There were two striking features of these events. First was the fact that they took the French completely by surprise. No one, from Napoleon down, appears to have been aware that Cairo had been building up, especially over the previous weeks, towards a serious revolt. Second, and this perhaps gives an element of vindication to the French state of unreadiness, was the wholly unforeseen way in which the revolt found such widespread and enthusiastic support amongst the poorest and most downtrodden citizens of Cairo. For as Nicolas Turc himself points out: “In reality, the French occupation improved the lot of the lower class—the stallholders, the street-porters, the craftsmen, the donkey-minders, the grooms, the pimps, the prostitutes—in a word, the dregs of the population had it easy because they had gained more liberty.”
12
Most sources blame the imams, and extremists amongst the many religious students at the Al-Azhar mosque university, who knew how to appeal to the poorer people’s deep-seated belief in Islam, as well as their fear of change, a fear which permeated a society that had seen virtually no change for centuries. Perhaps most telling of all was the fear, which affected the entire population, that the Mamelukes would soon be returning with a vengeance. The British blockade, the sultan’s
firman
, the propaganda from Ibrahim Bey in Syria with Djezzar, and the knowledge that Murad Bey was still at large in Upper Egypt—all seemed to indicate that the French reign in Egypt would not last long. On the other hand, the artist-savant Denon and others would note that during the ensuing murderous disorders many middle-class Cairo families gave refuge to French soldiers, despite the fact that it was the middle classes, especially the merchants, who had suffered so severely from increased French taxes, and also from the British blockade on exports and imports.
Life begins in the early hours in a hot city such as Cairo, and the events of October 21 appear to have started some time before six
A.M.
Nicolas Turc recounts how these unfolded:
Now whilst most of the population knew what was going on in the city, the French remained unconcerned. In no time, the entire city rose up and news of this reached the governor General Dupuy, who was a very hard man. . . .He rode out immediately, accompanied only by five mounted guards. His aim was to find out what was going on and calm things down . . . he saw some citizens and working men who were putting up barricades. A Janissary suddenly came out from around a street corner and smashed him on the back of the neck with a club. The general fell from his horse, and his men carried him back to the old French quarter, but he died on the way.
13
The city was soon in an uproar, with the muezzins calling from the minarets, summoning the faithful to action, and the streets descending into pandemonium, especially in the districts adjoining the Al-Azhar mosque and university.
Despite this, it was eight
A.M.
before the French garrison was placed on alert. This indicates that, at least at this stage, the disturbances must have been largely localized and had not spread to the northern edges of town around Ezbekiyah Square. Napoleon had already left early in the morning, along with his entourage and the engineer General Caffarelli, to inspect the fortifications being erected at Rodah Island. Not until ten
A.M.
did news reach him of the uprising and General Dupuy’s death, whereupon he immediately set off back to Cairo.
Here he was in for a shock. When he arrived at the city walls he found the gates closed, and his entourage was greeted with a hail of stones. They skirted around the walls and eventually managed to get in through the Boulac Gate, whence they crossed the short distance to Ezbekiyah Square and Napoleon’s headquarters in Elfi Bey’s palace. By now most of the city was in an uproar. Muslims were attacking the Christian quarter, where houses were being ransacked and women raped. A hospital convoy of French soldiers from Bilbeis had been attacked and the patients slaughtered, and soon houses occupied by the French were being targeted. One French officer recalled: “The first house attacked was that occupied by General Caffarelli: it was entirely pillaged. Fortunately, the general had departed early with Napoleon to visit various military establishments, which saved his life. Two engineers, Thévenot and Duval, were in the house at the time: they gathered together all the servants in an attempt to resist the attacks of the angry fanatical crowd. Their efforts proved useless, for even after barricading themselves in the furthest rooms they were still torn to pieces.”
14
In fact, all the household servants, three engineers and four savants, including Testeviude, who was in charge of the ordnance survey of Egypt, were slaughtered. El-Djabarti recorded: “In this house there were many precision instruments, such as telescopes and other astronomical and mathematical devices. There were no copies of these instruments, which were of great value to those who knew how to use them. The mob ran off with them and smashed a great many others. The French greatly regretted this loss. For a long time they made searches to recover some of them. They even gave rewards to those who brought any back.”
15
Meanwhile the mob went on the rampage, encouraged by rumors that Djezzar was marching from Syria with a large army and had already reached Bilbeis, thirty miles northeast of Cairo.
Napoleon was furious, but remained levelheaded and quickly took stock of the situation. According to Major Detroye, an officer on his staff at the time, “The main positions occupied by the French were the Citadel, where we had a good supply of artillery, Place Birket-el-Fil, where most of our troops were garrisoned, and finally Ezbekiyah Square . . . which was defended by 15 artillery pieces. Communication was established, for better or for worse, between these different quarters.”
16
General Bon succeeded Dupuy as governor of Cairo, and took charge of the beleaguered vantage point of the Citadel, which was now coming under musket fire from the minarets and the dome of the nearby historic Sultan Hassan mosque. At the same time General Dommartin was ordered to move his howitzers and mortars up onto the Moqattam hills which overlooked the east of the city.
The disturbances went on all day, but after sunset the city fell into silence, which continued through the hours of darkness, whilst both sides made their preparations for the next day’s hostilities. Barricades now sealed off all approaches to the Al-Azhar mosque complex, and its large historic inner courtyard was filled with hundreds of armed rebels camping out for the night.
By next morning, Generals Bon and Dommartin were ready to implement Napoleon’s orders. Bon was to break out of the Citadel, leading three columns and a squadron of cavalry towards the Al-Azhar quarters, smashing through the barricades and into the mosque itself. At the same time, Dommartin would open fire from the heights with his mortars and howitzers. Napoleon’s orders were chillingly explicit: “Exterminate all who are in the mosque.”
17
He went on to instruct Bon: “During the night pull down the grand mosque, by smashing several pillars, if that is possible.” However, even at this late stage he wanted to avoid, if possible, any action that might lead to an irreversible breakdown in relations between the French and the Egyptians. Accordingly he sent a message to the sheiks and
ulema
of the Al-Azhar mosque indicating what military action he intended to take, and informing them that if they were prepared to surrender, thus avoiding considerable bloodshed, he was willing to be lenient. No reply was forthcoming, and Napoleon went ahead with his plans.
The bombardment began at noon, and continued throughout the afternoon, as El-Djabarti recalled:
The French directed their shells at the Al-Azhar mosque and the houses in the nearby quarters. . . . The bombardment was so terrible that the inhabitants of the city had never seen its like, and raising their faces they cried out in supplication to the heavens to save them from this misfortune. The rioters ceased shooting, but the French continued to fire down on the houses, the shops, the palaces, the inns, and they all collapsed. The people’s ears were deafened by the detonations of the cannons. They abandoned the houses and the streets to hide themselves in holes. The sheiks resolved to go and beg the commander-in-chief to cease this rain of shells.
18
Sources differ as to what precisely took place at this meeting. Most seem to agree that Napoleon took an unforgiving line, telling the sheiks: “You refused when I offered you clemency. Now is the time for vengeance. You should have surrendered earlier when you had the chance. What you have begun, is for me to finish!”
19
Even so, El-Djabarti claims, “he gave the order to cease the bombardment, just as the sun was on the point of setting.”
20
Yet this was far from being the end of the matter, for events had now taken on their own momentum. By late afternoon General Bon was advancing towards the Al-Azhar quarter with his three columns, under direct orders from Napoleon “that all houses which throw stones at you in the street are to be burnt to the ground, while the others are to be pardoned.”
21
Bon was accompanied by a detachment of 300 cavalry, led by the mulatto giant General Dumas. The armed columns forced their way, with rifle fire and bayonets, up to the walls of the mosque complex, and General Dumas then led the cavalry as they charged into the historic courtyard, where they met with little resistance. Several hundred rebels were taken prisoner, and as night fell the French troops moved into the holy precincts of the mosque itself, at the same time securing the entire quarter. Yet despite Napoleon’s orders, the Al-Azhar mosque was not razed to the ground, nor does there seem to have been the undisciplined slaughter that might have been expected from troops who had fought their way through the city streets under such dangerous conditions. However, El-Djabarti records the outrages that did take place:
In the night . . . they demolished all the barricades that they encountered and ensured the complete tranquility of the inhabitants. They then entered the mosque of Al-Azhar with their horses, which they tied up to the
kiblah
.
*
They smashed the lamps, the candles and the desks of the students, they pillaged all they could find in the cupboards, they cast to the ground the Koran and the holy books and trampled over them with their boots. They urinated and spat in the mosque, they drank wine in it, they broke their empty wine bottles by throwing them into the corners, and they stripped everyone they met in order to grab their clothes.
22
Some of the most precious items from the mosque’s sacred collection—namely several centuries-old copies of the Koran and other ancient relics—were in fact “rescued” by a number of Orientalist savants who had been co-opted by General Bon, and followed the French troops into the Al-Azhar. These items were taken under escort to Ezbekiyah Square, where they remained for the time being under Napoleon’s “protection.”
Meanwhile, the savants had been trapped at the Institute in Kassim Bey’s palace, out beyond the edge of the city, almost two miles from Ezbekiyah Square. Amidst the initial disorders, the military authorities appeared to forget about them, and during the morning of October 21 a small but increasing crowd gathered outside the palace, so that the situation looked as if it might become threatening. None of the savants was armed, and two engineers were dispatched on horseback to Ezbekiyah Square. It took till evening before a company of grenadiers arrived, whereupon forty rifles and 200 cartridges were distributed amongst the savants, many of whom had never used a gun before. After a tense night, orders came through that the grenadiers were to withdraw, as they were required for the assault on the Al-Azhar mosque. During the afternoon, when the assault began, groups of armed rebels retreating from the city soon began appearing amongst the crowd outside the Institute, and it looked as if they might attempt to storm the building. Many of the savants were for evacuating the palace and escaping while there was still time, but Monge and Berthollet stood firm, Monge declaring: “How dare you think of abandoning the precious instruments which have been placed in our care?”
23
In fact, much more than instruments was at stake: there were the laboratories and the library, both of which were irreplaceable under the circumstances, and there were also the burgeoning scientific collections of hitherto unknown plants and biological specimens, as well as the geological surveys and learned papers which the savants had been industriously assembling. What was at risk was the entire intellectual enterprise of the expedition, whose declared aim was to increase human knowledge as well as to disseminate it—the bringing to Egypt of Western civilization, no less, as well as the search for the origins of this very civilization. Such, in the eyes of Napoleon and many of his compatriots, was, and would later be seen to be, the crowning justification of the entire expedition. Other matters, such as the conquest of empire by force, and the establishment of commerce, were in a somewhat high-minded way seen as lesser enterprises than the cultural enlightenment of humanity. Setting an example, the fifty-two-year-old Monge took up his rifle and prepared to man a dangerous forward post, inviting anyone to join him if they wished for some stimulating intellectual conversation “to while away the boredom of the situation.”
24
Meanwhile, in another house of the Institute complex, the remainder of the savants, including the artist Denon, the geologist Dolomieu and the biologist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, also took up their positions in characteristic intellectual fashion—as Denon recalled: “We had been supplied with arms, and nominated our leaders, but each of us had his own plan and saw no reason why he should obey anyone else.”
25