ABSTRACT
European imperialism and colonialism In 1798 a French military expedition under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, primarily in order to cut off the British route to their new colonies in India. He quickly took control of the country, defeating its Mamluke rulers and quelling popular revolts. At the same time he proclaimed to the people that he had come to liberate them from Mamluke tyranny, grant them liberty and equality, and respect the true values of Islam. He brought with him a number of scientists and scholars, whose investigations in Egypt did much to forward the fledgling discipline of Orientalism (European study of the “orient”) and whose activities also attracted the interest of some Egyptian scholars. He formed a council of ‘ulama’ but the people would not accept being ruled by non-Muslims. They revolted and were put down forcefully. It was rather the British, assisted by disease, who forced the French to
leave in 1801. The longer-term results of this expedition for Egypt will be discussed in chapter 17. It is mentioned here because it is commonly treated as the beginning of the modern period in the Middle East, although there had been important developments earlier. Also, it illustrates many of the kinds of actions that were to mark the European imperialism and the reaction to it in the following century.
