Making Big Money in 1600: The Life and Times of [Isma.sup.⊂]il Abu Taqiyya, Egyptian Merchant.

• Author: WALZ, TERRY
• Position: Review

Making Big Money in 1600: The Life and Times of [Isma.sup.[subset]]il Abu Taqiyya, Egyptian Merchant. By NELLY HANNA. Syracuse, N.Y.: SYRACUSE UNIV. PRESS, 1998. Pp. xi + 219. $44.95 (cloth); $19.95 (paper).

Although [Isma.sup.[subset]]il Abu Taqiyya (fl. 1580-1624) was shahbandar al-tujjar Cairo--the titular head of the merchant community in one of the great international trading centers--and a wealthy and important man, he is mentioned nowhere in the chronicles of the time. Thus writing a biography of him without the use of traditional sources (diaries, personal papers, memoirs, local histories) poses interesting historiographical problems. Many of us who have worked in the [Shan.sup.[subset]a Court archives in Cairo and elsewhere have been struck by the wealth of social history information the documents reveal, and Nelly Hanna's book is not the first to attempt to use the material as the basis for a biographical study. But the volume under review is the first to provide a full-length study of a man and his times. It thus presents a fresh approach to studying the history of Egypt during a period that is particularly obscure because of the scarcity of chronicles. The book is especially worthwhile in that Hanna has already emerged as one of the significant new historians of the Ottoman period.

A professor at the American University in Cairo, Hanna is a social historian, and her book attempts to weave the career of a phenomenally successful merchant into the life and times of Ottoman Egypt. It is based on two hundred documents filed in the courts relating to his business and private affairs. Because the language of the courts is so formal, many personal details that might normally be found in a biography based on more personal records are not available. For example, Abu Taqiyya's year of birth is unknown. He was working in Cairo in the 1580s, and he died in 1624, when his estate was divided up among heirs.

In her initial chapter Hanna sets out what revisionist views she wants us to share. Egypt, though part of the Ottoman Empire, was far from being in decline at the end of the sixteenth century. Merchants led the way in "integrating" Egyptian agriculture and economy with other parts of the Mediterranean world. A major point is that this integration was done not for the benefit of foreigners (i.e., in response to the rise of the West), but for the benefit of indigenous entrepreneurs. Hanna also believes that the title shahbandar al-tujjar...