EGYPT, THE FUNJ AND DARFUR

In spite of its proximity to our own times, the period of Egyptian history from the conquest by Sultan Selim to the occupation by Bonaparte is, comparatively speaking, a dark age. Historians have tended to concentrate either upon the Mamluk sultanate which preceded it, or the period of modernization which followed. The documentation, although abundant, has only very partially been exploited. This is particularly true of the vast corpus of archives preserved in the Basbakanlik Arsivi and Topkapi Sarayi Arsivi in Istanbul, and the important collections in the Egyptian state archives in Cairo. A valuable summary account with detailed bibliographical references is provided by Stanford J. Shaw, 'Turkish source-materials for Egyptian history', in P. M. Holt, ed. (1968), 28-48. Shaw's pioneer research into the archives has resulted in his detailed study, The financial and administrative organisation and development of Ottoman Egypt, 1517-179S (1962), some of his findings in which are summarized in his article, 'Landholding and land-tax revenues in Ottoman Egypt', in Holt, ed. (1968), 91-103.