0 villages.

Rise of the Beys.

By the 18th century the importance of the pasha was quite superseded by
that of the beys, and two offices, those of Sheik al-Balad and Amir
al-Hajj, which were held by these persons, represented the real headship
of the community. The process by which this state of affairs came about
is somewhat obscure, owing to the want of good chronicles for the
Turkish period of Egyptian history. In 1707 the Sheik al-Balad, Qasim
Iywaz, is found at the head of one of two Mameluke factions, the
Qasimites and the Fiqarites, between whom the seeds of enmity were sown
by the pasha of the time, with the result that a fight took place
between the factions outside Cairo, lasting eighty days. At the end of
that time Qasim Iywaz was killed and the office which he had held was
given to his son Isma'il. Isma'il held this office for sixteen years,
while the pashas were constantly being changed, and succeeded in
reconciling the two factions of Mamelukes. In 1724 this person was
assassinated through the machinations of the pasha, and Shirkas Bey, of
the opposing faction, elevated to the office of Sheik al-Balad in his
place. He was soon driven from his post by one of his own faction called
Dhu'l-Fiqar, and fled to Upper Egypt. After a short time he returned at
the head of an army, and some engagements ensued, in the last of which
Shirkas Bey met his end by drowning; Dhu'l-Fiqar was himself
assassinated in 1730 shortly after this event. His place was filled by
Othman Bey, who had served as his general in this war. In 1743 Othman
Bey, who had governed with wisdom and moderation, was forced to fly from
Egypt by the intrigues of two adventurers, Ibrahim and Ridwan Bey, who,
when their scheme had succeeded, began a massacre of beys and others
thought to be opposed to them; they then proceeded to govern Egypt
jointly, holding the two offices mentioned above in alternate years. An
attempt made by one of the pashas to rid himself of these two persons by
a _coup d'etat_ signally failed owing to the loyalty of their armed
supporters, who released Ibrahim and Ridwan from prison and compelled
the pasha to fly to Constantinople. An attempt made by a subsequent
pasha in accordance with secret orders from Constantinople was so far
successful that some of the beys were killed. Ibrahim and Ridwan
escaped, and compelled the pasha to resign his governorship and return
to Constantinople. Ibrahim shortly afterwards fell by the han