One of Egypt’s most influential figures in the 19th century was the Turkish Armenian-born statesman Nubar Pasha. Having spent his youth in Europe and after learning 11 languages, he knew how to charm Europeans and often mediated with them on Egypt’s behalf—meanwhile making his own fortune. He successfully negotiated with the European powers to gain their consent to set up the Mixed Courts to try cases between Egyptian and foreign nationals. Clever and subtle, he was a successful intermediary between Egypt and Europe.
Translator-cum-negotiator
Born Nubar Nubarian in Izmir in January 1825 and educated in France and Switzerland, Nubar was brought to Egypt before he was 18 by his uncle, a translator for Mohamed Ali. Nubar worked for his uncle as a translator, following his advice to learn Turkish, an important language for anyone bent on acquiring power. After some 18 months of training as secretary to Boghos Bey, who was then minister of both commerce and foreign affairs, he was made second secretary to Mohamed Ali. In 1845 he was appointed first secretary to Ibrahim Pasha, the heir apparent, and accompanied him on a special mission to Europe.
Abbas Pasha, who succeeded Ibrahim in 1848, maintained Nubar in the same capacity and sent him in 1850 to London as his representative to resist the pretensions of the Ottoman sultan, who was seeking to evade the conditions of the treaty under which Egypt was secured to the family of Mohamed Ali. Here he was so completely successful that he was made a bey. In 1853 he was sent to Vienna on a similar mission, and remained there until the death of Abbas in July 1854.
Nubar was instrumental in the completion of railway communication between Cairo and Suez, and exhibited strong organising ability combined with readiness of resource.
After twice falling victim to the caprice of the new viceroy, Saïd, he was dismissed and sent to Vienna. He returned as principal secretary to Saïd, however, a position he held till Saïd’s death in January 1863.
The Pasha
On the accession of Ismaïl Pasha, Nubar Bey was in the prime of life. Ismaïl at once recognised his ability and charged him with a mission to Constantinople to smooth the way for the many ambitious projects he already entertained, notably the completion of the Suez Canal, the change in title to that of Khedive and the change in the order of succession.
The grateful Ismaïl created Nubar a pasha, and the sultan himself, persuaded to visit Cairo, confirmed the title so rarely accorded to a Christian. Half the work was, however, yet to be done, and Nubar was sent to Paris to complete the arrangements, and to settle the differences between Egypt and the Suez Canal Company. On his return he was made Egypt’s first minister of public works and was distinguished for the energy which he threw into the creation of a new department. In 1866 he was made minister of foreign affairs, and at once went on a special mission to Constantinople, where he succeeded in two other projects that had been left in abeyance since his last visit.
Nubar Pasha presided over the short-lived ‘European cabinet’ set up by Khedive Ismaïl in 1878. He returned to power in 1884 at a time when Britain obliged Egypt to give up the Sudan. He led a third cabinet in 1894 and 1895, but was both admired and resented by most Egyptians who accused him of enriching himself by exploiting his power.
Armenian connection
Nubar married Foulik Hanem, in whom he confided his secrets, fears and expectations. In November 1895 Nubar completed 50 years of service, and, accepting a pension, retired from office. He lived little more than three years longer, spending his time between Cairo and Paris, where he died in January 1899 at the age of 74. Following his retirement from political life, Nubar became involved with the Armenian national delegation to the Porte, a diplomatic and political pressure group that represented Armenia’s interests to the Ottoman Sultan.
It is only toward the end of his life that Nubar became preoccupied with the fate of the Armenian nation. This, however, was not a consequence of a shift in his personal allegiances but rather of important changes taking place at the time within the Armenian community in Egypt.
In his French memoirs which he finished five years before his death, Nubar Pasha commented that, “The true Mohamed Ali is he who has reversed in Egypt all the preconceived ideas of the Orient, all the ways of thinking which differ from Europe’s, who has made the Christian equal to the Muslim… the inferior being equal to the Kurdish Bey.”
Mohamed Refaat al-Imam, author of The History of the Armenian Community in Egypt, says that Nubar’s memoirs reflect how translators succeeded in gaining the recognition of governors. Nubar Pasha was Mohamed Ali’s confidant to the extent that the latter revealed to him his fear of being assassinated by the hand of his son, Ibrahim. Mohamed trusted Armenians as much as he trusted the accuracy of their translation.
Mixed Courts
The Mixed Courts achieved their classic form in Egypt between 1875 and 1949. Nubar Pasha, then premier of Egypt, negotiated European treaties that approved the courts for Egypt. Western and Egyptian Mixed Court judges heard the commercial and civil cases involving Westerners, but criminal cases remained under consular courts. The Mixed Courts used French law codes, and their working language was French. After 1882 when the British forces occupied Egypt, British administrators often saw these courts as an impediment to their own plans for reform and political control.
Nubar said in his memoirs: “Introducing Mixed Courts led to a real revolution, because people saw for the first time in their lives an entity which had enough power to resist autocratic rules. They also saw that the government was forced to undergo the rulings issued against it. Before the establishment of the Mixed Courts foreigners, of whom there were many in consulates and in the country, exploited their power and many Egyptians rights were violated. But in the presence of the court many plaintiffs received compensation.
Loving Egypt
The British consul-general in Egypt Lord Cromer said Nubar supported British occupation in Egypt on the military level, but he hated the British interference in the Egyptian administration. Nubar was criticised widely in Egyptian newspapers, but at the same time it was unanimously agreed that he was kind to Egyptians and looked with great interest on their welfare. This is evident in his memoirs, where he spoke of his love of Egypt and his fight against corruption and slavery, forced labour and taxes.
The British, however, constantly questioned Nubar’s patriotism on the pretext that he was not an Egyptian and always looked at matters from the point of view of an Armenian residing in Egypt.
In one of his letters to his wife, Nubar said: “Every time I travel abroad, I feel sad to leave from Egypt. This is why I miss her and feel great happiness when I come back.”