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File of printed papers marked 'Egyptian negotiation' between Curzon and Adly Pasha and the Egyptian delegation [‎5v] (10/178)

The record is made up of 1 file (87 folios). It was created in 13 Jul 1921-4 Jan 1923. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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4
organised antagonism. Telegrams poured in announcing the intention of the senders
to go on strike as a protest against our presence. Many of these were despatched by
schoolboys and students, but others came from public bodies, such as Provincial
Councils, a few from Government officials, and a considerable number from corpora
tions or communities of greater or less importance. We received in all 1,131 such
messages during our stay, while only twenty-nine telegrams of welcome were
received, mostly from private persons acquainted with individual members of the
Mission. The Egyptian vernacular press, with rare exceptions, exhausted the
repertory of vituperation and inuendo, proclaiming that any recognition of the
Mission would be interpreted as an acceptance of the existing situation and that
any Egyptian who had dealings with its members would be guilty of treason to his
country. The majority of writers consistently maintained that Zaghlul Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
at Paris was the accredited representative of the Egyptian people, and the Mission
was recommended to address itself to him. A series of short strikes were declared
by students, lawyers, tramwaymen, cab drivers and shopkeepers, and processions of
strikers, reinforced by numbers of schoolboys and the rougher elements of the city,
paraded the streets with banners, denouncing the Mission and Lord Milner in
particular, and acclaiming Zaghlul Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and the “ Complete Independence
of Egypt.” Nor were such demonstrations confined to the male population.
The Cairene ladies availed themselves of this occasion to abandon their
seclusion and to drive through the streets with similar war cries. This
procession, however unwonted, w T as orderly enough, but the schoolboys and hooligans
were frankly riotous, and but for the admirable order maintained by the police
with occasional military support there would have been considerable destruction of
property and even bloodshed. As it was, beyond the wrecking of a few tramcars,
little damage to property actually resulted. And after the first week or two disorder
in Cairo gradually subsided, though throughout our stay occasional attacks upon
British soldiers and three successive attempts to assassinate members of the
Ministry showed that the criminal element was still active, especially among a section
of the student class.
It seems needless to dwell at greater length upon the many manifestations of
hostility to the Mission and its object. Mention should, however, be made of two of
(them, which as indicative of the strength of the popular current appeared to be of
special importance. In the second week after our arrival the heads of the El Azhar
University, the centre of Mahommedan religious teaching, addressed a manifesto
to the High Commissioner, which set forth the claims of Egypt to complete indepen
dence and demanded the withdrawal of the British. There was some reason to
believe that the religious leaders who actually signed this document were not
particularly enamoured of the political course on which they thus found themselves
embarked, but yielded to the pressure of the teachers and students, among whom
anti-British propaganda had for some time been increasingly active. This manifesto
was followed a little later by a similar declaration, signed by six Princes of
the family of Mohammed Ali, near relatives of the Sultan, which was contained in
a letter to Lord Milner and simultaneously published in the press. The action of
the Princes may have been prompted by various motives, but the dominant one was
undoubtedly their desire to gain popularity by identifying themselves with a
movement which at the moment was sweeping like a tidal wave over the country.
The immediate object of the promoters of this movement was to prevent the
members of the Mission from coming into friendly touch with representative
Egyptians and thus ascertaining for themselves how much substance there was in
the demand lor ‘ complete independence,” and in the ceaseless denunciations of “ the
x rotectorate. iththis end in view the headquarters of the Mission were constantly
watched by unostentatious pickets. The visit of any Egyptian of note was at once
comnnimcated to the press and became the subject of minatory comment. Moreover,
the offender was liable to be subjected to a domiciliary visit in his own house from a
group of students, demanding an explanation of his conduct, which generally ended
m nis making a profuse profession of his Nationalist faith and affirming that in his
conversation with the Mission he had been careful in no wise to depart from it. Only
in one or two cases did the person thus visited have the courage to tell the intruders to
mind their own business. Meantime, the movements of members of the Mission were
carefully followed, especially when any of us went into the provinces. Emissaries
would be immediately despatched from Cairo to dog our footsteps, to try to prevent
our getting into touch with the local people, especially the fellahin Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. , and to arrange
demonstrations calculated to impress us with the solidarity of Egyptian opinion.
[ 4841 ]

About this item

Content

The file contains correspondence, minutes, and memoranda relating to negotiations between the British and Egyptian governments over Egyptian independence. Most of the file consists of minutes of conferences that took place at the Foreign Office during July and August 1921. These conferences involved an Egyptian delegation, led by Sir Adly Yeghen [Yakan] Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and the British, led by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord George Nathaniel Curzon. Matters covered in these meetings included: the termination of the British Protectorate, Britain's military presence, foreign relations, legislation, employment of foreign officials, financial and judicial control, Soudan [Sudan], the Suez Canal, communication rights, protection of minorities, retirement and compensation of British officials, and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Also contained within the file are minutes by Ronald Charles Lindsay and John Murray, both Foreign Office officials, and correspondence between Curzon, Lindsay, Adly Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan. These papers all concern matters covered by the negotiations.

Documents of note include a copy of the Report of the Special Mission to Egypt, dated 9 December 1920 (folios 4-23), and a memorandum on the political situation in Egypt by John Murray, dated 4 January 1923 (folios 74-87).

Extent and format
1 file (87 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in rough chronological order, from the front to the rear. On the inside front cover is a manuscript index with a numbered list of the file's contents.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 89; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-87; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File of printed papers marked 'Egyptian negotiation' between Curzon and Adly Pasha and the Egyptian delegation [‎5v] (10/178), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/261, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100077019155.0x00000b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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