Slavery and its resistance in Egypt

Throughout the ages, Egypt remained a space in which various powers and social classes intersected. Yet the enslaved population, despite its active presence and significant role, remained relegated to the margins, receiving little attention beyond scattered references in historical works. While scholarship focused primarily on governance and administration, the military, peasants, craftsmen, and artisans, the world of slavery remained concealed behind slave markets, palaces, and workshops, visible only through fleeting glimpses that neither did justice to its role nor adequately reflected its realities. It is from this historical absence that this book derives its impetus: to reconstruct the image of a group that was present within the fabric of Egyptian society yet largely absent from the writing of its history. The book examines the nineteenth century as a decisive turning point in the history of slavery in Egypt. During this period, the Mamluks evolved from an independent military force with considerable influence into an aristocratic class subject to the new system of government. At the same time, the traditional structure of slavery began to erode under the impact of legislation and international pressure, particularly from the middle of the century onward, when increasing attention was given to slave markets, concubinage, castration, and other forms of enslavement that had prevailed for centuries. Drawing on official documents, administrative correspondence, and the testimonies of travelers and reformers, the book reconstructs the broader picture of enslaved people's lives: the routes by which they arrived in Egypt, the mechanisms through which they were bought and sold, their economic and military roles, their position within the social structure, their everyday living conditions, and the gradual process of their emancipation that ultimately led to the abolition of slavery. It also sheds light on Egyptian and international efforts to bring the institution to an end, the treaties concluded with Britain, and the place of corvee labor within the broader context of indirect forms of enslavement that placed a heavy burden on Egyptian society.