The nineteenth century marked a transition in the Middle East from centuries of stagnation and isolation to the modern world of political independence and a revolutionary transformation of the economic and social structure of the region. This book of readings is the first systematic attempt to study the economic history of modern Turkey and its Arab neighbors. With sections on the Ottoman Empire, Iraq, Syria, Arabia, Egypt, and the Sudan, it covers the integration of the region in the international commercial and financial network; the investment of foreign capital; the development of mechanical transportation; the transition from a subsistence agriculture to a market-oriented one; the growth of the population; the decline of handicrafts; and the establishment of modern industries. of the sixty-two readings, seven are published here for the first time, and two-thirds of the others are translations from French, Arabic, German, Russian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Italian publications. Introductory notes and essays draw the selections together into a more or less consecutive narrative, emphasizing the salient features of the economic history of the various countries discussed. Anyone interested in the history of the Middle East or in general problems of economic and social development will welcome this body of material which was hitherto inaccessible to all but a few scholars.
Charles Issawi was born in Cairo, Egypt, of Lebanese parents. He has lived or traveled in most Middle Eastern and West European countries. A graduate of Oxford University, he has served as chief of the Research Department of the National Bank of Egypt, as chief of the Middle East Unit, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Secretariat; has taught at the American University of Beirut; and is now Ragnar Nurkse Professor of Economics, Columbia University. the research for the present book was supported in part by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. Among Mr. Issawi’s previous books are Egypt in Revolution, An Arab Philosophy of History, and the Economics of Middle Eastern Oil.
Contents
Part I General Introduction / i Decline and Revival of the Middle Eastern Economy / 3
Part II Ottoman Empire / 15 Introduction / 17 1 The Political and Social Background in the Eighteenth Century / 23 (A. H. Hourani, “the Fertile Crescent in the Eighteenth Century”) 2 Ottoman Trade with Europe, 1784 / 30 (“Etat du commerce du Levant en 1784, d’aprbs les registres de la chambre de commerce de Marseille”) 3 Anglo-Turkish Commercial Convention of 1838 / 38 (Great Britain, Parliamentary Papers, 1839) 4 Decline of Ottoman Industry in the l840’s / 41 (M. A. Ubicini, Letters on Turkey) 5 Ottoman Industrial Policy, 1840-I914 / 46 (Omer Celal Sarç; “Tanzimat ve Sanayimiz”) 6 the Expansion of tobacco Growing in the Nineteenth Century / 60 (Ziraat Tarihine bin Bakis) 7 The Development of Agriculture in Anatolia / 65 (A. D. Novichev, Ocherki ekonotniki Turtsii) 8 Land Tenure Problems in the Fertile Crescent in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries / 71 (Doreen Warriner, “Land Tenure in the Fertile Crescent”) 9 Land Tenure in Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, 1800-I950 / 79 (Gabriel Baer, “the Evolution of Private Landownership in Egypt and the Fertile Crescent”) 10 Railway Projects in Turkey, 1872-1900 / 91 (W. von Pressel, Les chemins de fer de Turquie) 11 The Ottoman Debt, 1850-I939 / 94 (Rafii-^ukru Suvla, “Tanzimat Devrinde Istikrazlar”) 12 the Burden of Taxation on the Peasants / 107 (Rejat Aktan, “Agricultural Policy of Turkey”) 13 Ethnic Division of Labor / 114 (A. J. Sussnitzki, “Zur Gliederung wirtschaftslicher Arbeit nach Nationalitaten in der Tiirkei”)
Part III Iraq / 127 Introduction / 129 1 Trade in 1800 / 135 (J.-B. Rousseau, Description du Pachalik de Baghdad) 2 Projected Railway to the Mediterranean, 1850’s / 137 (Count Edward de Warren, European Interests in Railways in the Valley of the Euphrates) 3 Steam Navigation on the Tigris and Euphrates, l86l-I932 / 146 (“The Story of the Euphrates Company”) 4 Population Movements, I867-I947 / 154 (M. S. Hasan, “Growth and Structure of Iraq’s Population, 1867-1947”) 5 Land Tenure in the Nineteenth Century / 163 (Saleh Haider, “Land Problems of Iraq”) 6 Production, Transport, and Foreign Trade in the I900’s / 179 (Adriano Lanzoni, “La Mesopotamia economica”) 7 Taxation in the I9Oo’s / 186 (Sa‘id Himadeh, Al-nizam al-iqtisadi fi al-Iraq) 8 Irrigation Projects in the 1900’s / 191 (Sir W. Willcocks, “Mesopotamia: Past, Present, and Future”) 9 The Struggle for Oil in Iraq / 198 (Karl Hoffmann, Oelpolitik und angelsdchsischer Imperialismus)
Part IV Syria / 203 Introduction / 205 1 Agriculture and Trade in the 1780’s / 213 (C. F. Volney, Travels through Syria and Egypt) 2 Handicrafts and Trade in the 1830’s / 220 (John MacGregor, Commercial Statistics) 3 From Subsistence to Market Economy, 1850’s / 226 (I. M. Smilianskaya, “Razlozhenie feodalnikh otnoshenii v Sirii i Livane v seredine XIXv.”) 4 Railways, 1888-1914 / 248 (M. Hecker, “Die Eisenbahnen in der asiatischen Tiirkei”) 5 the Frontier of Settlement, 1800-1950 / 258 (Norman N. Lewis, “the Frontier of Settlement in Syria, 1800-1950”) 6 Migration from and to Syria, I86O-I9I4 / 269 (A. Ruppin, Syrien als Wirtschaftsgebiet) 7 Syria in the 1900’s / 274 (E. Weakley, “Report on the Conditions and Prospects of British Trade in Syria”)
Part V Arabia / 291 Introduction / 293 1 Trade of Southwestern Arabia in the Eighteenth Century / 305 (Carsten Niebuhr, Description de I’Arabie) 2 Economic Conditions in Muscat and Oman, 1904 / 308 (“Report on the Conditions and Prospects of British Trade in Oman Bahrain and Arab Ports in the Persian Gulf,” 1905) 3 Pearling in the Persian Gulf / 312 (George Rentz, “Pearling in the Persian Gulf”) 4 the Trade of the Hijaz At the Turn of the Century / 317 (“Diplomatic and Consular Reports on Trade and Finance, Turkey”, 1898, and “Jcddah,” 1912-13) 5 Yemen, Aden, Bahrein in the 1900’s / 323 (I Handbook of Arabia) 6 Population in South Arabia in the 1900’s / 332 (Adolf Grohmann, Sudarabien als Wirtschaftsgebeit) 7 The Yemeni Jews in the Twentieth Century / 335 (Joseph Kafih, Halikliot Temati) 8 Railway Project in Yemen, I909-I912 / 339 (A. Beneyton, “Mission d’etudes au Yemen”) 9 The Nomad Economy / 342 (A. I. Pcrshits, “Khozyaistvcnny byt kochcvnikov saudovskoi Aravii”) 10 International Economic Rivalries in the Persian Gulf, I896-I914 / 350 (Eugene Staley, “Business and Politics in the Persian Gulf”)
Part VI Egypt / 357 1 The Economic Development of Egypt, 1800-1960 / 359 (Charles Issawi, “Egypt since 1800: a Study in Lopsided Development”) 2 Agricultural and Industrial Techniques in 1800 / 375 (P. S. Girard, “Memoire stir l’agriculture, l’industrie, et le commerce de l’Egyptc”) 3 the Revolution in Land Tenure, 1801-1815 / 380 (‘Abd al-Rahinan al-Jabarti, ‘Ajaib al-athar fi al-tarajim u>a al-akhbar) 4 Agriculture Under Muhammad Ali / 384 (John Bowring, “Report on Egypt and Candia”) 5 the Commercial, Financial, and Industrial Policy of Muhammad Ali / 389 (Ali al—Giritli, Tarikli al-sina‘a fi Misr) 6 Public Revenue and Expenditure, 1790-1842 / 403 (Amin Sami pasha, Taqwim al-Nil) 7 the Development of Transport, 1800-1870 / 406 (Ahmad Ahmad al-Hitta, Tarikh Misr al-iqtisadi) 8 Egyptian Cotton and the American Civil War, 1860-1866 / 416 (E. R. J. Owen, “Cotton Production and the Development of the Cotton Economy in Nineteenth-Century Egypt”) 9 Progress and Indebtedness Under Ismail, 1863-1875 / 430 (“Report by Mr. Cave on the Financial Conditions of Egypt”) 10 Public Finance Under the British Administration, 1882-1901 / 439 (“Report by H. M. Agent and Consul-General,” 1902) 11 the Movement of Cotton Prices, 1820-1899 / 446 (Mahmoud el Darwish, “Note on the Movement of Prices of Egyptian Cotton, 1820-1899”) 12 the Trend in Prices, 1800-1907 / 449 (Yacoub Artin Pacha, Essai sur les causes du rencherissement de la vie materielle au Caire au courant du XIXe siicle) 13 Beginnings of Industrialization, 1916 / 452 (Rapport de la Commission du Commerce et de I'lndustrie)
Part VII Sudan / 461 Introduction / 463 1 Foreign Trade: the Darfur Caravan, 1800 / 473 (P. S. Girard, “Memoire sur l’agriculture, l’industrie et le commerce de l’Egypte”) 2 The Sudan Under Egyptian Rule, 1821-1881 / 477 (M. Sabry, Le Soudan egyptien, 1821-1898) 3 Taxes, Trade, and Railway Projects on the Eve of Mahdist Revolt, 1882 / 480 (J. D. H. Stewart, “Report on the Soudan") 4 Economic Causes of the Mahdist Revolt / 485 (Na‘um Shuqair, Tarikh al-Sudan) 5 Economic Conditions Under Mahdism / 488 (General Report on the Egyptian Soudan, March 1895) 6 The Fiscal Administration of the Mahdist State, 1881-1898 / 491 (Makki Shibeika, Al-Sudan fi Qarn, 1819-1919) 7 Railway Projects, 1899 / 493 (“Report by H. M. Agent and Consul General,” 1899) 8 Land Policy, 1906 / 497 (“Report by H. M. Agent and Consul General,” 1907) 9 Preparations for the Gezira Scheme, 1904-1925 / 500 (Muhammad Mahmud al-Sayyad, Iqtisadiat al-Sudan)
Part VIII Epilogue, 1961 / 503 Shifts in Economic Power / 505 (Charles Issawi, “Shifts in Economic Power, 1914-61”)
Reference Material / 515 Appendixes
I Weights and Mebasures / 517 II Currencies / 520 III Glossary / 525
Selected Bibliography / 527 Index of Place Names / 539 Subject Index / 542
PREFACE
Few aspects of the history of the Middle East in the last two hundred years have received less attention than the economic. The paucity of literature on the subject may be easily ascertained by referring to the standard bibliographies or to the articles listed in Index Islatnicus and its Supplement. Yet it is clear that without some grasp of the economic changes that occurred during this period, no real understanding is possible either of the course of events in other fields of Middle Eastern history during these two centuries or of economic developments in the region during recent decades. This book is an attempt to fill one of the many gaps in this field by presenting a selection of articles and extracts from reports, articles, and books on various aspects of the economic history of Turkey and the eastern Arab countries; as such it may be useful not only to students of the Middle East but also to those working in the general area of economic development. It is presented essentially as an aid in teaching and research. If it serves to arouse interest in this neglected subject and stimulates further study, it will have fulfilled its main objective.
The region under review consists of Anatolia, Arab Asia, and the Nile Valley. the period covered is 1800-1914, but in certain selections the narrative continues beyond 1914; literature on the period after the First World War is relatively abundant and easily accessible. Within these limits, emphasis varies from country to country, depending on the particular nature of its history.
The nineteenth century, which is the object of study, forms a transition between the “medieval” and “modern” periods in the history of the Middle East. The emphasis of the selections is therefore on the gradual transformation that took place during that century: the integration of the region in the international commercial and financial network, the investment of foreign capital, the development of mechanical transport, the transition from a subsistence to a market-oriented agriculture, the decline of the handicrafts, the growth of the population, and the attempts to establish modern industries. Of course this transformation was part of the wider changes in the political, social and cultural life of the region. the primary aim in selecting the material has been to include the best and most interesting texts available. Within this framework, four criteria have been applied:
First, no passage written in English has been reproduced if it was originally published in a book. This has led to the exclusion of important writings by such authors as Bonne, Crouchley, Gaitskell, Gibb and Bowen, Hoskins, Landes, Bernard Lewis, Longrigg, Rivlin, Stanford Shaw, and others, an exclusion justified, however, by the ready availability of the books written by these authors.
Second, preference has been given to texts in non-Western languages over texts in Western languages, and within the latter group, to non-English texts over English. Third, priority has been given to articles, reports, and pamphlets over books, and to older books over more recently published ones.
Last, since the main laws, treaties, and concessionary and other agreements affecting economic activity have been reproduced in J. C. Hurewitz, Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East (Princeton, 1956), no attempt has been made to include such documents here, with a single, short exception.
Of the sixty-two selections, seven are published here for the first time, and one of them was written specially for this book. They cover two centuries, the earliest having been written in the 1760’s and the latest in the 1960’s, and they are drawn from English, French, Arabic, German, Russian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Italian. Twenty-nine were originally written in English, and published translations of two others were available. The Hebrew passage was translated by Professor Gerson D. Cohen, my colleague. Some three-quarters of the others were translated by me, and I have checked all the remaining ones against the original text and revised the draft. Each part of the book is preceded by a short essay; these essays are somewhat longer for those countries where material is scarcest. Each selection is preceded by an introductory note, with bibliographical references. The selections and introductions have been arranged so as to provide a more or less consecutive narrative and bring out the salient features of the economic history of the country concerned.
Appendixes on weights and measures and on currencies, a brief glossary of the Arabic and Turkish terms used most frequently in this book, and a selected bibliography are also provided. A few explanatory words or sentences, as well as cross-references, have been inserted in the text or footnotes; all such additions in the text are enclosed in brackets; added footnotes are indicated by “Translator” or “Editor.” Otherwise, except for some omissions, no attempt has been made to edit the selections—thus the numbering of tables in the original texts has not been changed and references to passages not included in this book have been kept.
No book on the Middle East can avoid a mention in the preface of transliteration. I have made little attempt to change the fanciful spelling of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish words used by some of the authors included, or to correct their inconsistencies. in the translated passages and introductions, I have used a reasonably consistent system, following Turkish practice in Part II and Arabic in the others, omitting diacritical marks other than the Arabic ‘ain and the Turkish f and and paying due respect to usage; in these passages Arabic and Turkish words have been italicized, except terms meaning weights and measures and currencies. I believe the result should be intelligible to the reader.
I should like to thank the following colleagues and friends who read parts of the manuscript and gave me the benefit of their comments and criticisms: Shepherd B. Clough, D. M. Dunlop, P. H. Holt, A. H. Hourani, J. C. Hurewitz, George Rentz, and F. H. Stoakes; Mrs. Judy Marsh, Miss Marilyn Sjoberg, Miss Isabel Ludeman, and Miss Lily Venn, who typed the manuscript; and above all my wife, whose help at every stage was invaluable. Dr. C. Zurayk read the proofs and made many helpful suggestions.
Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Social Science Research Council, which granted me fellowships in 1961-62 for research on the economic history of the Arab countries, and to the School of International Affairs at Columbia University, whose financial assistance made it possible for me to carry out much of the work that went into this book.
Part I
General Introduction
General Introduction: Decline and Revival of the Middle Eastern Economy
The long history of the Middle East has witnessed several cycles of growth and decay. The last of these shows a slow and prolonged decline from about the twelfth century until the nineteenth, followed by a sharp recovery and steady growth to the present day.1
The causes of the economic decline of the Arab countries in the medieval period have still to be determined, but the fact of the decline itself stands plain. By the eighteenth century the cultivated area in Iraq had shrunk to a minute fraction of what it had been in the tenth, and the population had correspondingly diminished. In Syria, for whose population under the Romans a figure of ten million has been declared "by no means improbable”2 and which may perhaps more realistically be estimated at five to six million,3 the total had dropped to perhaps two million by the end of the eighteenth century. The margin of cultivation had moved much nearer the coast than in Roman or early Arab times, and in some spots, it actually reached the sea. In southern Arabia the prosperity of former times survived only in legend. Even Egypt had fallen very low although, thanks to the regularity of the Nile and to the strength of the Mamluk army, it had been spared the worst calamities that befell its neighbors. Its population, which is reliably put at eight million in Roman times, is estimated to have fallen to not more than four million4 by the fourteenth century and by 1800 stood at about two and a half million. The cultivated area had also appreciably diminished.
Urban life had suffered less than rural, since the breakdown of the state had never been complete and since the government always retained some authority …
1 Perhaps the best single study of the economy of any medieval Arab country at its peak is ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Duri, Tarikh al- Iraq al-iqtisadi (Baghdad, 1948), covering tenth-century Iraq. See also, on Fatimid Egypt, Rashid al-Barawi, Halat Misr al-iqtisadia fi ‘ahd al-Fatimiyyin (Cairo, 1948).
2 F. M. Heichelhcim, “Roman Syria,” in Tenney Frank (ed.), An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome (Baltimore, 1927), IV, 158. Throughout this book, unless otherwise indicated, the term Syria denotes “natural” or “greater” Syria, i.e., the area now composing the states of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
3 Julius Beloch, Die Bevolkertmg der griechish-romischen Welt (Leipzig, 1886), cited in Heichelhcim, op. cil.
4 Gibb and Bowen, Islamic Society and the West, I, 209.
Charles Issawi
The Economic History of the Middle East 1800-1914
The University of Chicago
The University of Chicago Press The Economic History of the Middle East 1800-1914 A book of readings Edited and with Introductions by Charles Issawi
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
