CAIRO

The foundations of present-day Cairo rest upon the ancient capital of Memphis, one of the oldest urban settlements in the world, which flourished between 5000 and 2500 b.c.e. Memphis was finally surpassed by the seaport of Alexandria when Egypt became a Mediterranean colony of the Greeks, but its strategic position ensured continuous settlement. As a result, the city was still thriving at the time of the Roman conquest around 24 b.c.e. Although the region was contested by the Romans and Persians at the opening of the seventh century c.e., it was finally the Arabs who prevailed, thereby setting into motion the genesis of Cairo or al-Qahira, The Victorious City, as it is still referred to in Arabic. Cairo would in time grow into one of the most important religious, cultural, and political centers of the Muslim world.

The urban centers that sprouted under Islamic civilization surfaced from either army camps, that eventually developed into permanent cities, or princely towns established to commemorate new dynasties and to affirm their authority. Cairo was conceived out of an amalgamation of such regions, in which an army camp settlement fused with the princely centers established at its periphery. As such, the successive stages of Cairo's genesis also capture the histories of her past masters.

In 640 c.e. the forces of the illustrious Arab general ?Amr ibn al-?As reached what is present-day Cairo. He set up camp there and established the first mosque in Africa, which still stands and is one of the most important religious icons of Cairo today. The settlement itself came to be known as Fustat, which simply means "entrenchment," and eventually developed into a burgeoning city. The first major dynastic shift in the Muslim empire left its mark upon the Egyptian landscape as well and the Abbasid victory over the Ummayads in 750 c.e. gave rise to the princely town of al-?Askar (the Cantonment). In the century that followed the communities of Fustat and al-?Askar fused to form a combined settlement stretching along the axis of the Nile River. The atmosphere of growing provincial autonomy in the period that followed fueled the ambitions of Ahmad ibn Tulun, a man of Turkish extraction appointed as deputy for the governor of Egypt. He founded his own princely city slightly to the north of al-?Askar in 870 c.e., which was called al-Qata?i? (the Wards), reflecting its feudal base. The awesome mosque of Ibn Tulun, built between 876 and 878, is one of the most prominent legacies inherited from that era and still stands, surrounded by the crowded metropolis of today.

The most significant event in the genesis of Cairo is undoubtedly the rise of the Shi?ite Fatimid dynasty in Tunisia at the beginning of the tenth century. The Fatimid caliphate reached its full expression on Egyptian soil and it was its fourth caliph, Mu?izz al-Din, who gained sovereignty over the area in 969. His brilliant general Jawhar led the campaign and almost immediately began staking out the walls of a new palace city after his arrival. The city was initially called al-Mansuriyya but was renamed al-Qahira al-Mu?izziyya four years later, to commemorate and celebrate the arrival of the caliph. With the coming of Mu?izz al-Din, Cairo or al-Qahirah was formally inducted into world history.

Al-Qahirah was developed into a city of lavish beauty and intellectual vitality under the Fatimids. But the city remained largely inaccessible to common people from areas like Fustat, who could only enter the royal enclosure by special permit. Ironically, the al-Azhar University, which is today recognized as one of the most important intellectual centers of Sunni Islam, was established by the Fatimids to promote their Shi?ite doctrine.

The closing of the eleventh century marked the beginning of the first Crusade and also the decline of the Fatimid dynasty. In the period between 1164 and 1169 Cairo became a pawn in the power struggle between the Seljuks of Syria and the Christian forces in Jerusalem. Although still nominally ruled by the Fatimids, true control of the city eventually fell into the hands of the young Sunni governor Saladin (Salah al-Din) al-Ayyubi, sent to defend Cairo against the Crusader campaigns. Saladin in time established the Ayyubid dynasty and even reconquered Jerusalem. His mercurial rise contributed once again to the further transformation of Cairo. Under him, the mosque of ?Amr was restored and al-Azhar University was purged of its Shi?ite bias. A madrasa (school) was founded at the tomb of Imam al-Shafi i soon after the Ayyubid conquest of Egypt and a mausoleum commemorating the great imam is still in existence today. But Saladin's most important and long-lived addition to the city was the Citadel, built for him in 1176 as a place of refuge and continuously expanded upon by later generations.

By the fourteenth century Cairo was recognized as a world capital, reaching its zenith under the Mamluks. Cairo's greatest growth and development took place in this period. In spite of constant forays against the Crusaders and Mongols, the Mamluk rulers still devoted energies to the development of the city. For example, Sultan Qalawun erected his famous hospital in the heart of the city during this era. Although the Cairo of the fifteenth century still surpassed any European city in terms of urban development and population, this period also marks the beginning of its decline. Cairo's economic prosperity was reduced considerably due to Vasco da Gama's successful circumnavigation of Africa and his arrival in India in 1498. The East-West Oriental spice trade with Europe, which passed through Egypt, was thereby severed, stranding Cairo in a backwater of the rapidly changing global map. Not even the Ottomans, who finally ousted the Mamluks in 1517, were able to hamper the city's downward spiral.

The modernizing reforms instituted by Isma?il Pasha in the late nineteenth century ultimately breathed life back into Cairo. These reforms ironically were inspired by the urban developments of modern-day Europe. Cairo is today the largest metropolis in the Middle East and is now being stifled by overurbanization resulting from overcentralization. This is but the latest challenge facing the City Victorious. Having always been at the forefront of Arab and Islamic trends, it is a challenge to which Cairo will surely rise.

See alsoSultanates: Ayyubids ; Sultanates: Ghaznavid ; Sultanates: Mamluk ; Sultanates: Seljuk .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abu-Lughod, Janet. Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971.

Ibrahim, Saad Eddin; Sobhi, Hoda M; and El-Ahwal, Abdel K. "Problems of Over-Urbanization: The Case of Cairo." In The Middle East City: Ancient Traditions Confront a Modern World. Edited by Abdulaziz Y. Saqqaf. New York: Paragon House Publisher, 1987.

Mitchell, Timothy. Colonising Egypt. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Raymond, Andre. "Cairo." In The Modern Middle East. Edited by Albert Hourani; Philip S. Khoury; and Mary C. Wilson. London: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1993.

Rodenbeck, Max. Cairo: The City Victorious. London: Picador, 1998.

Rogers, J. M. "Al-Kahira." In The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by E. Van Donzel; B. Lewis; and Ch. Pellat. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978.

Aslam Farouk-Alli