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Cairo
History 
| Cairo
History |
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| Islamic
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Two
thousand years ago the first stones of the
Middle East and Africa’s metropolis were
laid down. The Romans, were the first to
start this never-ending ordeal of building
and expanding. They built the Babylon
Fortress (now Coptic Cairo), and were
vastly spreading the cult of Christianity.
This all ended in 640 AD when the Muslim
Arabs arrived to introduce the Egyptians
to their new faith. Under the command of
General Amr Ibn Al-Aas, the muslims built
their own city north of Babylon, they
called it Fustat. The population of Fustat
increased day by day, as Muslims arrived
from the Arabian Peninsula. Next to rule
Fustat, was the Abbasid governor Ahmed Ibn
Tuloun. His period was a period of wealth
and prosperity, he build a glorious mosque
which still stands today, Ibn Tuloun
Mosque, just north of Fustat. The Tulunid
Period increased in wealth and prosperity
from taxations on trade between Europe and
the Far East, and the cultivation of
Egypt’s rich soil. Fustat became a
cosmopolitan city with street lights,
buildings, mosques and gardens. All this
was to end in 969 AD when the Fatimids
came from North Africa to claim the city
of Fustat from the Tulunids. Once again
the Fatimids built there own city, which
would, later on, become today’s Cairo,
and they called it Al-Qahira, meaning the
victorious in Arabic. Al-Qahira was a
fortified city, enclosed between four
walls with four different gates. It
remained the capital of Egypt until the
mid 19th century .
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| Mamluk |
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During
the crusades the Seljic Turks (Sunni
Muslims) came to help the Fatimids (Shiia
Muslims) and ended up in war together. The
Fatimids were out-numbered, evacuated
Al-Qahira, and fled to exile. The Seljics
opened up the Gates of Cairo, allowing the
Fustat Muslims (also Sunni) to enter the
city. The man who restored Sunni Muslim
Rule, and the new leader of Cairo, was
Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi. A military man,
Salah Al-Din built a huge wall around
Cairo, and the Citadel (that still remains
today). Next in line, were the Mamluks,
Turkish slaves serving under the Ayyubid
army who surprisingly made a coup d’etat
of the city in the 13th century AD. They
spent loads of money on the development of
Cairo, which they acquired mainly through
taxes on trade from Europe to the Far
East. During their 250 year reign, Cairo
was the cultural and Islamic capital of
the Middle East. The Mamluks contributed
some of the most exquisite Islamic
monuments to the city, one of which is the
Mosque of QaitBey in the northern
cemetery. Their prosperity ended in the
15th century when the route through the
Cape of Good Hope was discovered. In the
year 1516 the last Mamluk Sultan was hung
on one of Cairo’s doors leaving it open
for three centuries of Ottoman
provincialisation.
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| Ottoman
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Under
the Ottomans, the once prosperous Cairo was
reduced to a humble province in the vast Ottoman
Empire. Until 1798, when Napoleon started taking
interest in Egypt, Cairo was under Ottoman rule.
Napoleon laid hands on Egypt for three years,
leaving it behind in 1801, in the hands of Mohamed
Ali who was an Albanian soldier in the Turkish
army with very high aims. Mohamed Ali’s family
ruled Egypt until the revolution of 1952. Mohamed
Ali Pasha strived to turn Cairo into a
European-Style, industrial city. He was the first
to introduce public education, railways and cotton
plantation. The 1800’s saw the beginning of
tourism in Egypt. Europeans developed a taste for
Egypt, and hundreds of travelers arrived each year
to explore its beauty. After his death, Mohamed
Ali was succeeded by his grandson Ismail, who, in
16 years managed to do for Cairo, what none of his
predecessors could achieve. Ismail expanded
Islamic Cairo all the way up to the banks of the
Nile, and continued the European-Style of his
grandfather. It was under Ismail, that the Suez
Canal was constructed and completed, a new
railroad network was planned out and completed,
reaching the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Modern Cairo was under massive construction. In
order to finance all his projects, Ismail dragged
Egypt into major debts to European Banks. In 1882,
the British government announced that it is
officially occupying Cairo and all of Egypt, until
the debts are repaid.
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| Modern
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The
British allowed the Mohamed Ali family to remain
on the throne, with all power in British hands.
First was the unpopular King Fuad, and next was
his even less popular son, Farouk. The British
remained in control until the 26th of January,
1952, also known as Black Saturday. All British
and Foreign shops, companies, and establishments
were reduced to ashes in the space of one day, the
sky over Cairo turned black that Saturday. Only
weeks later, a group of officers known as the Free
Officers, attempted in success to over throw King
Farouk, and Cairo was ruled by Egyptians for the
first time since the Pharaohs. Ever since Cairo
has been the capital of Egypt, under President
Gamal Abdel Nassar, followed by Anwar Al-Sadat,
and finally today’s President Hosny Mubarak.
With a population of 16 million (25% of Egypt’s
pop.), Cairo is still growing. Rural to Urban
migration is common in Egypt, and is the source
for over 60% of the capital’s population. The
government is doing its best to keep the crowded
metropolis in shape; underground subway systems,
transportation facilities, bridges, tunnels, new
highways are expanding each day to serve the
enormous population.
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