plate 1.2. An aerial view of the Takiya al-Kulshani
Comité). (courtesy of the World Monuments Fund website).
4.39. An archive photograph showing the mihrab of Plate 1.3. The elongated hall of the Mosque-Madrasa
the Takiya Refa‘iya and the maqsura in the qibla of Khayrbak.
iwan (courtesy of Ibrahim Ramadan). Plate 1.4. The main façade of the mausoleum dome of
4.40. The rooms for Sufis of the Takiya Refa‘iya. the Takiya of al-Kulshani.
 Illustrations xix

Plate 1.5. The dome of the Zawiya of Shaykh Seoud. Plate 3.3. The qibla wall of the Mosque of Alti
Plate 2.1. The central dome and semidomes of the Barmak.
Mosque of Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim (courtesy Plate 3.4. The interior of the Mosque of Mustafa
of Museum with No Frontiers Islamic Art online Jorbagi Mirza.
collection). Plate 3.5. The sidilla inside the Mosque of Mustafa
Plate 2.2. The dome of the mausoleum of Prince Jorbagi Mirza.
Suleiman at the time where it retained most of its Plate 3.6. The wooden panels in the ceiling of the
tilework (by Karim Saada). Mosque of Taghribirdi.
Plate 2.3. The interior of the Mosque of Sinan Pasha. Plate 4.1. The mihrab of the Mosque of al-Fakahani.
Plate 3.1. The interior of the Mosque of al-Burdayni. Plate 4.2. The interior view of the dome of the
Plate 3.2. The walls of the Mosque of al-Burdayni side Mosque of Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab.
by side with the drawing by Émile Prisse d’Avennes Plate 4.3. The exterior view of the dome of the
(after Émile Prisse d’Avennes, L’Art Arabe). Mosque of Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab.
 Historical Introduction

The Origin of the Ottomans and the Iznik. His son and successor Kilij Arslan later moved
Architecture of the Beyliks in Anatolia the capital to the city of Konya.
A. The Seljuks The Mongol invasions of the beginning of the
The expansion of Shi‘i power in the Islamic world thirteenth century put an end to Seljuk power in Iran,
during the eleventh century resulted in the invasions but it survived in Anatolia until the year 641/1243
of the Sunni Muslim tribes known as the Seljuks, when they also lost their autonomy to the Ilkhanids
a military power from the Oghuz (Ghuzz) Turkish at the Battle of Köse Dağ. For the rest of the four-
tribes. They were part of a confederation of Turkish teenth century, they acted as vassels for the Mongol
tribes who lived, at least until the eleventh century, Ilkhanids, but this dissolution of their power left be-
in the steppes of Central Asia and Mongolia. They hind small principalities known as Beyliks.
founded by the middle of the eleventh century an
Empire that included Iran, Mesopotamia, and most of B. The Beyliks
Syria, in addition to Palestine. In the year 464/1071, The power of the Beyliks increased after the fall of
their leader Alp Arslan defeated the Byzantine army the Ilkhanids in 735/1335. The leaders of one of
at the Battle of Manzikert, a defeat that encouraged the Beyliks was the Osmanli household who were
many Turkish tribes to settle in Asia Minor. The centered first around the city of Konya, but later
Seljuks built many madrasas (Islamic teaching insti- moved to the city of Bursa. They constantly recruit-
tutions) to diffuse the teachings of Sunni Islam all ed new soliders, growing in strength and taking over
over their Empire. rival Beyliks around them. By the year 758/1357,
As their power increased in Anatolia, their leader they had even crossed the Dardanelles into Europe
Suleiman ibn Qutulmish declared himself Sultan of and they moved their capital again to the city of
Rum in 468/1075, which became an independent Edirne. During their campaigns, they captured many
Seljuk state in Anatolia, whose capital was the city of Christian children who were then given a military

1
2 Historical Introduction

and religious education and converted to Islam. near Istanbul. It is built of coarse rubble masonry.
These new troops became known as the Janissaries, The large dome sits on squinches “whose arches are
who like the Mamluks of Egypt, became the elite of tied by iron bars.” Both the iron hooks above the en-
their army. An invasion by the Mongol ruler Timur, trance door and the Byzantine capitals used as bases
created a setback in their power in 804/1402, but this for posts suggest a wooden porch. One of the largest
was short-lived and they managed to regain all their domes in a single-unit type mosque can be seen on
territory. the Mosque of Yıldırım Bayezid in Mudurnu built
around the year 784/1382.4 The 19.65-meter dome
C. The Ottomans sits on squinches, and the walls under the squinches
The origin of the Ottomans can be traced back to are thickened to safeguard against the heavy weight of
Osman Ghazi, leader of the Osmanli family, who the dome. A three-bay porch stands at the front of the
managed to unite the power of the Beyliks under his central bay and is covered by a small, fluted dome.
rule. After Ghazi’s death in 723/1323, his successors The minaret is not the original one, and dates from
managed to gain power, in spite of the setback of the 1157/1744 (figure I.1).
Timurid invasion. Mehmet II, known as the conquer- An example of the second prototype, namely the
or, captured the city of Constantinople in 857/1453, iwan type, is the Mosque of Orhan Gazi built in
putting an end to the Byzantine era and extending 740/1339 in the city of Bursa. It is also known as a
his empire into the Balkans. The name of the city was
changed from Constantinople to Istanbul, and it be-
came the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
For over five hundred years, they ruled an area
now occupied by fifteen states. Depending on the
length of rule and the amount of direct control they
had in an area, Ottoman architecture can be seen in
many places in varying degrees. To explain briefly
what the Ottoman style of architecture is, one has to
trace it back to the architecture of the Beyliks.1
The Beyliks, especially the house of Osman, were
great builders. Aptullah Kuran2 divided the early
Ottoman mosques into three prototypes.3 The plan of
the single-unit prototype is a domed square chamber
with a front porch and a minaret. The iwan prototype
combines one or more iwans around a central domed
area with rooms, in the presence of a front porch and
a minaret. The third prototype, which is the multi-
unit type, is described as a large interior space divid-
ed into smaller spaces by columns or pillars with the
central space topped with a large dome. In this case,
instead of a porch, an open court surrounded by a
portico that is covered with shallow domes precedes
the closed interior space.
An example of the single-unit prototype is the Figure I.1. Mosque of Yıldırım Bayezid in Mudurnu
Mosque of Orhan Gazi in the town of Gebze, located (plan after Archnet).
 The Origin of the Ottomans and the Architecture of the Beyliks in Anatolia 3

zawiya-type multifunctional mosque. The plan shows The third prototype, namely the multiunit type, can
a five-bayed portico, which leads to a central hall cov- be seen in the Üç Şerefeli Mosque, begun by Murad
ered with a large dome. Beyond this central hall, two II in the city of Edirne in 841/1437. Üç Şerefeli refers
steps lead up to the qibla iwan, which is covered with to the three balconies on its southwestern minaret.
an elliptical vault. Two raised side iwans can be seen, The plan shows a square space divided into a court
one on each side of the central hall, and are also cov- surrounded by a portico that is covered with shallow
ered by domes. The function of the two side iwans domes. The mosque has four minarets, one at each of
may have been as “hostels for travelling dervishes and its four corners, followed by an oblong domed prayer
the religious brotherhoods.”5 hall. A huge dome covers the center of the prayer hall,
Another example of the zawiya-type building is the which is supported by massive hexagonal piers on the
Mosque of Murad I in Bursa (c. 767–87/1366–85). east and west sides, and by exterior walls on the other
The combination of the zawiya-type on the ground two sides. Four smaller domes cover the four corners
floor with a madrasa on the second floor is an interest- of the oblong prayer hall, while the triangular spaces
ing design. The porch with its five bays leads through a between the central dome and the corner units are filled
vestibule to the main central hall, in this case a domed with tripartite vaults, with stalactites and supporting
court surrounded by four iwans with six rooms filling small domes in the centers. The exterior gives the im-
the corner spaces. The two staircases flanking the vesti- pression of “a cascade of domes,”8 which starts with the
bule, which can be seen on the plan, lead up to the ma- big dome and goes down to the domes of the portico
drasa on the second floor. On the second floor there is of the court. Arched buttresses surround the drum of
a gallery over the portico and a vaulted room over the the central dome, and the interior tile decoration is a
vestibule. A barrel-vaulted gallery runs around three continuation of the style seen in the earlier Yeşil Camii
sides of the domed court with cells opening onto the in Bursa. The many new features seen in this mosque
gallery. A narrow passage runs around the qibla iwan influenced many later Ottoman buildings (figure I.3).
and leads to a small domed room behind and above In 847/1453, Mehmet II, also known as Mehmet
the mihrab. Although the function of this room is not the Conqueror, defeated the Byzantine Empire and
clear, it could have possibly served as a small oratory took over Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul
on the upper floor (figure I.2).6 and having it serve as the Ottomans’ new capital.
In the year 816/1413, Mehmet I Çelebi (r. 816– The Byzantine Church of Hagia Sophia was trans-
24/1413–21) became the ruler of a unified empire in formed into a mosque. The massive dome of the
Europe and Anatolia, with the city of Edirne serving Hagia Sophia inspired the Ottomans to develop the
as its capital. Bursa remained important because it was idea of “the cascade of domes” seen in the aforemen-
the traditional burial place of early Ottoman rulers of tioned Üç Şerefeli Mosque. Istanbul became a center
the Beyliks period. The famous Yeşil complex in Bursa, of the arts. Craftsmen came from all over the world
which included a madrasa, a hammam, a tomb, and a to work, and palaces as well as religious complexes
soup kitchen, shows a continuation of the zawiya-type were built and lavishly decorated. A good example
mosque with the addition of a royal balcony overlook- of the latter is the Fatih Complex built by Mehmet
ing the central hall. Its extensive tile decorations con- the Conqueror, which was begun in 867/1463 and
sist of hexagonal monochrome tiles with stenciled gold completed by 876/1471. This was built on the fourth
designs, and the mihrab shows tile mosaic and cuerda of the seven hills of Istanbul, the former site of the
seca tiles.7 This tile decoration suggests Timurid influ- Church of the Holy Apostles and the burial place of
ence; in fact, one of the craftsmen’s signatures reads, the Byzantine emperor. Its architect was Sinan the
“work of a master from Tabriz.” The octagonal tomb elder, whose son Sinan is considered the most famous
also shows tile decoration. architect of the Ottomans.
4 Historical Introduction

Figure I.2. Mosque of Murad I in Bursa (plan after Archnet).

Even before the conquest of Constantinople, the Mehmet the Conqueror built magnificent palaces
Ottomans also built madrasas, the first of which was with lavish decoration in Istanbul, employing crafts-
founded in the city of İznik (c. 731/1331), followed men from Europe, Persia, and provinces that were
by many in Bursa, Edirne, and then Istanbul after part of the Ottoman Empire. His religious architec-
the conquest. They consisted of open courts sur- ture was, on the other hand, more conservative. He
rounded by rooms. Since madrasas were important continued building complexes with a large mosque in
for the dissemination of Turkish culture, they spread the center and madrasas and other functional build-
all over the empire and were maintained through ings surrounding it. The Fatih Complex in Istanbul is
waqf documents. The Ottomans also built caravan- a continuation of earlier examples. The mosque was
serais, not only on trade routes but also in towns for built on the multiunit prototype. In this case, two
wholesale trade, as well as other commercial struc- huge porphyry columns, two pillars, and the walls
tures that provided a steady source of revenue for supported the 26-meter diameter dome. (The dome
religious buildings.9 of the Hagia Sophia is larger at 31 meters in diameter,
 The Origin of the Ottomans and the Architecture of the Beyliks in Anatolia 5

Figure I.3. Üç Şerefeli Mosque in Edirne

(plan after Archnet).

and that of the Üç Şerefeli Mosque smaller at 24.10 sense of integration than does the Fatih mosque.”10
meters in diameter). The major development here Sultan Selim the Grim was not as interested in archi-
was the presence of the semidomes inspired by the ar- tecture as his predecessors, but it is during his reign
chitecture of the Hagia Sophia. The original mosque, that the famous architect Sinan appears on the scene.
unfortunately, did not survive. The son of a Christian family from Anatolia, he was
Mehmet the Conqueror was succeeded by his son trained in both science and architecture and even be-
Bayezid II (r. 886–918/1481–1512), followed by came a Janissary in 927/1521. He became the chief
his grandson Selim the Grim (r. 918–26/1512–20). court architect during the reign of Sultan Selim’s son
Bayezid’s most famous monument is his complex Suleiman, also known as Suleiman the Magnificent.
in Istanbul (c. 905–10/1500–05). The plan of the His first major commission was the Şehzade Complex
prayer area consists of a central dome encompassed in Istanbul in memory of Sultan Suleiman’s son, who
by a semidome at each end and an aisle with four had died from smallpox at the age of twenty-two.11
small domes on each side. “The cascade of domes The complex was built between 952/1545 and
from the mosque to its courtyard shows a far greater 955/1548 on the third hill of Istanbul. The multiunit
6 Historical Introduction

mosque plan shows a 19-meter diameter dome on the name of Sultan Selim Shah from all the pulpits
four pillars surrounded by four semidomes and four of Old Cairo.13 The last Mamluk sultan, Tumanbay
small domes in the corners. The load of the dome is II, was hanged at Bab Zuwayla and Egypt was re-
carried on the four pillars and the buttresses located duced to a province, one of thirty-two under the
along the exterior walls. “The massiveness of the but- Ottoman Empire. Cairo had been the capital of the
tresses has been concealed by removing the exterior entire Islamic Empire, the seat of the sultan and the
walls, except on the side of the mosque facing the caliph during the Mamluk dynasty from the time of
court towards the inner face of the buttresses. In that Sultan Baybars al-Bunduqdari (r. 658–75/1260–77),
way most of their bulk lies outside the mosque.”12 who revived the Abbasid caliphate in Egypt with
Sinan the architect is credited with designing build- the appointment of a member of the Abbasid fam-
ings in several provinces of the Ottoman Empire in- ily after the Mongols killed the caliph in Baghdad.
cluding Syria, but not in Egypt. Now Cairo became the capital of Egypt only, and
Years later, by 923/1517, the Ottomans had tak- the caliph was taken to Istanbul. The Mamluks, who
en both Syria and Egypt from the Mamluks, and by had ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1516 and had pos-
932/1526 their borders reached as far as Hungary, sessed the strongest army, an army that had defeated
which they incorporated into their empire, and the Mongols at the Battle of ‘Ain Jalut in 656/1258,
abutted Mughal India. were now defeated by the Ottoman army. At first, the
The city of Cairo had been the capital of the Ottoman sultan wanted to exterminate the Mamluk
Islamic Empire since the destruction of Baghdad by army, but he quickly changed his mind and incorpo-
the Mongols in 656/1258, and was full of splendid rated them into the Ottoman army. He most proba-
Mamluk buildings, very different from the ones built bly realized their strength and their common origin
in Anatolia. The question immediately arises: which with the Ottoman Janissaries as Mamluks, and the
architectural style would prevail? The Ottoman or the fact that many already spoke Turkish. The Mamluks
Mamluk? Before an attempt is made to answer the were military slaves brought by slave merchants to
question, a short look at Ottoman architecture after Egypt from the Qipshak Steppes, southern Persia,
the conquest of Constantinople and at the time of the northern Turkey, and Mongolia, while many of the
conquest of Egypt is necessary. Janissaries were of European origin. The Mamluks
received military training and were taught the Arabic
The Ottomans of Egypt language and the religion of Islam, since they would
The Mamluks took over power in Egypt from the be serving in a Muslim army. After many years of
Ayyubids in 648/1250 and ruled both Egypt and studying and training, they were partially manumit-
Syria for over two hundred years, becoming not only ted after becoming the educated elite with the highest
military rulers but also great patrons of art and ar- posts in the army.
chitecture. Their monuments still stand witness to Immediately after the conquest of Egypt, Sultan
their love of architectural patronage. The Ottoman Selim made it clear that pious endowments were fore-
sultan Selim wrested control first of Syria and then most in his mind. He ordered a survey of fief docu-
of Egypt from the Mamluks in the year 922/1516. ments and waqf documents, and new registries were
The Ottoman period in Egypt began with the defeat made (but the old ones kept reappearing). A new
of the Mamluk army led by Sultan Tumanbay II (r. nazir al-awqaf (administrator of waqf documents)
922–23/1516–17), Qansuh al-Ghuri’s fleeting suc- was appointed in 928/1522. He instituted reforms
cessor, by the Ottoman forces in Ridaniya at the gates that allowed Ottoman Turks to lodge and to be em-
of Cairo on 29 Dhu al-Hijjah 922/23 January 1517. ployed in all the major religious institutions. He also
On the following day, a Friday sermon was given in restrained the power of Sufi shaykhs and religious
 The Ottomans of Egypt 7

scholars and tried to prevent the violation of waqfs, districts, compared to the seven districts under the
which was common at the end of the Mamluk peri- Mamluks, and he chose an Ottoman viceroy for one
od. He stipulated that Mamluk pious endowments district and a Mamluk viceroy for the other. The re-
should not be violated as long as their legality was sult was a revolt by Janbirdi al-Ghazali, who tried to
confirmed. Under the Mamluks, pious endowments control all of Syria by appointing himself as sultan,
were exempt from taxes. This law was rejected by but the revolt was crushed by an Ottoman army in
the Ottomans because of their need to find reve- 927/1521, just three months after it started.20
nue for the treasury (bayt al-mal). This, of course, The revolt in Syria encouraged the Turkish
led to problems because the religious establishment Viceroy of Egypt, Ahmad Pasha, who had succeed-
in Egypt lived on posts in the waqf structures and ed Khayrbak, to also revolt in 930/1524. But he was
they fought for their interest.14 The Ottomans pro- also crushed and replaced by Sultan Suleiman the
hibited istibdal, the exchange of waqf property, but it Magnificent with the help of Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha,
still continued, and was often misused to disguise the grand vizier and brother-in-law of Sultan Suleiman.21
sale of an endowed property so that taxes were then These revolts pushed Suleiman the Magnificent to
collected on the property.15 Other methods of disso- change his policy of appointing governors in Syria
lution of waqfs continued, such as long-term leases and contained them in Egypt under one Ottoman
and khuluw,16 in which shops were rented for a spec- viceroy. With Ibrahim Pasha22 suppressing the revolt
ified time in return for a large sum of money.17 These of Ahmad Pasha in Egypt, in 931/1525 the Sultan
methods were applied in dealing with a large waqf promulgated the Kanunname, which established the
estate that was no longer lucrative for a new tenant to military and civil administration of the empire. This
restore it.18 Religious endowments were re-endowed rested on three basic elements: the governor (the pa-
and adapted to meet the requirements of the new sha), the judge (the qadi) and the Janissaries. The ju-
owner. The Khanqah Nizamiya, for example, became risdiction of the pasha was very broad and included
a zawiya for the Khalwati Order, and the Madrasa of civil and military authority. Appointed pashas lived in
Amir Sunqur Sa‘di a takiya for the Mevlevi Order. In the Citadel of Cairo, but the sultan tended to change
fact, when the Ottomans conquered Egypt, they want- them frequently to prevent them from trying to be-
ed to secure the support of its scholars by maintain- come independent. The pasha’s power was also lim-
ing the waqf system. Ironically, “most of the Turkish ited because he was supervised by the judge and the
chronicles dealing with the conquest emphasize the agha, who were also appointed by the sultan.23 The
abuses of the waqf system by Sultan Al-Ghuri as a power of the judge lay in his boundless jurisdiction
good argument for the Ottomans to overthrow his in the courts, which included disputes about waqf
regime,”19 due to the illicit exchange of waqf proper- documents, especially the ones that included estates
ty, a procedure used to replace a nonprofitable estate or commercial buildings producing an income to be
with a profitable one. used for the restoration of religious buildings. The
When Sultan Selim decided to return to Istanbul, agha commanded the Janissaries. They had helped
he appointed the Mamluk amir Khayrbak as viceroy. to conquer both Syria and Egypt and remained to
Khayrbak had been the Viceroy of Aleppo and was the help the pashas administer the country. They became
traitor who helped the Ottomans conquer Egypt. The known as mustahfizan, meaning the guardians, and
sultan also appointed the Mamluk Janbirdi al-Ghaza- they were assisted by several other militia, the most
li as viceroy over several districts in Syria. Selim un- important being the ‘Azabs. Their leader was an agha,
derstood that the Mamluks knew the area well and but they also took their orders from a katkhuda who
therefore were more capable than an Ottoman offi- was equivalent to a lieutenant. The Ottomans allowed
cial alone. He, in fact, divided Syria into only two a number of Mamluks in Egypt to keep their posts
8 Historical Introduction

and positions, such as maintaining control of the ad- was similar to the Ottoman devshirme recruitment
ministration of the provinces, and holding important of Janissaries.25 This would allow the Mamluks later
posts in the army. The Mamluks were considered an to reorganize themselves and compete with the pa-
elite class, and they were allowed to buy new slave sol- shas. Egypt was in fact divided into five main prov-
diers and maintain large households; they remained inces by Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim, the viceroy sent
long-time rivals of the Janissaries. to Egypt by Suleiman the Magnificent. These main
According to the Kanunname, the Ottoman army provinces were subdivided into twenty-four smaller
in Egypt was made up of several corps or ojaks: units: three in Upper Egypt, seven in Middle Egypt,
• The Janissaries. and fourteen in Lower Egypt; but this structure was
• The ‘Azabs, infantrymen whose number was changed several times after that. Cairo remained the
limited to five hundred and who were all capital, the seat of the government, and the residence
Anatolians. of the pasha. Cairo was also considered the second
• The Mutafarriqa, a combined infantry and cav- capital of the empire after Istanbul.26 The Ottoman
alry corps who were Mamluks. conquest, of course, resulted in a regular influx of not
• The Jawish, with forty men attached directly to only military personnel, but also of officials from
the pasha. the Ottoman capital. Some were only appointed for
• The Sipahis, a cavalry corps of riflemen whose a short period, while others settled in Egypt. On
number was limited to nine hundred, and who the other hand, many Egyptians went to Istanbul to
led a series of rebellions at the end of the six- study and returned to become teachers. They joined
teenth century. intellectual and religious gatherings, which includ-
• The Volunteers, whose number could not ex- ed both Turkish and Egyptian dignitaries. One
ceed eleven hundred men. would have expected a strong Ottoman influence
• The Circassian cavalry, whose number was not on the culture and architecture of Egypt, as can be
limited by the Kanunname. seen in other Ottoman provinces, for instance in
Syria, but this did not occur in Cairo. When we
In time, members of these ojaks married and set- look at Cairene architecture during the Ottoman
tled in Egypt, and were assimilated into society. The period prior to the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali, only
Mamluks, who reached the rank of officers in the four mosques were built imitating grand mosques
army, became beys. A bey is equivalent to an amir in in the Turkish capital: Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim at
the Mamluk dynasty, but the bey was not a fief hold- the Citadel (c. 930/1524, monument number 142);
er; he was paid for his services. Later in the seven- Sinan Pasha in Bulaq (c. 979/1571, monument
teenth century, salaries were replaced by iltizam rights number 349); Malika Safiyya, near Muhammad ‘Ali
(tax-farming rights).24 The iltizam could be inherited Street (c.1019/1610, monument number 200); and
as long as the heirs paid a certain tax. Muhammad Bek Abu al-Dhahab opposite al-Azhar
The pashas managed to control the affairs of mosque (c. 1188/1774, monument number 98). This
Egypt for the first one hundred years after the con- is a very small number considering that, as André
quest. In the next century the beys entered the stage Raymond points out, 175 mosques were built during
as a power. Not all beys were Mamluk recruits, and that period in Cairo.27 Reasons for this can only be
many sons of Mamluks became beys. Sultan Selim suggested, such as Selim the Grim’s admiration of
had, in fact, entrusted the government to officials Mamluk buildings to the point of sending Egyptian
from the former regime, thus retaining Mamluks craftsmen to work in Istanbul, and the lack of space
and their institutions. One has to bear in mind, as for an Imperial-style mosque in already crowded
mentioned before, that the Mamluk slave system Cairo, where Mamluk architects had designed their
 The Ottomans of Egypt 9

architectural plans to fit available spaces and streets. copy of the one built in the same neighborhood by
Raymond, relying on a study of the location of Sultan al-Ghuri (c. 909/1503, monument number
Mamluk monuments, estimates the built-up area in 67), although Khusruw Pasha is known to have built
Cairo in 923/1517 at 453 hectares with a population Imperial-style buildings at Diyarbakır, Aleppo, and
of about 200,000.28 By the time of the Description Sarajevo.30 The more typical Turkish-style rounded
de l’Égypte, it had become 660 hectares and 260,000 sabil did not appear in Cairo before the middle of the
inhabitants, indicating little development in size of eighteenth century.
the built-up area or the population.29 The following chapters divide Ottoman Cairene
A clear Ottoman influence can be seen in the architecture into three distinctive periods, each in-
round, pencil-shaped minarets of most, but not all, fluenced by and serving its accompanying socio-
Ottoman mosques in Cairo, and in the diffusion of economic changes. The first chapter is “The Bridge
sabil-kuttabs across the city. Sabil-kuttabs attached to from Mamluk to Ottoman,” which brings forward
buildings, as well as freestanding ones, were already the impact of Mamluk religious architecture on the
known in Cairo during the Mamluk period. In fact, newcomers and the search for a new identity. The
the first Ottoman sabil-kuttab, built by Khusruw next three chapters follow a century-based chronol-
Pasha (c. 945/1538, monument number 52) and at- ogy with the aim of showing a timely evolution of a
tached to the wall of the Madrasa of al-Salih Najm newly emerging Ottoman identity that echoes that of
al-Din Ayyub in the al-Gamaliya area, is almost a the capital, Istanbul.
 Chapter 1
The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman
in the Early Sixteenth Century

This section refers to buildings built at the end of 1519, Jumada al-Awwal 926/April 1520, and Jumada
the Mamluk dynasty and inaugurated during the al-Awwal 927/April 1521 of some of these ironsmiths,
early years of the Ottoman dynasty. builders, woodworkers, marble workers, and masons
coming back to Cairo after a period of no longer than

C
airo during the Mamluk period was the cap- three years.2 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Shinnawi speculates that,
ital of the whole Islamic Empire and the on the other hand, another group of workers preferred
seat of a sultan as well as a Sunni caliph. The to stay in Istanbul for the abundance of opportuni-
Mamluks were great builders, and the glorious build- ties and perhaps for the fact that they had married
ings still standing remain as witnesses to their love of Circassians and settled down.3 This pushed Suleiman
art and architecture. It is sufficient to recall the dictum the Magnificent to issue a decree in Rajab 928/May
­­of the chief qadi of Fez who said, “He who has not 1522 ordering the sentencing of every Egyptian who
seen Cairo does not know the grandeur of Islam. . . . refused to return to Egypt.4
It is the city of the universe, the garden of the world.”1 After the Ottoman conquest and for the three fol-
The Ottomans and Sultan Selim were not blind to lowing centuries, Egypt lost its independence and
the beauty of the city they entered and conquered. In became a province, and Cairo lost its position as the
fact, Sultan Selim was so fascinated by Mamluk art capital of an empire, to remain as the capital of Egypt
and architecture that he carried off craftsmen, masons, only. An Ottoman pasha could not afford to build mon-
and materials from Cairo to Istanbul. Nevertheless, uments on the same scale as the Mamluks because after
Ibn Iyas mentions three incidences in Rajab 925/July 930/1524, the treasury remittance necessitated that a

11
12 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

yearly sum, fixed at a million gold pieces, be sent to exception is the works of ‘Abd al-Samad al-Diyarbakri,
the Imperial Treasury in Istanbul. In case of internal an Ottoman qadi who lived and worked in Egypt af-
problems in Egypt, the pasha had to send the sum ter the conquest, but he only covers until 945/1528.
from his own income. One must add here that most of Biographical compendia also provide important infor-
the pashas of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries mation about several religious establishments.
were from the devshirme, and had been educated in the “The Bridge” refers to buildings begun at the end
imperial household. But in spite of that, most of them of the Mamluk dynasty and finished during the early
had short terms of office. years after the Ottoman conquest. Five buildings will
The Ottoman buildings in Cairo are divided into be discussed in this section:
two main categories: the Imperial style and the local
Ottoman style. One would have expected the Imperial • The Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak
style to dominate, but in fact, a local combination of (1502–20)
Ottoman and Mamluk styles, where the Mamluk one • The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani (1519)
dominated, is what spread in Cairo. The main build- • The Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi (1522)
ing materials used by the Ottomans were baked bricks, • The Zawiya and Dome of Shaykh Seoud (1534)
cut limestone, marble, and wood. They also used • The Mosque of Shahin al-Khalwati (1537)
glazed tiles and glass for decoration. Arches, domes,
and vaults were made mostly of bricks. The domes The Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak
were covered with tiles until the sixteenth century, af- (908–26/1502–20)
ter which lead was used. Polychrome glazed tiles from Monument Number: 248
the city of İznik replaced marble from the sixteenth
century onward. The Ottomans introduced new types The founder
of buildings while continuing earlier ones. The khan- Khayrbak ibn Malbay was a Mamluk amir who was
qah institution, for instance, was abandoned and re- sent to Aleppo as viceroy by the Mamluk sultan
placed by zawiyas and takiyas. Freestanding sabils and al-Ghuri toward the end of the Burji Mamluk peri-
sabil-kuttabs spread all over the city, especially during od. He became known as The Traitor, or khaʾin bak,
the seventeenth century, probably because they were because he helped the Ottomans conquer both Syria
not as costly as other religious buildings to build and and Egypt while still serving as the Viceroy of Aleppo
maintain. Palaces and houses continued the Mamluk under the rule of Sultan al-Ghuri. He was appointed
style of architecture, as did the upper floors in wikalas, by Sultan Selim as the first Viceroy of Egypt under
which served as hotels for merchants. Ottoman build- Ottoman rule. He became a great ally to the Ottomans
ings in general have been considered as a decline when and helped them in their fight against the revolutions
compared with Mamluk ones; nevertheless, many of in Syria and was even granted the title Amir al-Uma-
the monuments are worthy of detailed studies. ra’ (the Leader of the Amirs) for life in return for his
The sixteenth century is, unfortunately, not well services.5 He ruled Egypt as the viceroy until his death
documented in Arabic primary sources. The most im- in 928/1522 during the reign of the Ottoman sultan
portant sources for that period are the chronicles of Suleiman the Magnificent. His direct successor was
Ibn Iyas, but they end in 928/1522, and the histori- Sinan Bey, who ruled for only thirty-eight days until
cal accounts of Muhammad bin Abi al-Surur al-Bakri, the arrival from Istanbul of Mustafa Pasha, who be-
which cover events until 1061/1651. Turkish literature came the first Turkish pasha to rule Egypt. Mustafa
dealing with the Ottoman conquest of Syria and Egypt Pasha was replaced after one year by Ahmad Pasha,
is abundant, but until the mid-seventeenth century, who tried to become independent from the Ottomans
Turkish authors depended on Egyptian sources. An in 930/1524 by claiming the title of Sultan of Egypt.
 The Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak 13

Sultan Suleiman sent Ibrahim Pasha, who managed to on the whole imposes itself visually on anyone ap-
defeat Ahmad and replace him as the pasha of Egypt. proaching along the street from the Citadel. The wide
While still a Mamluk amir, Khayrbak built a mauso- and receding archway connecting the mausoleum with
leum attached to the palace of the Mamluk amir Alin the Palace of Alin Aq creates the illusion of a unified
Aq, which he had acquired in the Tabbana Quarter façade rather than two distinct buildings from two dif-
in 908/1502. When he became the Ottoman vice- ferent dynasties, but the fenestration on the zone of
roy, Khayrbak established the waqf document for the transition of the dome consists of three bulls-eye win-
madrasa, which is dated Jumada al-Awwal 927/April dows above two vertical ones, a progression from the
1521. Additions were made to the document by his one bulls-eye window above two vertical ones that can
mamluk Janim al-Hamzawi in 937/1530. These stip- be seen on the façade of the earlier Alin Aq Palace. The
ulated that the madrasa was to teach hadith but not minaret beside the dome also continues the Mamluk
fıqh, with no specification of a particular madhhab tradition of an octagonal shaft over a small square base
and no mention of a Friday prayer, although it was with a round second tier. What would have been the
common by that time to hold Friday prayers in all re- typical Mamluk pavilion top was rebuilt by the Agha
ligious buildings. The minbar for the Friday sermon Khan Foundation, which restored the whole building
was added in the month of Ramadan 943/February in 2006. It is a brick minaret and not of stone, unlike
1536 during the second governorship of Suleiman most late Mamluk minarets, and the first octagonal
Pasha al-Khadim, who also added the hanging dikka shaft is decorated with keel arched recesses while the
opposite the minbar. In spite of the small size of the rounded second tier is decorated with an unusual geo-
madrasa, a large number of staff were appointed in it metrical design. The balconies around the shafts are
and their wages were paid from the revenues of the supported by muqarnas and, according to an archive
waqf. Among the personnel were nine Qur’an reciters, photograph by Girault de Prangey, the minaret had a
a Sufi shaykh, and twelve Sufi reciters to read a section wooden bulb at the top, like the one on the minaret
of the Qur’an daily. of the Madrasa of al-Zahir Jaqmaq located in Darb al-
Sa‘ada, which runs parallel to Port Said Street.6
The façade The façade of the mausoleum is more decorated
The main façade overlooks Tabbana Street. The mau- than the façade of the rest of the building. It is pierced
soleum, which was built first, is at an angle on the south with arched windows in pairs surmounted by circular
side of the building and is connected to the palace of oculi. Engaged slender columns flank the arched win-
Alin Aq by an arch with an interior staircase. When ap- dows, which are framed by a shallow band. The low-
proaching the complex from the Citadel, one sees two er windows are rectangular, surmounted by joggled
sides of the mausoleum. The stone dome of the mau- lintels with waved joints. Empty cartouche bands
soleum is decorated with a stem and leaf design, which separate the upper and lower windows. Two engaged
continues the tradition of the dome of Sultan Qaytbay corner columns with shafts decorated with a chevron
in the Northeastern Cemetery; nevertheless, the exte- pattern and muqarnas capitals can be seen in the pro-
rior transitional zone is pyramid-shaped like the dome jecting corners of the mausoleum. The façade of the
of the Mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi further down the mausoleum also shows carved stone panels in relief,
road going toward Bab Zuwayla (c. 885/1480). The which retain the spirit of the decorated panels of the
carved decoration on the mausoleum dome displays period of Sultan Qaytbay.7 In contrast, the façade of
two superimposed and intertwined patterns of repet- the mosque is pierced with arched windows above
itive curved lozenges, forming heart shapes, and scrolls rectangular ones placed within muqarnas niches, and
of arabesque. The windows of the mausoleum are ac- no carved stone panels are included in the decoration
centuated with fine marble inlay, and the mausoleum (figure 1.1).
14 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

by the Tomb and Zawiya of Shaykh ‘Abdallah al-Baz

(eleventh/seventeenth century, monument number
U58)8 and is bordered by the Ayyubid wall of Salah
al-Din separating it from the cemetery of Bab al-Wa-
zir (plate 1.1). The tomb of the shaykh is a freestand-
ing octagonal domed structure (A in plate 1.1) while
the zawiya is relatively plain but with an interesting
skewed mihrab (B in plate 1.1). Five rooms located
beneath the madrasa of Khayrbak open onto this
backyard, and they were dedicated for the residence
of the twelve Sufis mentioned in the waqf document.
The waqf document also includes the salaries for nine
Qurʾan reciters to read at the windows of the mosque
in addition to the reading of the twelve Sufis and two
additional readers mentioned in the mausoleum. A
hadith reader to read during the months of Rajab,
Sha‘ban, and Ramadan is also mentioned in the
waqfiya.9

The plan
The interior of the prayer area is reached by a flight of
steps leading to a plain tri-lobed entrance framed by
a double molding with continuous circular loops (fig-
ure 1.4). Above the doorway are an uncarved lintel
and relieving arch topped by an empty cartouche and
Figure 1.1. The façade and mausoleum of Khayrbak.
a square window. The entrance with its pharaonic sill
opens onto a small vestibule followed by an elongated
hall covered by three cross vaults supported by point-
The entrance ed arches (plate 1.2). The central vault is pierced with
The entrance, which lies at the northern end of the an octagonal oculus to bring in light. The plan is
recessed façade of the mosque, is placed in a tri-lobed unusual, but the late Mamluk mosques of Qanibay
groin vaulted portal and is reached by a short flight al-Rammah near the Citadel and of al-Ghuri at Sabil
of descending steps caused by the rising street level al-Mu’minin10 are also entirely roofed with vaults.11
(figure 1.2). The entrance then leads to a rectangular The vaults are constructed with alternating courses
space topped by a barrel vault, followed by a groin of terra-cotta and biscuit-colored ablaq masonry.12
vault. Opposite the entrance, one sees a recess that The lower walls are covered with colored marble pan-
bears a painted Qurʾanic inscription from Sura 2:25 els topped by an inscription frieze of black paste in-
(figure 1.3). The entrance then bends to the left, lead- cised in white marble. The mihrab is placed in the
ing to the entrance of the sabil on the left and the center of the eastern wall with a plain stone conch.
backyard with the entrance of the mosque-madrasa on The windows above the mihrab are partly hidden
the right. One has to ascend several steps to reach the by the springing of the arch supporting the central
entrance of the madrasa. The large backyard, which vault. This may indicate that the original roof was flat
is behind the madrasa on the east side, is occupied and was changed to a cross vault when the building
 The Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak 15

mihrab, as well as the skewed orientation of the qibla

wall indicate an earlier date of the wall. The madrasa
has no dated inscription, but there is no break in the
bond of the masonry of the madrasa and the mauso-
leum to suggest they were built at different times.13
A hanging wooden dikka (figure 1.5) stands direct-
ly opposite the mihrab and the minbar on the western
wall. This wall, which was adjusted to respect street
alignment, includes five recesses with windows, mir-
roring the same arrangement of the qibla wall opposite
but with the mihrab in the center. The base of the dik-
ka seen by the viewer from below is a carved, paint-
ed wooden base that is divided into squares painted
with floral designs with a Qurʾanic inscription frieze
running underneath. Under the mashrabiya balustrade
of the dikka, there is another line of painted Qur’anic
inscriptions placed in cartouches. The qibla wall in this
madrasa does not have the same orientation as the qib-
la wall of the mausoleum with a precise diversion of 29
degrees. This does occur in several buildings, but the
correct orientation in this building is in the mausole-
um, which is quite unusual.14

The mausoleum
The mausoleum, which lies on the southern side of
the prayer hall, has an interesting entrance. It looks
like an outer entrance framed by a double molding
with continuous loops flanked with side benches. It
is placed in a tri-lobed recess with a groin vault dec-
orated with ablaq masonry and stalactites in the two
side lobes. The walls of the mausoleum lie at an an-
gle to the street; the inner window openings do not
correspond to the outer ones so that openings run
obliquely through the thickness of the wall (figure
1.6). The first recess on the right of the entrance of
the mausoleum leads to a small corridor that ends in
Figure 1.2. The entrance of the Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak.
a square area topped with a shallow dome. The dome
is made of masonry stones arranged in concentric cir-
became a madrasa, suggesting that there may have cles, the apex of which features a whirling design, sur-
been a small musalla (prayer area) attached to the rounded by a frieze of Qur’anic inscription. Another
mausoleum, which was turned into a madrasa when larger carved Qur’anic inscription band runs around
Khayrbak became the Viceroy of Egypt. The partly the four sides of this small shallow-domed space (fig-
hidden windows, the lack of an oculus above the ure 1.7), above which stands the brick minaret.
16 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

Figure 1.3. The recess in the vestibule, opposite the entrance of the Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak. Inscription from
Qur’an 2:25.

Figure 1.4. The plan of the Madrasa and Mausoleum of Khayrbak (plan after Archnet).
 The Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak 17

Figure 1.5. The dikka of the Mosque and Madrasa of Khayrbak.

The mausoleum consists of a large square room on the left side of the mausoleum’s mihrab is a dis-
topped with a large stone dome. The interior of the guised entrance that leads to a staircase that connects
dome shows at its apex a carved band of inscription the mausoleum with the palace. The lower parts of the
with a whirling design in the center. The rest of the walls of the mausoleum are covered with colored mar-
dome is decorated with a painted design of upright and ble panels, similar to those inside the prayer area; nev-
inverted tri-lobed leaves knotted together in a continu- ertheless, the frieze above the panels in the mausoleum
ous pattern. The large dome is supported on huge sta- is decorated with geometrical designs (figure 1.9).
lactite pendentives in contrast to the pyramid-shaped
transitional zone on the outside (figure 1.8). A large The sabil
frieze of carved inscriptions runs around the walls of The sabil and kuttab were added by al-Hamzawi at
the mausoleum, which includes the foundation in- the same time as the madrasa, as mentioned earlier,
scription, verifying its earlier construction date. As and lie north of the entrance on the street. The sabil
mentioned before, this mausoleum was built in 908– has three windows overlooking the main street and
9/1502–3 and was attached to the palace of the Bahri projects out to align more or less with the façade of
Mamluk Amir Alin Aq (c. 693/1293), which served as the mausoleum. The windows of the sabil are framed
the residence of several amirs before Khayrbak and lat- with double moldings with loops, which also frame
er housed Ibrahim Agha Mustahfizan. The cupboard the lintel and the relieving arch, and divide them into
18 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

In 927/1521 the prayer hall was turned into a ma-

drasa and the waqf document was written to include
the details of salaries and all the people to be paid. The
roof was probably changed to groin vaults, causing
some of the windows above the mihrab to be hidden,
and the hanging dikka was added. The madrasa was to
teach only hadith and no specific rite was mentioned.
In 931/1530, the amir Janim al-Hamzawi made
additions to his master’s waqf document. A year later,
the minbar commissioned by Suleiman Pasha al-Khad-
im was added and Friday prayers were introduced.
The sabil-kuttab was added by Janim al-Hamzawi,
and it is located on the left of the entrance corridor.
The wood and stone carving in the interior, and the
shallow dome of the sabil, might be compared to those
formed on top of the vaulted ceiling in the Mosque of
Qanibay al-Rammah, behind al-Mahmudiya Mosque
on Salah al-Din Square (c. 908/1503).

The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani

(926–30/1519–24)
Monument Number: 332

Figure 1.6. The inner window openings do not correspond Also known as the Takiyat al-Kulshaniya, it is the first
to the outer ones so that openings run obliquely through the religious foundation built in Cairo after the Ottoman
thickness of the wall inside the Mausoleum of Khayrbak.
conquest in 923/1517, and the first building to be desig-
nated as a takiya by its foundation or waqf deed. The first
waqfiya containing a description of the original building
a number of panels that are carved with geometrical and its dependencies, as well as its function, has fortu-
and floral designs. The lintel is decorated with marble nately survived. Although the building is called a takiya
inlay featuring a tri-lobed motif in both upright and in the waqf deed, the biographers of Shaykh al-Kulshani
inverted positions. Inside, the sabil hall is topped with call it a zawiya because, like the Zawiya of Shaykh Hasan
a shallow dome on spherical triangle pendentives, al-Rumi, it contains living quarters for Sufis, as well as
with stone carvings covering the walls showing both the tomb of the shaykh and a prayer area. Doris Behrens-
geometrical and floral designs. The wall on the left Abouseif assumes that takiya and zawiya were synonyms
side of the entrance to the sabil contains a niche with at the beginning of the Ottoman dynasty.16 In fact, taki-
a stalactite hood, which contains the shadirwan.15 yas will later also be called madrasas, as we shall see with
the Takiya-Madrasa of Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim.
Summary
The mausoleum was built in 908–9/1502–3 and was The founder
probably attached to a small prayer area built on top Ibrahim al-Kulshani was a Sufi shaykh who had
of five rooms for Sufis whose job was to recite sections escaped from the Safavid conquest of Azerbaijan
from the Qur’an daily. to Cairo during the reign of Sultan al-Ghuri. He
 The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani 19

Figure 1.7. The square area between the mausoleum and the outer window with its Qurʾanic inscription and shallow dome.

belonged to the Sufi Khalwati order like the two oth- the Ottoman conquest, he built a zawiya in the same
er Khalwati Sufi shaykhs who had settled in Cairo area where he became very popular. His populari-
during the reign of Sultan Qaytbay, namely ‘Abdallah ty gave rise to suspicion, to the degree that he was
al-Damirdash and Shahin al-Khalwati. Ibrahim summoned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to
settled down first in a zawiya outside of Cairo un- Istanbul. He was then allowed to return to Cairo,
til he was granted living quarters in the Mosque of where he lived in his zawiya until he died during a
Sultan al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh at Bab Zuwayla. After plague epidemic in 950/1543. He was, in fact, a rich
20 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

Figure 1.8. The interior of the dome of the Mausoleum of Khayrbak with its large stone stalactite pendentives.

man and was therefore not in need of a sponsor, and to Ramadan 948/January 1541, which is eight years
was regarded as a great scholar who authored several after his death.18 ‘Ali Pasha Mubarak published a re-
theological and poetical works. He was almost vener- sume of this document in 1306/1888 in his al-Khitat
ated by his disciples, who apparently “quarreled for al-tawfiqiya. 19 The waqf is in the name of Ibrahim’s
the right to drink the remains of his washing water.”17 son al-Shalabi Ahmad, but it says that Ibrahim him-
The waqf document of his takiya or zawiya is dated self sponsored the endowment.
 The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani 21

Figure 1.9. The interior of the Mausoleum of Khayrbak.

Al-Kulshani’s authority and popularity encouraged The location

other Sufi orders to arrive in Cairo, knowing that they It is located on the western side of Taht al-Rab‘ Street
would find the support of their Sufi brothers. In one of opposite the southern wall of the Mosque of al-
the publications issued by the Italian Egyptian Center Mu’ayyad Shaykh near Bab Zuwayla.
for Restoration and Archaeology, Dr. Giuseppe Fanfoni
was provided with the following note about the settle- The plan
ment of the Mawlawi order in Egypt, passed along by A flight of steps ascend up to the entrance of the ta-
Professor Mahmut Erol Kılıç: kiya (figure 1.10), which stands in a shallow, plain
tri-lobed recess crowned by a cornice of stalactites
It is known, from Mevlevian sources, that the that forms a pishtaq entrance topped with a double
first Mevleviya was established in the Zawiya of leaf cresting (plate 1.3). Two superimposed windows
Shaykh Sadaqa and the first Shaykh was Ahmed are found above the lintel and relieving arch of the
Safi Dede. But we know from Gulshani sources entrance; the upper one is placed in a stalactite recess.
from Ubudi’s Menaqib (still alive in 1604) that at A double molding with continuous circular loops
the beginning the Mevlevi in Egypt were hosted frames the whole portal recess. Two lines of inscrip-
in the Takiya Gulshani where Ibrahim Gulshani tion bands run on either side of the door. The upper
gave them some rooms and the Mevlevi joined inscription is Qur’anic and the lower is illegible with
the Gulshani dervishes for their sama‘.20 many grammatical mistakes in Arabic but the subject
22 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

seems to concern land ownership. It seems to be a

justification or an apology from Ibrahim al-Kulshani
for having built the takiya on a piece of land that did
not really belong to him, since this particular plot was
originally the waqf of Amir Aqbugha, part of which
was taken by Sultan al-Ghuri, and therefore, was ille-
gally acquired land.21
The whole façade is broken into recesses with win-
dows. The ones below are rectangular and above each
lower window are two arched windows. Shops can
be seen on the ground level under the recesses. The
far left of the façade features a visible break-in-bond
between what would have been the original façade
and what seems to be a later restoration, as seen in
the elevation drawing by Doris Behrens-Abouseif.22
A small musasa sabil, which is found to the left of
the entrance, blocks a window and is therefore a lat-
er addition to the façade.23 This fountain is dated by
Figure 1.10. The plan of the Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani (after
inscription to 1258/1842–3 and was sponsored by Doris Behrens-Abouseif, “The Takiyat Ibrahim al-Kulshani in
Ibrahim ‘Ali al-Kulshani, a servant of the Kulshani or- Cairo,” 46).
der.24 A Kulshani hospital mentioned by Muhammad
Abu al-‘Amayim was still standing until the twentieth
century, but is no longer extant.25 second level of windows on the façade. Beside this
The entrance of the takiya opens onto a vestibule, prayer area on the northeastern side of the platform
which is followed by an ascending flight of steps lead- are ruins that include a bayara (well), so probably
ing to a platform, which occupies the center of the they were an ablution area, a bath, and latrines. The
building and on which stands the mausoleum of the floor above the mosque was once an apartment, and
shaykh in the middle. This pathway to the platform is both the mosque and the apartment overlooked Taht
a later addition. An arch to the right-hand side of the al-Rab‘ Street; the remains of steps leading to this
takiya’s entrance indicates an original bent entrance apartment can be seen behind the well.
that leads to the platform by a flight of steps. Facing The rear side of the door of the vestibule leading
the vestibule arch, one finds two recesses with stalac- to the platform features the foundation inscription
tite cornices, which may have been doors or windows of the takiya. It refers to the building as “al-makan”
from an earlier building that concealed this route to (this place) and “munsha’a” (an institution), and
the platform.26 mentions the beginning and inauguration dates and
The door on the left-hand side of the takiya’s ves- the fact that it was dedicated to the Khalwati group
tibule opens onto the mosque, which is situated low- (figure 1.12).27
er than the level of the platform. The lower parts of The platform of the takiya is paved with stone,
the walls of the mosque still retain traces of paint re- under which nowadays are a number of burial cham-
sembling marble panels, and its mihrab, which shows bers scattered around the mausoleum dome. They
remains of stucco carving, should have been skewed belong to the descendants of al-Kulshani, namely
to the right for the correct direction of Mecca (figure Ahmad Effendi Bushnaq, Ahmad Nazif Bek, ‘Abd
1.11). The windows of the mosque correspond to the al-Rahman Bek, who served as Nazir Dar al-Darb, his
 The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani 23

daughter Amina, and her servant Effat, in addition to

Gulfidan, Dawardi Bek, Shaykh Khalil al-Kulshani,
and Zulaykha al-Kulshaniya. Other burials were re-
cently discovered in the room at the end of the cells
in the northeastern corner, which is larger than the
other cells, yet no traces of a vault can be seen, so
probably it used to be covered by a flat roof. These
burials belong to more members of al-Kulshani’s fam-
ily and to followers who wanted to be buried near
their teacher. A large room behind the mausoleum,
known today as Lady Zulaykha’s room, refers to Lady
Zulaykha al-Kulshaniya, one of the ladies buried in
the court, and was referred to by one of the resto-
ration experts working on the research and documen-
tation project of the takiya in 2019.28
According to the waqf deed, there were eight
cells on two floors on the right side of the mausole-
um dome, in addition to a kitchen. Above the cells
and kitchen was an apartment, like the one above the
mosque. Both the kitchen and the apartment did not
survive, and only part of the vaulting of the cells still
stands today. To the right of the vestibule were an
additional four cells, which did not survive, except
for a few walls with graffiti. An interesting piece of
Figure 1.11. The mihrab of the mosque of Takiya al-Kulshani calligraphy on the walls of one of the cells names the
(courtesy of the World Monuments Fund website). building a khanqah (figure 1.13).

Figure 1.12. The entrance to the

platform of the Takiya of al-Kulshani
from the vestibule.
24 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

Figure 1.13. A detail of the calligraphy on one of the walls of the cells naming the building a khanqah.

To the left of the mausoleum dome, there used eight slender columns (figure 1.14). On the first-floor
to be twelve cells on two floors, of which only three plan, it seems like this building was part of the apart-
of the lower cells still survive. A nineteenth-century ments that were built above the kitchen and the cells
photograph, published by Behrens-Abouseif and ob- to the right-hand side of the vestibule (figure 1.15). It
tained by her from the Department of Antiquities, is also plausible that because of this structure, the title
shows that the cells on the left side of the mausoleum decorations at the right edge of the mausoleum dome,
were faced by a portico, which was supported at one which Behrens-Abouseif and Hautecoeur mention
point in time by slender wooden columns. These had were retiled between 1255/1839 and 1258/1842, do
disappeared by the time Behrens-Abouseif published, not continue and today this part is plainly plastered
and were later replaced by tree trunks. The upper (plate 1.4).30
floor and the portico collapsed and are nonexistent The mausoleum of Ibrahim al-Kulshani stands in
today.29 the center of the takiya’s platform. It is a freestand-
Old photographs by Hautecoeur show a building ing square structure topped with a stone dome. The
that almost obstructs the right corner of the main entrance is placed in a shallow tri-lobed recess. The
façade of the mausoleum of al-Kulshani. Unpublished whole mausoleum is built of stone like earlier Mamluk
plans by the Comité and photographs by Hautecoeur ones. The transitional zone is pyramid-shaped, recall-
make it possible to determine the architecture of this ing the dome of the Mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi in
building. On the ground plan, this building rests on al-Darb al-Ahmar.
 The Takiya of Ibrahim al-Kulshani 25

Figure 1.14. Plans of the Takiya of al-Kulshani showing nonextant structures (plan after the Comité).

The mausoleum’s façade around the entrance is of which resemble tilework installed on sabils like
covered with remains of Turkish tiles in a variety of that of Mustafa Sinan (c. 1082/1672) and Uda Pasha
styles and patterns. This feature was not mentioned in (c. 1083/1673), and on the qibla wall of the Mosque
the description of the mausoleum dome in the waqf of al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh, on the façade of the Mosque
document. Also, the fact that these tiles do not fol- of Hasan Pasha Taher (c. 1224/1809), and the en-
low a certain layout or rhythm affirms that they were trance of the Mosque of al-Jawhari (c. 1261/1845).
added later. A closer look at those patterns shows Also, the delft tiles are similar to the ones found in
tilework depicting chrysanthemums in a vase, tulips, the Sabil of Sultan Mustafa III (c. 1172/1759) oppo-
Chinese lotus, tilework with damascene leaves, frag- site the Sayyida Zaynab Mosque, which may date the
ments from panels depicting al-Haram al-Sharif in installation of the tilework on the façade of the mau-
Mecca, and poor-quality Dutch delft tiles. Parallels to soleum to the second half of the eighteenth century.
these tiles are found in buildings all over Cairo, some The tiled façade of Takiyat al-Kulshani also features
26 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

Inside the mausoleum today, one sees wooden

tombstones and a transitional zone of stalactite pen-
dentives painted in a nineteenth-century style (figure
1.16), as well as two inscription bands adorning the
interior in a Mamluk thuluth script. A third painted
inscription in cartouches and nastaliq script, proba-
bly dated to 1251/1830, contains poetry. This seems
to be part of the work of ‘Ali, servant of the Kulshani
order who added the sabil in 1258/1837. Three Sufi
shaykhs are buried under the dome: Shaykh Ibrahim
al-Kulshani, his son Shaykh Ahmad, and his grand-
son Shaykh ‘Ali.32
Salaries paid in the zawiya were, according to the
deed, mostly for the family of the shaykh, who were
allowed to occupy the now nonextant two apart-
ments in the upper floors. The duties of the Sufis are
not specified and no salaries are mentioned for them.
Visiting Sufis were allowed to stay on a full board
basis for three days only, and since the biography
refers only to Turkish disciples, they were probably
Turks, as in the Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi. Evliya
Çelebi describes the takiya during his visit to Egypt
Figure 1.15. An archive photograph by Louis Hautecoeur (1083–91/1672–80) and he mentions a mazmala (a
showing the nonextant structure on the right of the mausoleum place to store water jars for drinking) in the vestibule
dome of al-Kulshani (after Louis Hautecoeur and Gaston Wiet, to distribute water, in addition to the fact that three
Les mosquées du Caire).
hundred Sufis lived in this takiya.33 He also points
out that Sufis were buried under their cells and their
pomegranate fruits and trees, which Doris Behrens- belongings were sold for the benefit of the takiya.
Abouseif observed were identical to examples from This building does not show any new Ottoman
Sárospatak Castle and Regéc Castle, both located in influences except for the location of the freestanding
northeast Hungary. mausoleum, which has no parallels in Cairo. It can-
Above the entrance of the mausoleum, there is a not be seen from the street like Mamluk mausolea
marble slab in two lines in nastaliq script from Sura and it is detached. In spite of that, the mausoleum
39:73 of the Qur’an. Above it, old photographs show dominates the minute you enter. Since Hasan ‘Abd
that at one time there was a panel with lines of inscrip- al-Wahhab and al-Sha‘rani34 recount that Ibrahim
tions. A picture from Ahmet Bayhan’s article shows a al-Kulshani told his disciples not to make the pil-
close-up of that panel featuring six lines of Ottoman grimage to Mecca “for a more genuine approach to
Turkish script. The last line of the inscription gives God,” Doris Behrens-Abouseif raises the question of
the date of 931/1524. The translation of the text is whether or not he intended for his mausoleum to be
as follows:31 “Sunni Shaykh Ibrahim al-Kulshani em- reminiscent of the Ka‘ba.35 Another plausible pos-
igrated from the mortal rose garden (world) to the sibility is that he thought of himself as a mediator
Jasmine scented divine. He reached the threshold of between his disciples and God, since “he considered
the ancient God (peace).” himself almost holy.”36
 The Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi 27

Figure 1.16. The inscription bands adorning the interior of the mausoleum dome of the Takiya of al-Kulshani.

The Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi The shaykh was popular among the Egyptians, so the
(929/1523) Mamluk amirs turned the sultan against him, who
Monument Number: 258 then ordered him beaten, resulting in his being bad-
ly injured. The Egyptians took care of him until he
Zawiyas in Cairo were of two types. The first type was recovered. For four years (one year during the reign
a small mosque for everyday prayer without a minaret of Sultan al-Ghuri and three years after the conquest
or a minbar, and the call to prayers was carried out of the Ottomans), he spent his time sitting by a col-
from the door or a small balcony above the door. The umn in the riwaq of the Turks in the mosque of al-
other type was more like a khanqah with residential Azhar reading the Qur’an, so he became known as
units. The Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi is an example of Shaykh al-‘Amud (the shaykh of the column). When
the second type. Khayrbak became the Viceroy of Egypt, he was told
by the people that Shaykh Hasan al-Rumi had begged
The founder God to torture Sultan al-Ghuri the way he had been
Amir Khayrbak built this zawiya for Hasan ibn Ilyas tortured under the hooves of horses, and that his wish
ibn ‘Abdallah al-Rumi al-Hanafi, a Turkish shaykh who had come true since al-Ghuri fell from his horse in
came to Egypt during the reign of Sultan al-Ghuri.43 the battle with the Ottomans and was trampled to
28 Chapter 1: The Bridge from Mamluk to Ottoman in the Early Sixteenth Century

The Role of Sufism at the built for him by Sultan al-Ghuri, and his fame
Beginning of the Ottoman Period gathered him many disciples, among whom were
Sufism is a spiritual as well as an intellectual current Mamluk amirs and the sultan himself, who paid
that appeared early in Islam and was first character- him a visit during which Dashtuti advised him
ized by the wish to lead a solitary, simple life devot- to care for his people. When al-Ghuri died, the
ed to prayer. Slowly this ascetism started to take on amirs came to Dashtuti for advice and to help
a new light. Many became not just passive individ- them convince Amir Tumanbay to take control
uals or groups living on the fringe of life, but indi- of the Mamluk Empire as Tumanbay II, which
viduals who devoted long periods to studying and shows Dashtuti’s great influence on the politics of
teaching religious studies in addition to the way to the state. In fact, he even passed a death sentence
see and feel the inner depth of Islamic teachings. In on the muhtasib (supervisor of bazaars) Zayn al-
doing so, they started to attract many followers and Din Barakat, a powerful figure at the time, and it
to become an influence in public life. They became took great effort to revoke the sentence. Miracles
not just Sufis, but also highly respected scholars of were attributed to him, including the curing of
religious studies who combined philosophy with illnesses.39 This shows the political involvement of
Islamic jurisprudence (fıqh) and Qur’anic exegesis. some Sufi shaykhs at the end of the Mamluk pe-
This led to the development of tariqas based on the riod. When the Ottomans removed the Abbasid
teachings of a particular scholar, each tariqa exerting caliph from Cairo in order to continue the ca-
effort to guide public opinion. Sufi shaykhs under liphal authority in Istanbul, Sufi leaders took over
the Ottomans became sponsors of several religious the power of the religious authority.
foundations. It is true that under the Mamluks, The financial power of the shaykhs, which was
Sufi shaykhs had sponsored many religious foun- also supported by the contributions of their fol-
dations; however, these were overshadowed by the lowers, translated itself into an increasing build-
greater number of royal foundations. Some shaykhs ing activity. Buildings associated with Sufism
even took on a political role and, as mentioned by are khanqahs, ribats, zawiyas, and later, takiyas.
Doris Behrens-Abouseif and Leonor Fernandes,37 The first khanqah in Egypt was built by Salah
the overthrow of the Mamluks has been attribut- al-Din al-Ayyubi in the late twelfth century and
ed to the Sufi shaykhs Dashtuti, al-Bakri, and Abu was known as Khanqah Sa‘id al-Su‘ada’ (monu-
al-Seoud al-Garhi urging Sultan Selim “to rescue ment number 480). This was a continuation of
Egypt from the tyranny of” the Mamluk sultan the institution that was started by Abu Hamid
al-Ghuri.38 Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Dashtuti died al-Ghazali, the famous scholar of Islamic law and
in 924/1518, shortly after the Ottoman invasion of fıqh who wrote Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din (The Revival of
Cairo. His zawiya, which was originally built at the the Religious Sciences) and incorporated Sufism in
end of the Mamluk period, can still be seen north- his teachings. The earliest surviving khanqah in
east of the Mosque of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, in the area Egypt, so called in its foundation inscription, is
known today as Old Cairo. He was a son of a mer- the Khanqah of the Mamluk sultan Baybars al-
chant in Cairo who at first followed in the footsteps Jashankir (c. 710/1310, monument number 32).
of his father, but his inclination to solitude made According to its waqf deed, this khanqah had
him leave everything to lead a solitary life. He was lodging for a hundred Sufis, with two hundred
even described as inflicting self-torture by remain- more coming during the day and another hun-
ing in an underground cave alone during the holy dred visiting Sufis lodging in the attached ribat.40
month of Ramadan. His zawiya-mosque was in fact The khanqah started as a monastic institution
 The Zawiya of Hasan al-Rumi 29

sponsored by rulers in which Sufis could retreat was buried in his zawiya, which was later re-
to worship and remain dedicated exclusively to re- stored by Sultan Barsbay in 834/1430. In his
ligion. In time, seclusion and ascetism were aban- waqf deed it is described as an independent
doned, and Islamic law and fıqh were introduced, structure and was allocated a monthly payment
which allowed some of the Sufis to become schol- to restore the tomb and to buy water, mats, and
ars. Friday prayers were at first not allowed in a lamps from the revenues of its waqf. In fact,
khanqah, but in time this was also introduced. most early zawiyas did not survive, perhaps
This khanqah-mosque-madrasa function became because no endowment deeds were written for
popular during the Burji Mamluk dynasty and them. A shaykh lived in the zawiya, which in
integrated Sufism with urban life. By the late many cases was built for him by rich Mamluk
Mamluk period, the Khanqah of Sultan al-Ghuri amirs or sultans, and most shaykhs refused to
was not monastic and had no living quarters. The accept waqf donations.42 When the shaykh died,
Sufis lived and worked outside the khanqah and he was then buried in his zawiya, which became
only met for al-hudur sessions. a shrine. The rules of each zawiya were normal-
The term zawiya appears much earlier in ly imposed by the shaykh himself. The Burji
Islamic history. Al-Maqrizi mentions eight za- Mamluks are the ones who imposed waqf deeds
wiyas that formed part of the Mosque of ‘Amr on the zawiyas in order to maintain their up-
ibn al-‘As. Each zawiya was reserved for a teach- keep, and this led to zawiyas becoming centers
er-shaykh and his students. The funds needed for tariqas. Therefore, when the original shaykh
for each zawiya came from waqfs endowed for died, his teaching was continued by one of his
each of them.41 This means that originally zaw- students and his teaching became a tariqa. This
iyas were teaching areas not directly related to was the rise of tariqa Sufism and the decline of
Sufism. The first mention of an independent khanqah Sufism. The rise of tariqa Sufism will
structure for a Sufi shaykh called a zawiya is the cross the bridge from the late Mamluk to the
one for Dhu al-Nun al-Misri (d. 245/859). He early Ottoman period.

death. The shaykh had become a saint to many, and The location
therefore Khayrbak ordered a zawiya to be built for It is on al-Mahgar Street on the right as one goes
him, to also become a resting place for him after his up toward the original gate of the Citadel, the Bab
death. The work was started in 928/1522, but it was al-Mudarraj.
finished after the death of Khayrbak and during the
reign of Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim.44 The façade
This zawiya was for ta’ifat al-‘ajam, which indicates The building today has two exposed façades: the
the foreign Sufis who were allowed to reside in the za- northwestern (figure 1.17) and the southwestern.
wiya and to go to al-Azhar shaykhs to gain knowledge The northwestern façade contains the main en-
as long as they did not miss the midday prayers in the trance to the zawiya, despite that originally, accord-
zawiya. The number of Sufis appointed to this zawiya ing to the waqf document, it had three entrances
was only ten.45 One must add here that many of the on that side. The main entrance to the zawiya (1 on
Mamluk khanqahs were also dedicated for foreign Sufis. figure 1.18) opens by a pointed arch with cushion
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN INVESTING THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON III. WITH THE
ORDER OF THE GARTER AT WINDSOR CASTLE, April 18, 1855.
The friendly feeling between England and France which sprang out of their
common interests in the war against Russia, found expression in an interchange of
visits between the Sovereigns of the two countries. The Emperor Napoleon III. and
his beautiful Empress visited the Queen at Windsor in April 1855. They were met at
Dover by the Prince Consort on the 16th, and remained at Windsor until the 21st.
One of the most impressive ceremonies of their visit was the Installation of the
Emperor as a Knight of the Garter.

In assuming the chief command of the British Army

in this war, Lord Raglan had undertaken a task of peculiar
and, in some respects, novel difficulty. He brought ripe
experience, it is true, acquired under the greatest soldier
of the century, but the lapse of years had brought about
so many changes in military appliances and scientific
inventions, that much of that experience was rendered
obsolete. He was the first British general who had to
conduct operations in the field advised, controlled,
directed, censured by telegraphic despatches from the
War Office. He had, moreover, to act in concert with an
ally, brave, indeed, but sensitive, and it was of the nature
of things that their counsels should sometimes clash, at
least, that their judgment should not always be identical. Chevalier L. W. Desanges.]
Little reference has been made to the angry impatience [In the Victoria Cross
Gallery, Crystal Palace.
expressed in the English press and Parliament in regard MAJOR (NOW GENERAL)
to what was freely condemned as the incapacity and CHRISTOPHER TEESDALE, C.B., R.A.,
dilatoriness of Lord Raglan, because time and reflection AT KARS, September 29, 1855.
have amply vindicated his renown. But it must have been He was awarded the Victoria Cross
for gallant conduct in throwing himself
galling to him at the time, and greatly aggravated the into the midst of the Russians, who
difficulties of his position. The best evidence of his had penetrated under cover of night
genuine force of character is found in the patient courage into the Yuksek Tabia redoubt; also for
saving, at great personal risk, the
with which he fulfilled his office to the last, and the enemy’s wounded from the fury of the
enthusiastic devotion which he won from all ranks serving Turks.
under him.
The command of the British forces devolved upon General Simpson. On August 16
General Liprandi made a formidable attempt to raise the siege by an attack on the French
and Sardinian position on the Tchernaya, but was repulsed with tremendous slaughter.
Battle of
This was the last encounter in the open field. The final assault on the
Tchernaya. town was opened by a tremendous fire from the Allied batteries on
September 5, and the bombardment continued without intermission
throughout the 6th and 7th. On the morning of the 8th the French made a splendid dash
at the Malakoff Fort, the key of Sebastopol, and captured it. The English fared not so well
in an attempt to storm the Redan and suffered severely in a repulse. But the defence was
at an end.
G. H. Thomas.] [From the Royal Collection.

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN DISTRIBUTING MEDALS TO THE HEROES OF THE

CRIMEA, ON THE HORSE GUARDS PARADE, May 21, 1855.

C. Jacquand.] [From the Royal Collection.

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AND THE PRINCE CONSORT LANDING AT BOULOGNE,
August 18, 1855.
This was the first visit of an English Sovereign to France since Henry VI. was
crowned in Paris in 1422. The Royal Visitors were received by the Emperor on the
landing stage at Boulogne, and conveyed to the Palace of St. Cloud. During their stay
in Paris they paid several visits to the Palais des Beaux Arts, a part of the Exposition
Universelle in which they were greatly interested.
 G. H. Thomas.] [From the Royal Collection.

REVIEW IN THE CHAMPS DE MARS AT PARIS, August 24, 1855.

During their stay in Paris, Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince Consort were
present at a grand review of troops held in the Champs de Mars. Especial interest
was attached to the spectacle, as at the moment the armies of France and England
were fighting side by side in the final struggle in the Crimea. Canrobert, one of the
heroes of the war, was present, and was decorated by the Queen with the Order of
the Bath. Her Majesty, with the Empress and Princess Mathilde, are sitting together in
the balcony, while the Emperor and the Prince Consort are below watching the
movements of the long series of battalions.

After repeated attempts to retake the Malakoff, the Russian commander resolved on
evacuating the town. Fortunately the wires connected with the magazine in the Malakoff
were discovered in time by the French and cut, for arrangements had been made for
Evacuation of
blowing up all the forts. One after another they went up with terrific din
Sebastopol. during the night; early on the morning of the 9th the Russians executed
a masterly evacuation across a floating bridge, leaving their town in
flames and their fleet at the bottom of the harbour. Sebastopol had fallen, but not into the
hands of the Allies; it had been erased from the face of the earth.

E. M. Ward, R.A.] [From the Royal Collection.

 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN VISITING THE TOMB OF NAPOLEON I. IN THE
INVALIDES, PARIS, August 24, 1855.

The Congress of Paris met on February 26, 1856, and a treaty

of peace was signed by the plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers
on March 30. The most important Article was
Conclusion of
Peace. that which guaranteed the perpetual neutrality of
the Black Sea; Russia received back the ruins of
Sebastopol in exchange for the wreck of Kars, and the Eastern
Question was laid to rest, at least for a season.
For this result England
had to pay down four and
twenty thousand lives and
[From a Photograph by the
add forty-one millions to her late Mrs. Cameron.
National Debt; but she
SIR JOHN F. W.
learned in addition to take HERSCHEL, BART.
vigilant precaution against 1792–1871.
the enervating influence of Astronomer. Son of
prolonged peace. To this may Sir Frederick W. Herschel.
His first great work was
be added the bracing moral his Catalogue of Double
effect which follows on the THE EARL OF ROSSE’S GREAT TELESCOPE
and Triple Stars; later on
supreme and disciplined he catalogued the
AT PARSONSTOWN.
nebulæ, and made
exercise of a nation’s power. This great reflecting telescope, still the researches in Sound and
finest in the world, is 56 feet long; the Light. He discovered the
speculum or mirror of copper and tin at the solvent effects of
bottom of the tube is 6 feet in diameter and hyposulphite of soda on
weighs nearly 4 tons. Its nominal magnifying silver salts—the basis of
power is 6,000, and it reflects about 165,000 photographic processes.
times as much light as the naked eye itself Created a Baronet in
would receive. It was designed and 1838, Master of the Mint
constructed in 1845 by the late Earl of 1850–55. For many years
Rosse, and has rendered great service to he was among the most
science. prominent of English
scientists.
Sir Oswald Brierly, R.W.S.] [In the Royal Collection.

ACTION AT FATSHAN, CHINA, June 1, 1857.

The Chinese fleet of about ninety junks was completely destroyed in two severe
engagements, in which the Chinese fought their guns with unexampled constancy.
Owing to the shallowness of the water the British attacked in small boats.
 CHAPTER X.
1857–1858.

The Lorcha Arrow—War with China—Defeat of the Government—Dissolution of Parliament—Palmerston

returns to Office—Startling News from India—Mutiny at Meerut—The Chupatties—Loyalty of the Sikhs
—Lord Canning’s Presence of Mind—Disarmament of Sepoys at Meean Meer—The Rising at Cawnpore
—Nana Sahib’s Treachery—The Massacre—Siege of Delhi—The Relief of Lucknow—Death of Havelock—
Sir Hugh Rose’s Campaign—The Ranee of Jhansi—Capture and Execution of Tantia Topee—End of the
East India Company’s Rule—Marriage of the Princess Royal.

T is well that the next chapter in British warfare is a short one, for it is one which
Britons can peruse with little pride. It is prefaced by a paragraph in the Queen’s
Speech at the opening of Parliament on February 3, 1857: “Acts of violence,
insults to the British flag, and infraction of treaty rights, committed by the local
Chinese authorities at Canton, and a pertinacious refusal of redress, have rendered it
necessary for Her Majesty’s officers in China to have recourse to measures of force to
obtain satisfaction.”
A dispute had arisen out of circumstances even more trivial
than the question of custody of the Holy Places, which led to the
Crimean war. A vessel termed a “lorcha,” lying in the Canton river
in October 1856, was boarded by Chinese officials, who took away
twelve men accused of piracy, although the lorcha Arrow was
The Lorcha
flying the British flag. The British Consul at
“Arrow.” Canton demanded the release of these men,
according to the treaty of 1843; but the Chinese
Governor Yeh declared that the Arrow was not a British vessel but
a Chinese pirate, and refused to comply with the Consul’s T. Phillips, [From the “Life of Dr.
R.A.]
demand. It was proved, however, that the Arrow had been duly Arnold,” by permission
registered as a British vessel, though her registration had actually of Mr. Murray.
expired ten days before the arrest of the men. Mr. Parkes, the THOMAS ARNOLD, D.D.,
British Consul, appealed to Sir John Bowring, British Minister at 1795–1842.
Hongkong. Bowring was determined to stand no nonsense from Appointed Head
the Chinaman: nor was he going to trouble himself whether the Master of Rugby School in
1827, he infused a new
Arrow was entitled to fly the British ensign or not! As a matter of tone and spirit into English
fact, he wrote to Parkes that the expiry of the registration had Public School Education.
deprived her owners of the right, but that as the Chinese did not He was the first to
introduce modern
know that, they must be held responsible for insulting the flag. languages, modern history,
Anyhow, it was enough for Bowring that Chinese officials had and mathematics into the
dared to take men by force from under that flag, whether it had regular school course.
been hoisted rightfully or wrongfully. He sent an ultimatum to
Yeh, demanding the release of the men and an ample apology within forty-eight hours, or
he would begin hostilities. Yeh released the men, and promised that greater caution
should be observed in future, but he refused to apologise, maintaining that the Arrow was
in fact a Chinese vessel. Incredible as it may seem that such powers should be vested in a
British Minister, and still more so, that he should employ them in such a miserable quarrel,
nevertheless Bowring ordered up the fleet and Canton was severely bombarded for
War with China.
several days. Yeh made the tactical blunder of offering a reward for the
heads of Englishmen. He got no heads, but he forfeited the respect
which England always pays to an honourable foe.

F. Winterhalter.] [In the Royal Collection.

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN THE ROBES OF THE ORDER OF

THE GARTER.
Painted in 1859.

There was considerable sensation when the news came to England. Lord Derby
moved a vote of censure in the Lords, and the only answer the Lord Chancellor could
make to the enquiry whether, supposing a Chinese owner of a Chinese vessel bought a
British ensign, that made her a British vessel, was that the Chinese had no right to
assume that the flag was hoisted illegally. The House of Lords supported the Government,
but it went worse with them in the Commons. On the motion of Mr. Cobden, Ministers
 were defeated by a majority
Defeat of the
Government, and of sixteen. Mr. Disraeli had
Dissolution. dared the Government to go
to the country on the
question. “I should like,” he had said, in the
measured, biting accents of his later manner,
“to see the proud leaders of the Liberal party—
no reform, new taxes, Canton blazing, Pekin
invaded!” Palmerston took up the gauntlet; he
appealed to the country, and he put his policy—
thorough “Jingo,” as it would be termed
nowadays—before the constituencies in such
From a Photograph] [by Thiele, Chancery Lane.
sort that he was returned to power stronger
INTERIOR OF THE GUN-COTTON FACTORY AT than before. Never was a Minister more
WALTHAM ABBEY.
thoroughly justified in settling his plans for a
The picture represents the Pulping and
Moulding Room. Gun-cotton consists of cotton- long spell of office. But
Palmerston
waste subjected to the action of nitric acid, returns to Office. Palmerston himself is said to
washed, boiled, chopped into pulp, and pressed have observed once that “the
into blocks.
life of a Ministry was never worth three months’
purchase,” of which the fate of his own second
Administration was a striking illustration. It lasted just long enough to enable him to
announce to the House of Commons in February 1858 that Canton had fallen before a
combined English and French force; for the French in the interval had managed to pick a
quarrel with the Chinese. A treaty was concluded securing access to the interior of China
for Englishmen and Frenchmen, establishing diplomatic relations between England and
France and the Court of China, and securing the toleration of Christianity.
On June 25, 1857, the Queen issued
Letters Patent conferring on Prince Albert
the title of Prince Consort, a name which
had been popularly applied to him for many
years in England, and by which he was
known henceforward to the world. The
change may seem an unimportant one, but
it created some unreasonable
dissatisfaction at the time, and the Press of
the country betrayed no enthusiasm in its
favour.
The transit of news had been greatly
accelerated over large tracts of the globe
by the use of electricity, but it still took From a Photograph] [by Eyre & Spottiswoode.

many weeks to convey intelligence BARREL-ROOM AT THE SMALL ARMS FACTORY, ENFIELD.
between Great Britain and her Empire in
India. Little did the people who assembled in London on June 23, 1857, to celebrate the
centenary of the Battle of Plassey, by which Bengal was added to the British Dominions,
imagine that at that very moment Bengal was the scene of a conflict as mighty in scope
as it was horrifying in detail. The story burst upon England with the suddenness of a
 tornado. The Sepoy army had risen
Startling News
from India. in revolt, murdered their officers,
proclaimed the King of Delhi Emperor
of India, and the whole peninsula was in rebellion.
There had been awful massacres too; English men,
women, and children had been slaughtered in
hundreds; most hideous of all there were
circumstantial stories of outrage, followed by torture,
committed upon our women. A terrible moan for
vengeance rose throughout the land. There were few
families who had not relations, or at least friends and From a Photograph] [by Thiele, Chancery Lane.
acquaintances, among the British communities in WINDING CORDITE IN THE
India; the suddenness of the news was not the most GOVERNMENT FACTORY.
appalling part of it; it was the ghastly details of the Cordite is composed of gun-cotton
story that so deeply moved the nation. Black and and nitro-glycerine. In the form of greasy
cord it is wound on reels, and afterwards
bloody as the reality afterwards proved to be, the cut into lengths.
mutineers were not shown to have been guilty of the
worst horrors imputed to them in the early days of the
rising. Englishwomen perished as women perished in the worst of mediæval massacres,
but they were not subjected to outrage or torture, as was circumstantially affirmed and
universally believed at first.
This great convulsion is always referred
to as the Indian Mutiny, because of the
violent revolt of so many native regiments
in the British service; but it was far more
than a mutiny; it was an insurrection of the
Indian races against the European
conqueror, a common rising of Hindoo and
Mahomedan against the Christian power.
Disaffection to British rule had never
ceased to smoulder: how should it, seeing
that so many native rulers had been
deposed, so many others placed in
inglorious dependency or on pension? The
From a Photograph] [by Eyre & Spottiswoode. misrule and oppression of these potentates
MACHINE-GUN SHOP AT THE SMALL ARMS FACTORY, had been forgotten by the people who once
ENFIELD.
groaned under them, just as the Jacobites
who
shou
ted
for
“the
auld
Stua
rts
Photographed from examples] [in the Tower Armouries. Photographed from examples] [in the Tower Armouries.
 THE FIRE-ARMS OF THE EARLY YEARS OF HER back THE RIFLES OF THE LATER YEARS OF HER
MAJESTY’S REIGN. MAJESTY’S REIGN.
agai
1. “Brown Bess” (smooth-bore flint-lock). 6. Enfield long rifle (1853).
2. Baker’s rifle (flint-lock).
n” 7. Snider-Enfield rifle (1864).
3. Baker’s rifle, with sword-bayonet. forg 8. Martini-Henry rifle (1871).
4. Brunswick rifle (percussion). ot 9. Lee-Metford magazine rifle, with short
5. Minié rifle (1851). sword-bayonet (the present regulation
what weapon).
The above were all in use at the time of the
the
Crimean War.
peop
le had endured under the Stuart kings. Dost
Mahomed had shown an example how the Feringhi could be dealt with, and there were a
thousand grievances against English officers and magistrates to be wiped out.
Lord Dalhousie had resigned the Governor-Generalship in March 1856, and his eight
years of rule had been regulated by a policy of annexation. Deeply penetrated with the
capacity of the Indian races and their country for moral and material development, he
perceived how fatal was the native system of rule to all progress. Consequently he was
not rigidly scrupulous in every case about the precise justice of the means by which one
principality after another was added to the British dominions. The greatest happiness of
the greatest number often involves disappointment and even direct injury to the few.
Dalhousie vindicated his policy by the splendid energy he showed in making roads,
railways, and telegraphs, in reducing taxation, and in general measures for the good of
the people; but he undoubtedly left a feeling of soreness and resentment that only waited
a fitting opportunity to take effect.
Out of this discontent arose a widespread conspiracy against British rule in the
beginning of 1857. It is believed by some that the military rising was premature, and
disconcerted the measures of those organising the general revolt. Be that as it may, the
earliest overt acts of rebellion took place among the troops.
The effect of the Minié rifle, carried
by some of the Russian troops in the
Crimea, had been so remarkable, that
the British military authorities had
decided that the day of “Brown Bess”—
the smooth-bore musket—had gone by.
In common with the rest of the forces,
therefore, the Enfield rifle was served out
to the Indian troops in 1856. Now the
paper of the cartridges used in this From a Photograph] [by Thiele, Chancery Lane.
weapon was greased, and the idea was CYCLIST CORPS.
industriously circulated among the The value of the bicycle in actual warfare has yet to be
Sepoys that the lubricant used was a proved; but, like the field telegraph and the military
mixture of the fat of cows and pigs—a balloon, it has already taken its place in the equipment of
European Armies. The Corps represented is the 2nd V.B.
most ingenious falsehood, if falsehood it West Kent Regiment.
were—a most unlucky fact, if fact it were
—for the native troops were composed
partly of Mahomedans, to whom, of all animals, the hog is most loathsome, and partly of
Hindoos, by whom, of all animals, the cow is held most sacred. Falsehood or fact, the
story served a sinister purpose, for although the issue of the objectionable cartridges was
stopped in January, and Lord Canning, the Governor-General, issued a Proclamation in
May to the Army of Bengal, declaring that the story of an intentional affront to religion
and caste on the part of the Government was utterly groundless, the early months of
1857 witnessed repeated instances of military insubordination, and some of the native
regiments had to be disbanded. On Saturday, May 9, eighty-five men of the Bengal
Cavalry were sentenced at Meerut to long periods of imprisonment and hard labour for
Rising at Meerut.
refusing to use the cartridges issued to them. Next day, Sunday, the
whole native garrison at Meerut, the largest military station in India,
mutinied, killed several of their officers, massacred some Europeans, and breaking open
the gaol, released their imprisoned comrades. The European troops at Meerut drove them
out of their cantonments; but allowed the mutineers to march to Delhi, where the
octogenarian representative of the Great Mogul still held his court as a subject of Queen
Victoria and pensioner of the East India Company. This old man they proclaimed Emperor
of India, and the military mutiny assumed at once the character of national rebellion. All
the patriotism that had been outraged, all the aspirations that had been crushed, all the
private interests that had suffered by Lord Dalhousie’s annexation of the Punjab, of Oude,
of Sattara, and of Jhansi, found their outlet and opportunity in the mutiny of the garrison
of Meerut. The great Koh-i-noor diamond, symbol of the sovereignty of Lahore, had been
displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851: the diamond might be gone beyond recall, but
the tyranny of the Sikh Ameers had passed from memory also, and a resolute effort might
restore them. There are known various modes of pre-historic telegraph. In the Scottish
Highlands of old the fiery cross, passed from hamlet to hamlet, summoned the clansmen
to arms; on the Borders the bale-fires leapt from height to height to rouse the land: not
less sure and hardly less swift was the symbol of “chupatties,” little unleavened cakes, of
which two were left with the head man of each village of Northern India on an appointed
morning, with directions to make similar cakes and pass them on. When the standard of
rebellion was hoisted on the citadel of Delhi, the train had been laid and all was in
readiness for an explosion which should shatter to fragments British rule in India.
 From a Photograph] [by Thiele, Chancery Lane.

“TROOPING THE COLOURS” ON HER MAJESTY’S BIRTHDAY.

The annual “trooping of the colours” of the Household Troops on the Horse
Guards Parade is the prettiest military pageant to be seen nowadays in London.

But there was one factor essential to making the

convulsion complete, and that was the co-operation of the
Sikhs—the most warlike population of India—the people
who, only eight years before, had inflicted on British arms
what we must be honest enough to own as the defeat of
Chilianwalla. While the rebellion was spreading like
wildfire through the whole of the rest of the North-West,
and blazing through Oude into Lower Bengal, while
regiment after regiment was rising, shooting its officers,
and joining the native population in pillage and massacre
of Christians, the Sikhs never wavered in fidelity to British
Loyalty of the
rule. That was what saved the British
Sikhs. Indian Empire—that, and the way in
which British officials behaved in the Chevalier L. W. Desanges.]
[In the Victoria Cross Gallery,
hour of trial. Crystal Palace.

THE BATTLE OF KOOSHAB, February

8, 1857.
The Persian War of 1856–1857
was undertaken to establish the
independence of Afghanistan, and
the Persians were defeated in an
action at Kooshab, about forty-four
miles from Bushire. When the 3rd
Bombay Light Cavalry charged the
enemy’s square, Lieut. Moore, who
was foremost, leapt into the square
and had his horse killed under him.
Lieut. Malcolmson fought his way to
his brother officer and rescued him.
Both officers were awarded the
Victoria Cross.
Chevalier L. W. Desanges.]
[In the Victoria Cross Gallery,
Of course, severe reflections have been passed on
Crystal Palace.
those in command of European troops at Meerut and in
CAPTAIN DIGHTON PROBYN AT
the neighbourhood of Delhi for allowing the revolted
AGRA.
regiments to pass unmolested from the former to the
In the action against the
mutineers at Agra, in August 1857, latter place. There was indecision shown, no doubt. The
Captain (now Lieut.-General Sir) Commandant at Meerut telegraphed to Delhi what had
Dighton Probyn distinguished himself occurred, and did no more. Next day the Mahomedans of
by leading his squadron against an
overwhelming mass of the enemy’s Delhi rose and joined the Sepoys, and the Europeans in
infantry. He received the Victoria the Residency could only blow up their magazine to
Cross for his gallantry on this prevent it falling into the hands of the rebels. It is easy to
occasion.
sit in an elbow chair and pronounce the opinion that if the
authorities at Meerut had showed presence of mind the
 rebellion might have been quashed at the outset; but it is a fearful
thing for soldiers to have to turn their arms suddenly against their
comrades; and any hesitation or weakness shown on that occasion
may be forgotten in the tribute due to the whole body of military
and civil officers for their conduct in what followed.
Lord Canning played a splendid part. Of all moods of the
human creature there is none so ungovernable as fear. The
suddenness of the outbreak, the rapidity of its spread, the
atrocious massacres which marked its progress, created a wild
G. Richmond, R.A.] panic in Calcutta and other European communities. Canning was
VISCOUNT CANNING, assailed on all sides by the insane counsels of
Lord Canning’s
1812–1862. Presence of Mind. terror. He was urged to take the most savage
Governor-General and methods of reprisal. The dethroned King of Oude
First Viceroy of India. was living near Calcutta. Of all Dalhousie’s annexations perhaps
that of Oude was the one which most afflicted sensitive
consciences; and the people of Calcutta, convinced that the King of Oude was preparing
schemes of vengeance, besought the Governor-General to seize his person. Canning
responded by receiving the King and his Vizier to reside in his own house. The clamours
against him rose to frenzy: people nicknamed him “Clemency Canning”; they shrieked for
his recall; but through all the tumult this great man kept his head cool and his nerve
steady.

From a Photograph] [by Gregory & Co., Strand.

TYPES OF OUR INDIAN CAVALRY.

1. Guide Cavalry. 2. 1st Bengal Cavalry. 3. 1st Punjab Cavalry. 4. Major, 11th
Bengal Lancers. 5. 1st Contingent, India Horse. 6. 4th Bombay Poonah Horse.
7. 1st Madras Lancers. 8. 4th Contingent, Lancers (Hyderabad).
From a Photograph] [by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta.

STATE ELEPHANTS OF THE VICEROY OF INDIA.

The elephant in the centre of the group was
taken from the Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of
Plassey in 1757, and was 140 years old when the From a Photograph by F. Frith & Co.]
photograph was taken. GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CALCUTTA.
The official residence of the Viceroy of India. Built in
Happily there were other cool heads 1799–1804 by Lord Wellesley at a cost of about
besides the Governor-General’s. On May 11 £150,000. Calcutta is the seat of Government of the
Empire of India; population (1891), 862,000. The total
information of the outbreak at Meerut was population of India in 1891 was 287,000,000, of whom
telegraphed from Calcutta to Lahore, the only 238,500 habitually spoke English, and of these less
capital of the Punjab. The Governor, Sir than half were British born.
John (afterwards Lord) Lawrence was
absent at Rawul Pindee, having left full power in the hands of the Judicial Commissioner,
Mr. Robert Montgomery. Four thousand Sepoy troops lay at Meean Meer, five or six miles
from Lahore, and Mr. Montgomery had to decide on the instant whether these should be
assumed to be contemplating mutiny. He came to a speedy decision. They must not be
allowed the chance. There was a great ball in Lahore that night; among the guests were
the civil and military chiefs of the district. Mr. Montgomery consulted with them and it was
resolved to disarm the native troops. A parade was ordered for daybreak at Meean Meer:
twelve guns loaded with grape were placed along one side of the parade ground. The
troops were formed up in line of contiguous columns facing the guns and ordered to pile
arms. They obeyed, for to hesitate was death. The rifles were carried off in carts, and the
station was left in possession of 1,300 European troops. This was perhaps the most
critical moment of the Mutiny. Nothing short of Mr. Montgomery’s firmness, supported by
the military commanders, could have ensured the safety of the Punjab.
The darkest page of the book of Mutiny is that which contains the story of Cawnpore.
In May 1857 there were 3,000 native troops at that place, and about 300 Europeans,
under command of Sir Hugh Wheeler, an old man of seventy-five. Wheeler had reason to
expect his force to mutiny, and appealed to Nana Sahib, a neighbouring prince
representing the dethroned Mahratta Peishwah of Poonah, to help him. Nana had an
undoubtedly genuine grievance against the Government. On the death of the last
Peishwah, Lord Dalhousie had refused to continue the pension to his adopted son Nana,
thereby violating the Hindoo principle that all the rights of sonship, material as well as
spiritual, are conveyed by adoption. Nana, whose real name was Seereek Dhoondoo
Punth, was rich and hospitable, and delighted in entertaining English officers and their
ladies at his residence near Cawnpore.
He responded cordially to Sir Hugh’s
invitation, and came at once to
Cawnpore with 300 men and two
guns, to help to keep order. His arrival
coincided with the revolt of the
garrison, and he placed himself at
once at the head of the mutineers.
Wheeler had taken refuge in an old
hospital building with about 1,000
Europeans, of whom 280 were women
and girls, with about the same A. Post and Telegraph Offices. B. High Court. C. Clock
number of children. A hasty Tower. D. University. E. Secretariat.
entrenchment was thrown up, and PUBLIC BUILDINGS, BOMBAY.
Wheeler refused Nana’s summons to Bombay is for Europeans the Gate of India, the port of
surrender. For nineteen days, under arrival and departure for both passengers and mails. It is in
direct communication by railway with Calcutta and Madras.
the tropical sun of June, this handful Population (1891), 822,000.
of brave men maintained the defence
of their crumbling
The Rising at
Cawnpore.
mud wall against thousands of rebels.
The assailants were reinforced by a
contingent of Oude men, who made a fierce assault on
the place; but the English were fighting for more than
their mere lives; the presence of their women and
children made each man bear himself like a Paladin. The
attack was repulsed, and this prolonged resistance soon
began to tell on the prestige of Nana, for Hindoos and
Mahomedans alike appreciate prowess in the field. He
offered terms to the besieged: “All those who are in no
way connected with the acts of Lord Dalhousie, and who
are willing to lay down their arms, shall receive a safe
passage to Allahabad.”
The terms From a Photograph] [by F. Frith & Co.
were accepted.
NATIVE HOUSES IN THE FORT,
The little BOMBAY.
garrison had
done all that
flesh and blood and gallant souls could do. The
survivors of the siege embarked in boats on the
Ganges, prepared by Nana’s orders. The women
and children were all aboard, the men were
following. At that moment a bugle sounded;
From a Photograph] [by F. Frith & Co.
instantly the straw awnings of the boats burst
into flame, and the native rowers leaped out. A
STATUE OF THE QUEEN AND TELEGRAPH OFFICE,
BOMBAY. fire of grape and musketry poured down on the
frail craft, and continued till Tantia Topee,
 Nana’s lieutenant, sounded the “Cease fire!”
The Statue, executed in white marble by
Noble, was unveiled by Lord Northbrook in 1872. A
Then the survivors, 125 English­women and
native superstition ascribes the origin of the recent
children, many of them sorely wounded, were
plague to vengeance for an insult offered to this
collected and driven back to the town. One only
statue, which was one morning found bedaubed
with tar.
of the boats escaped, drifting down the Ganges,
The Massacre.
a target for innumerable
marksmen on both banks. A
dozen men landed to drive off the assailants; in their absence the boat was captured, and
those on board—sixty-five men, twenty-five women, and four children—were haled back
to Cawnpore. The men were shot on the spot; the women and children were crammed
into the prison-house with the others. Cholera and dysentery soon carried off eighteen
women and seven children—more fortunate than their companions.

Baron Marochetti, Sc.]

[Photo by Bourne & Shepherd.

THE STATUE ERECTED OVER THE

From a Photograph] [by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta.
WELL AT CAWNPORE
SUTTEE CHOWRA GHAT.
Into which the bodies of the
English women and children were On the banks of the Ganges; the scene of the first
thrown after the massacre in the massacre of Cawnpore.
prison.

Nana’s visions of rule were becoming overcast. The

English had rallied from the first shock of the Mutiny;
troops, before which he knew his men dared not stand,
were drawing near; Havelock had already routed Tantia
Topee, with 4,000 of Nana’s best fighting men, and Neill
was at Allahabad. The rebellion was mastered, but
Nana’s vengeance, if it was to be balked of its full scope,
at least should be complete on those who were in his
power. A company of Sepoys was ordered up to the
house where the Englishwomen were imprisoned.
Unhappy creatures, their approaching fate cannot have
From a Photograph] [by Bourne & Shepherd. caused them much concern; they were in every
BENARES FROM THE GANGES. circumstance of suffering and misery already. For nearly
Benares is the sacred city of the four weeks they had not been able to change their
Hindoos. It contains innumerable tattered clothing, nor had a drop of water to wash in.
temples and shrines, the most sacred
being that of Bisheswar, dedicated to The Sepoys began firing through the windows, but there
the worship of Shiva; its dome is were traces of mercy in their hearts; they fired high and
 ineffectively, and were marched home again. In the
overlaid with gold. To Buddhists the
stupa now called Damek, three miles
evening five men were sent up and entered the house;
to the north of Benares, erected on the
awful sounds were heard within, and twice one of the
spot where Buddha first expounded his
butchers came out and exchanged his broken, bloody
doctrine, is a place of pilgrimage. But
the most prominent object from the
sword for a fresh weapon. At length all was still; the five
river is the Mohammedan mosque built
men, weary with slaughter, came out and went off,
by Aurungzeb, son of Shah Jehan. Its
locking the door behind them. Next morning they
slender minarets are 147 feet high.
returned with a fatigue party, cleared out that fearful
house of blood, and flung the bodies down a dry well.
There is nothing in English history, at least
during the last six centuries, approaching in
horror to the massacre of Cawnpore, and it is
well that one is not often called on to witness—
to share in—the fury, the wild cry for revenge,
that rose from England when the tale came to
be told there. Nana Sahib waited to encounter
the victorious Havelock on July 16; he was
completely defeated, fled from the field in the
direction of Nepaul, and has never since been
heard of. Of the twelve men who left the boat Photo by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta.]

which floated down the Ganges, four escaped THE CASHMERE GATE, DELHI.
after extraordinary adventures, by favour of a
friendly rajah—the sole survivors of the European community at Cawnpore.
On June 8 General Wilson appeared before Delhi, but
his force was far too small to attempt to invest a city held by
Siege of Delhi.
30,000 insurgents. General Nicholson
reinforced him in August, and on
September 20 the place was taken by assault, Nicholson
falling dead at the head of the storming columns.
Seeing that it has been
necessary to relate some of the
many atrocities perpetrated by the
rebel leaders, it would be unfair to
keep regarding one that was
enacted here by an English officer.
A brave young fellow called
A. Pearse.]
Hodson, commanding an irregular
force well-known as Hodson’s BLOWING UP OF THE CASHMERE
GATE, DELHI.
Horse, asked General Wilson’s
This was one of the most
permission to capture the King of daring exploits in a campaign
Delhi and his family. Wilson remarkable for deeds of gallantry.
consented, provided the old King’s Advancing across a broken
drawbridge in broad daylight, in
life should be preserved. The King the face of the enemy’s defences,
Sir F. Grant, P.R.A.]
[By permission of
and his sons had taken refuge in Lieutenants Home and Salkeld,
Messrs. Graves. an immense enclosure, the tomb with native sappers to carry the
gunpowder, succeeded in laying
 FIELD-MARSHAL LORD of the Emperor Hoomayoon, eight bags of powder against the
CLYDE, 1792–1863. gate. Home leaped into the ditch
adjoining the city, where he was unhurt; Salkeld, who held a
Born at Glasgow;
entered the army in 1808,
guarded by a strong armed force. lighted port fire, was badly
and served with great Hodson quietly rode up with a wounded and fell back on the
bridge, handing the port-fire as he
distinction in the Peninsula, small escort and called on the fell to Sergeant Burgess, who was
China, the Punjab, the
Crimea, and was
troops to lay down their arms. immediately shot dead. Sergeant
Commander-in-Chief in the Believing, no doubt, that the Carmichael then advanced, picked
up the port-fire, and lighted the
operations for the English officer had ample force at fuse, but fell mortally wounded.
suppression of the Indian
Mutiny. For his services in
hand to enforce his command, The gate was blown in, killing all
this campaign he was raised they instantly obeyed. The King’s its defenders but one, and the
British entered without opposition.
to the peerage. He is buried life was spared, according to
in Westminster Abbey.
orders, but, shameful to say,
Hodson summoned the three Princes—the King’s sons—before
him, and shot them with his own hand. It was a horrible act, but in the spirit of
vengeance then prevalent, many were found to justify it, and Hodson was never brought
to trial. He was killed in action at Lucknow not long after.

T. Jones Barker.] [By permission of the Corporation of Glasgow.

1. Sir Henry Havelock. 2. Sir James Outram. 3. Sir Colin Campbell. 4. Sir John
Inglis. 5. Sir Hope Grant. 6. Major-General Sir W. R. Mansfield. 7. Sir William
Peel. 8. Brigadier Hon. Adrian Hope.
THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW, November 17, 1857.
This picture represents the meeting of General Sir Henry Havelock, Sir James
Outram, and Sir Colin Campbell at the Mess House of the 32nd Regiment, in
Lucknow, in November 1857. It was executed from sketches taken on the spot by
Egron Lundgren.

While these events were passing, General Anson, Commander-in-Chief of the forces in
India, died on June 27. It was decided to send out Sir Colin Campbell to replace him. On
being asked when he would be ready to start Sir Colin answered with characteristic
promptitude: “To-morrow”; and he sailed the following day without waiting to prepare his
outfit.
 Sir Henry Lawrence,G Chief Commissioner of Oude, had
fortified and provisioned the Residency of Lucknow where, on
July 2, he was besieged, having with him a single battalion of
Europeans and all the European inhabitants of the station.
The Relief of
Lawrence was killed at the opening of the
Lucknow. siege, but the little garrison held out with
magnificent resolution till, on September 25,
they were relieved by Havelock and Outram. But these generals
were in turn hemmed in by immense masses of rebel troops,
and it was not until Sir Colin Campbell fought his way to
Lucknow, on November 17, that the garrison with the women
and children could be considered to be relieved. One of those
who endured this long and painful siege was that Dr. Brydon,
J. Lucas.] who had ridden alone into Jellalabad after the awful retreat
[By permission of Messrs. Graves. from Cabul in 1842.
CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM PEEL,
R.N., The Residency was evacuated on the 22nd, and Havelock,
In command of the Naval
outworn with the heroic exertions of the past six months, died
Brigade at Lucknow. on the 24th. If Lord Canning’s calm resolution and Mr.
Montgomery’s bold promptitude were the chief agents in
Death of
checking the
Havelock. proportions of the
rebellion, it was
Havelock’s masterly generalship and
cool courage in face of overwhelming
numbers that first broke the military
spirit of the insurgents. Soon after
Havelock’s death, Sir Colin was obliged
to suspend operations at Lucknow in
order to repair a disaster which had
overtaken General Wyndham, who had T. Brigstocke.] [From the National
A. H. Ritchie.] been defeated by the Gwalior rebel Portrait Gallery.
[From an Engraving.
army at Cawnpore. Having done so, LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR JAMES
SIR HENRY HAVELOCK, and captured that place of dreadful OUTRAM, 1803–1863.
1795–1857.
memory, he rejoined Sir Hope Grant at
Lucknow, which was taken by assault on March 19, 1858.
It
throw
s
some
light
on
the
magn
itude From a Photograph] [by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta.
of
what
From a Photograph] [by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta.
is RUINS OF THE BAILEY GUARD, THE RESIDENCY,
LUCKNOW.
THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA. usuall
This building, erected in 1629–1648 to serve as y
the Mausoleum of Arjamand Benu Begam, wife of
the Emperor Shah Jehan, is reputed the most
called the Indian Mutiny, that upwards of 2,000
beautiful specimen of architecture in India, of the enemy were killed in the final attack, and
perhaps in the world. It is of white marble and 100 of their guns taken. Those who had begun
precious stones, and possesses a feminine grace
and charm which no photograph can reproduce.
by putting down a mutiny had to end by re-
conquering the greater part of India.
Sir Colin Campbell (now Lord Clyde) continued the campaign in Oude after the Fall of
Lucknow, ably assisted by Jang Bahádur of Nepál, until that province was entirely
subdued by the end of 1858. Sir Hugh Rose (afterwards Lord Strathnairn) was opposed to
the last in Central India by the Ranee of Jhansi, a Princess of extraordinary character, who
rode in battle like a modern Joan of Arc, and fell, sabre in hand, at the head of her troops.
Tantia Topee, the former lieutenant of Nana, was the last to hold out, but at length he,
too, was taken in April 1859, and hanged for his share in the horrors of Cawnpore.
It was not possible that such a convulsion should pass through the peninsula of
Hindostan without shaking down everything that could be shaken in its institutions. The
End of the East
English public—the average English Parliament man—knew of the
India Company’s existence of British rule in India, and could lay finger on Calcutta in the
Rule. map. But that was about the utmost precise knowledge of Indian affairs
possessed by most people, until attention was violently forced to them
by the Great Mutiny. Then it dawned upon them that this mighty dominion was governed
by the directors of a trading company, who exercised all the powers of empire, civil and
military, deriving their authority from a charter signed by Queen Elizabeth. Various
limitations and reforms, indeed, had been imposed by Parliament on “John Company”;
still, the whole system had become an archaism, as uncertain in practice as it was
indefensible in theory. The time for sweeping changes had come, not because the
directors of the East India Company had abused their authority; but the safety of the
Empire required that the Crown should enter now upon the heritage won by the
commercial enterprise of its subjects. The Act for the better government of India was
framed on a series of Resolutions laid before a Committee of the whole House, and
became law in the autumn of 1858. It provided that the Administration of India should
pass wholly out of the hands of the Company into those of the Queen, governing through
a Secretary of State and a Council of fifteen, seven of whom were to be nominated by the
Court of Directors and eight by the Crown. The Governor-General was made a Viceroy, the
Indian Navy was discontinued, and the twenty-four European Regiments in the Company’s
Service were amalgamated with the Royal army.
Notice must be paid here to a happy event, which brought to a close the unpleasant
feelings subsisting between the Courts of Great Britain and Prussia, owing to the
unfriendly and insincere conduct of the King of Prussia during the Crimean Campaign. On
January 25, 1858, the Princess Royal was married in the Chapel Royal, St. James’s, to the
Crown Prince of Prussia, who, in later years, bore such a distinguished part as the
Emperor Frederick William of Germany.
J. Philip, R.A.] [From the Royal Collection.
1. Her Majesty the Queen. 11. Princess Louise.
2. Prince Consort. 12. King of Prussia.
3. Princess Royal. 13. Queen of Prussia.
4. Crown Prince of Prussia. 14. Duke of Saxe-Coburg.
5. Prince of Wales. 15. Archbishop of Canterbury.
6. Prince Alfred. 16. King of the Belgians.
7. Prince Arthur. 17. Duchess of Kent.
8. Prince Leopold. 18. Duke of Cambridge.
9. Princess Alice. 19. Duchess of Cambridge.
10. Princess Helena. 20. Princess Mary of Cambridge.
21. Lady Cecilia Lennox.
22. Lady Villiers.
23. Lady Stanley.
24. Lady Murray.
25. Lady Molyneaux.
26. Lady Susan Pelham Clinton.
27. Earl of St. Germans.
28. Marquess of Breadalbane.
29. Earl of Clarendon.

THE MARRIAGE OF T.R.H. THE PRINCESS ROYAL AND THE CROWN PRINCE FREDERICK
WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA, January 25, 1858.
Photo by Valentine, Dundee.]

BALMORAL CASTLE.
Her Majesty’s Highland residence was built in 1853 from designs by H.R.H. the
Prince Consort. It is of white Crathie granite. There are 30,000 acres of deer forest
within the bounds of the royal demesne.
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