Abstract:

Egypt has witnessed important developments in the last quarter of 18th century and first quarter of the 19th century. The last quarter of the century, when the Mamluk beys came to the fore and had a say in the administration, took a different dimension with the occupation of the Egyptian lands by the French in 1798. The chaotic situation during and after the occupation continued until Muhammed Ali became the governor in 1805. The period of Muhammed Ali Pasha, on the other hand, brought many rapid and destructive developments that Egypt had never witnessed. This paper deals with the Egyptian historian Mustafa al-Safawi al-Qal‘awi, eyewitness to the transition period, and his chronicle, Safwat al-Zamān fī man Tawalla ʿala Misr min Amīr wa-Sultān, in terms of content and writing style. Our research argues that this chronicle is the last link of the sultan-pasha chronicle tradition and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of such chronicles. The study also aims to reveal the possible political and mental background of the tradition of sultan-pasha chronicles.

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