Timeline / 1820 to 1890 /

Date Country Theme

1820 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

Muhammad ‘Ali sends the first educational “mission” of Egyptian students to Europe.

1827 Egypt Political Context

When under the command of an Ottoman representative the entire Egyptian navy is sunk by the European Allied fleet, Muhammad ‘Ali asks for the territory of Syria in compensation.

1827 Egypt Migrations

The French physician Antoine Barthelemy Clot, Clot Bey as he was known in Egypt, becomes the first director of the Medical School and Hospital in Egypt.

1827 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

A School of Medicine is established at Abu Za‘bal and annexed to the Military Hospital there due to the efforts of Clot Bek, a French physician. A fatwa is then issued by Sheikh Hasan al-Attar, which allowed anatomizing cadavers as long as it was done in order to prevent disease.

1827 - 1831 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

A School of Veterinary Medicine emerges in Rashid in 1827, which then transfers to a building beside the School of Medicine at Abu Za‘bal in 1831. Here the veterinary hospital is able to accommodate up to 110 horses and includes a Pharmacy, a Hall of Anatomy and areas for student and staff subsistence.

1828 - 1848 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

The Mosque of Muhammad ‘Ali is built between 1828 and 1848. Perched on the summit of the Citadel, the Ottoman mosque with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century, is the most visible mosque in Cairo.

1829 Egypt Migrations

Al-Waqa'i`a al-Masriya is established by order of Muhammad ‘Ali. It is the first indigenous Middle Eastern newspaper, initially written in both Ottoman Turkish and .

1834 Egypt Economy And Trade

A Khedival Decree promulgates the issue of an Egyptian consisting of a bi-metallic base of and . The Egyptian , known as the geneih is introduced, which replaces the Egyptian (ersh) as the main unit of currency.

1835 Egypt Great Inventions Of The 19th Century Date Country Theme

Opening of shipping routes between Alexandria and Marseille.

1836 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

Rifa’a al-Rafi’ al-Tahtawi founds the School of Languages to educate and train professional interpreters and translators.

1837 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

The year sees the founding of Egypt’s oldest commercial science study centre, when the School of Account is established during Muhammad ‘Ali’s Era.

1843 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

Muhammad Sharif Pasha builds the Sharif Pasha Palace situated on Kirdassi Street, off Hasan al-Akbar Street, in Cairo. The Pasha held a number of important posts during the reigns of Muhammad ‘Ali and his successors.

1846 Egypt Travelling

Ibrahim Pasha is received with respect and curiosity when he visits western Europe.

1854 Egypt Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Sa‘id Pasha’s accession to the Viceroyalty of Egypt provides French businessman Ferdinand de Lesseps new impulse to develop the .

1863 Egypt Migrations

Muhammad Sa‘id Pasha dispatches part of a Sudanese battalion to help stop a rebellion against the Second Mexican Empire.

1863 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

On 18 October, under the rule of Khedive Isma‘il, the Egyptian Museum opens in the Caireen district of Bulaq under the management of French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, known as Mariette Pasha.

1863 - 1879 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

Education attracts renewed interest during Isma‘il Pasha’s era. His government establishes schools and reviews students’ expenses, including their living expenses, which sees the restoration of the Diwan (or ministry) of Schools that Sa‘id had annulled. Now as the education budget increased, gradually, the government also returned to dispatching missions to Europe, mostly to France. A number of primary schools were established across the country: from Alexandria in the north to Minya in the south.

1865 Egypt Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

The royal yacht Mahroussa is built for Isma‘il Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt. Date Country Theme

1866 Egypt Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

The first Egyptian stamps are issued on 1 January.

1866 - 1867 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

In 1866 the School of Irrigation and Architecture is inaugurated at al-Za‘faran Saray in ‘Abbasiyya in Cairo; it then transfers to Mustafa Fadil Saray at Darb al-Jama‘iz in 1867. The School provides a study programme of five years: a preparatory year followed by a further four years; two years respectively specialising in irrigation and architecture.

1867 Egypt Travelling

Khedive Isma‘il Pasha visits Paris and then London, where he is received by Queen Victoria and welcomed by the Lord Mayor. He attends a British Royal Navy fleet review alongside the Ottoman Sultan.

1868 - 1874 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

Construction of the Abdeen Palace in Cairo begins in 1868 and inauguration takes place some six years later.

1868 - 1886 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

A Law School is established during Isma‘il Pasha’s era in 1868. Known then as the School of Management and Languages, the two schools separate in 1882 and remain as such until July 1886. That year, it becomes the School of Law with two departments, primary and high.

1869 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

The Opera House is inaugurated in November 1869 with Verdi’s Opera Rigoletto. In attendance, seated in the Royal loge, are Khedive Isma‘il Pasha, Empress Eugénie and her husband Napoleon III, and François Joseph I of Austria.

1869 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

Khedive Isma‘il commissions a French company to construct the first bridge across the River in Cairo, the Qasr al-Nil Bridge.

1869 Egypt Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

With completion of the Suez Canal a number of dignitaries and high-profile personalities arrive in Egypt for the inauguration, including Empress Eugénie of France.

1869 Egypt Travelling

Khedive Isma‘il Pasha visits Britain.

1871 - 1877 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces Date Country Theme

Jezira Bridge is constructed in 1871 and opens to traffic in 1877. The intention is to link the districts of Dokki and Bulaq al-Dakrur with Zamalek. Construction requires redirection of the Nile bed.

1871 Egypt Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

Giuseppe Verdi’s Egyptian-themed Aida premiers in Cairo on 24 December.

1874 Egypt Migrations

Khedive Isma‘il attempts to reduce slave trading and extends Egypt’s rule in Africa. Managing to annex Darfur in 1874, he is prevented from further expansion into Ethiopia when his army is defeated by the Emperor Yohannes IV.

1875 Egypt Migrations

The Egyptian Geographic Society is established by a decree of Khedive Isma‘il Pasha on 19 May 1875. Its first president is the German botanist, traveller and ethnologist Georg August Schweinfurth.

1875 - 1876 Egypt Economy And Trade

In December 1875 Stephen Cave and John Stokes are sent by the British Government to inquire into the finances of Egypt. Their report, published in April 1876, advises that in view of the perceived “waste and extravagance” it is necessary for foreign powers to interfere to restore credit.

1877 Egypt Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

Yaqub Sanu‘ founds the satirical magazine Abu Naddara early in this year. It has immediate and wide appeal to both the literate and the illiterate, who find someone to read it to them.

1879 - 1882 Egypt Political Context

The ’Urabi Revolution, led by Colonel Ahmed ’Urabi, erupts in February 1879 and continues until 1882. It is the first revolution of the modern age in Egypt.

1882 Egypt Political Context

Britain occupies Egypt.

1883 Egypt Travelling

Arriving in Egypt as diplomatic agent and Consul-General of Britain, Sir Evelyn Baring’s (Lord Cromer’s) first task is to demand that Khedive Muhammad Tawfiq should abandon Sudan. Tawfiq consents reluctantly, but having done so he then does everything he can to ensure success of the policy that Baring has been sent to carry out.

1885 - 1889 Egypt Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme

The singer Salama Hijazi turns to acting with the Kirdahi and al-Haddad troupes. Through his contributions, many musical theatre troupes emerge such as Aziz Eed, Naguib al-Rihani and ‘Ali al-Kassar. As one of the first artists to travel abroad, Hijazi achieves worldwide acclaim for his musical and theatrical works. Warmly welcomed in Italy, Syria and Tunisia, he is granted awards of appreciation by many international governments. Hijazi’s statue stands at the Museum of Napoli.

1885 Egypt Economy And Trade

Alexandria’s Futures Market is one of the oldest in the world. The first recorded local cotton transaction takes place in 1885 in Café de l’Europe on the Place des Consuls, later renamed Muhammad ‘Ali Square. It is here that cotton merchants meet and cut deals based on supply and demand for the long staple, Karnak and Menuf, or the short to medium staple, Ashmuni, Giza and Zagora. Over the years, deals extend to cottonseed varieties such as Hull, Afifi and Sakellaridis.

1887 Egypt Cities And Urban Spaces

El-Hakaneia Palace on Manshieh Square in Alexandria is designed by Alfonso Maniscalco in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Constructed as the seat of the “Mixed Tribunals” the building is still used as a courthouse today.

1890 Egypt Reforms And Social Changes

The Alexandria Sporting Club is built; it is one of the oldest clubs in Egypt.