Diary of a Barber

Budayri, the barber of Damascus kept a written record of what went on in his town from 1741-1762. He noted corrupt governors, high prices, unruly military and a decline in public moraility. One Arab family, the Azyms ruled Damascus from 1724-1783 and abused power to enrich itself. The barber held As'ad Pasha al-Azym, the family leader ruling in his time, responsible for plundering state funds. The army had become a rabble, who attacked and even killed the residents of Damascus.

Budayri also blamed high food prices on Azym, who as a landholder, would create artificial grain shortages to maximise profits. Azym's palace was a testament to his greed. The Sunni Islamic values that held the state together were being neglected as shown by the proliferation of prostitutes in the city. Unable to control the prostitutes, Azym taxed them instead.

By the middle of the 18th C Ottoman rule extended from Istanbul to Algiers. Arabs paid tax to the sultan's agents. The mid 18th C saw formerly non-socially mobile Muslims rising through the ranks to the title of 'pasha'. Local leaders diminished Ottoman influence by diverting taxes to local military and local building projects and as the phenomenon spread it threatened the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.

The second half of the 18th C saw many local leaders rebel against Istanbul's rule. Istanbul was too preoccupied with challenges from Vienna and Moscow to be concerned by distant Arab rebellions. The Habsburgs defeated the Ottomans in 1699 and were awarded Hungary, Poland and parts of Transylvania while Peter the Great was pressing in the Black Sea and parts of the Caucasus.

Before oil, cotton put the Eastern Mediterranean on the map. European demand dates to the 17th C with UK using US cotton while the French used Ottoman. The Industrial Revolution saw French demand rise from 2m kg in 1700 to 11m kg in 1789 and the Galilee dynast producing the best cotton in Northern Palestine became rich enough to challenge Ottoman rule in Syria. Budyari the barber notes that attempts to destroy Zahir the leader of the dynast (who took taxes meant for the annual pilgrimage caravan to Mecca) were unsuccessful. Zahir expanded his territory and bullied the French into high cotton prices. When the Ottomans brought together his many enemies against him, Zahir was forced to join forces with the ruling Mamluk in Cairo - Ali Bey.

Ali Bey was ruthless and trusted only slaves he had trained himself. He wanted to restore the Mamluk Empire. The Ottomans were fighting Russia and unable to stop him.Unfortunately a pious general refused Ali Bey's orders to attack Damascus during the pilgrimage season. The rebel campaign thus came to a halt for the rest of winter 1770-1771.

Ali Bey had better luck second time round and 'Abu al-Dhubab' or 'the father of gold' drove the Ottoman governor of Damascus out in June. The Mamluks now controlled Egypt, Hijaz and Damascus, nearly fulfilling Ali Bey's dream of reconstructing the Mamluk Empire.

Unfortunately, the same pious general, Isma'il Bey persuaded Abu al-Dhubab to leave Damascus and take his army back to Egypt. Isma'il cleverly ignited Abu al-Dhubab's ambition by claiming that since Ali Bey had turned his back on Islam by consorting with the Russians, any good Muslim could kill him and claim his harem and his wealth.

Ali Bey fled Egypt and Abu al-Dhubab sought to be Ottoman governor of Egypt. Zahir a-Umar had lost his best ally and was eventually assinated. The challenge most serious challenge to 250 years of Ottoman rule over the Arab world had been withstood.

Infighting amongst Mamluk leaders left Egypt in a state of instability for the rest of the 18th C.

The Wahhabis

State Mosque - Doha

Muhammad ibn 'Abd al Wahhb founded the Wahhabi movement in Central Arabia with ideological purity at its core posing the next threat to Ottoman rule in the Arab world. His schooling condemned all mystical practices.

He was exiled from his home town of 'Uyayna for ordering the public execution of a woman for adultery. He called for a return to the pristine Islam of the Prophet and his successors, the caliphs. The tenet of there being only one God was central to his beliefs. Saints were not to be prayed to or venerated. This horrified mainstream Sunni Muslim society. He hated the mysticism of Sufism. By declaring most of Ottoman Islam as polytheistic, the Wahhabis were on a collision course with the empire.

In 1798 the governor of Baghdad sent 10,000 troops to fight the Wahhabis in Wahhabi territory but they were surrounded and forced to negotiate a truce.

In 1802 the Wahhabis attacked the Shiite city of Karbala where the mosque venerated the grandson of the Prophet Muammad. They slaughtered the inhabitants and descrated the tomb of the imam causing widespead revulsion across the Ottoman world. However, the geography of Central Arabia made the Wahhabis unassailable. Mecca and Medina were taken by the Wahhabis. Sunni Muslims were banned from Mecca due to their use of music and opulence during worship. Ottoman's were denied access to Mecca even though the sultan was defender of the faith and protector of holy cities.

The Ottomans demanded their provincial governors in Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo do something about it but the desert made it logistically impossible to achieve anything. The governor of Egypt, Muammed 'Ali Pasha had the ability but his attention was drawn elsewhere.