Denshawai Incident
Encyclopedia
The Denshawai Incident is the name given to a dispute which occurred in 1906 between British military officers
and locals in Egypt
, believed to mark a turning point in the British
presence in that country. Though the incident itself was a fairly small one in numbers of casualties and injuries, the British
officers' response to the incident and its grave consequences were what led to its lasting impact.
Since the khedival regime and the upper class enjoyed the British occupation and its abundant success, the middle class was left to the resistance of the British occupation. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, there were many newspapers that exposed the British for their mistakes and the khedival governmental corruption. The positions in the Egyptian government were filled by the British officers. The writers for the newspapers were protesting that those positions could have been as easily filled by capable, educated Egyptians, but that the racism of the British stopped it.
army
, with their interpreter and a police official, visited Denshawai (AR: دنشواي) to go pigeon shooting. They shot pigeons belonging to villagers who kept them as domestic animals, angering the owners. However, the major catalyst was the accidental shooting of the wife of the prayer leader at the local mosque. Enraged, the Egyptians mobbed the British officers and camp. The British officers opened fire on the villagers, wounding five, and set fire to the grain of Abd-el-Nebi.
Abd-el-Nebi, whose wife had been seriously injured, struck one of the officers with a stick. He was joined by the elderly Hassan Mahfouz, whose pigeons had been killed. Other villagers threw stones at them. The officers, two Irishmen and three Englishmen, surrendered their weapons, along with their watches and money, but this failed to appease the angry villagers.
Two officers escaped, one of whom managed to contact the British Army, but the other died of heatstroke some distance from the village. An Egyptian peasant who tried to help the sick man was killed by soldiers who came across them. Meanwhile, in the village the elders had intervened, saving the remaining soldiers and allowing them to return to their base.
Concerned about a growing nationalist movement, Egyptian officials used the Denshawai incident as a pretext to harshly punish any resistance to British rule. The next day, the British army arrived, arresting all the men in the village, including Abd-el-Nebi, Hassan Mahfouz, a man called Darweesh and Zahran. At a summary trial (where the judges were mostly British) Hassan, Darweesh, Zahran and one other man were convicted of murdering the officer who had died of sunstroke, and were sentenced to death. One of the judges was Boutros Boutros Ghali’s grandfather. Abd-el-Nebi and another villager were given a life sentence of penal servitude and twenty-six villagers were given various terms of hard labour and ordered to be flogged. The officers stated that they had been "guests" of the villagers and had done nothing wrong.
Hassan was hanged in front of his own house. Darweesh said from the gallows:
The Egyptian police official accompanying the soldiers to the village did not confirm their story. He testified in court that after Abd-el’s wife had been shot, the officers fired twice more on the mob. For his testimony, he was stood down, and a court of discipline sentenced him to two years imprisonment and fifty lashes.
, British officials chose to show their strength and make an example of the villagers
, in the preface to his play John Bull's Other Island
, says that because “they had room for only one man on the gallows, and had to leave him hanging half an hour to make sure [he was dead] and give his family plenty of time to watch him swinging, thus having two hours to kill as well as four men, they kept the entertainment going by flogging eight men with fifty lashes each.”
Fifty years later, the Egyptian journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
said “the pigeons of Denshawai have come home to roost”, to describe the eventual defeat of the Anglo-French strikes in Egypt
in 1956.
"The Hanging of Zahran" is a poem by Salah Abdel-Sabour about the incident, and Nagui Riad made the film Friend of Life, based on the poem.
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
and locals in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, believed to mark a turning point in the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
presence in that country. Though the incident itself was a fairly small one in numbers of casualties and injuries, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
officers' response to the incident and its grave consequences were what led to its lasting impact.
Causes of the Incident
There were many tensions that led up to the Denshawai Incident. The Egyptian peoples had a rising sense of nationalism long before the British occupation of the country in 1882. The occupation was touched off by the mutiny of Ahmad Orabi. This mutiny was started by the idea of revolution and liberation of the Egyptian people from their Turkish and European overlords. The British occupation led to dark times for most of the Egyptian peoples, most especially the peasants. The Egyptian government was taken and directed by Lord Cromer. He was in charge of economic reforms and trying to eliminate the debt caused by the khedival regime. These reforms, and their successes, were mainly enjoyed by the upper and middle classes, leaving the poor even poorer.Since the khedival regime and the upper class enjoyed the British occupation and its abundant success, the middle class was left to the resistance of the British occupation. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, there were many newspapers that exposed the British for their mistakes and the khedival governmental corruption. The positions in the Egyptian government were filled by the British officers. The writers for the newspapers were protesting that those positions could have been as easily filled by capable, educated Egyptians, but that the racism of the British stopped it.
The Incident
On 13 June 1906 five officers of the occupying BritishBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, with their interpreter and a police official, visited Denshawai (AR: دنشواي) to go pigeon shooting. They shot pigeons belonging to villagers who kept them as domestic animals, angering the owners. However, the major catalyst was the accidental shooting of the wife of the prayer leader at the local mosque. Enraged, the Egyptians mobbed the British officers and camp. The British officers opened fire on the villagers, wounding five, and set fire to the grain of Abd-el-Nebi.
Abd-el-Nebi, whose wife had been seriously injured, struck one of the officers with a stick. He was joined by the elderly Hassan Mahfouz, whose pigeons had been killed. Other villagers threw stones at them. The officers, two Irishmen and three Englishmen, surrendered their weapons, along with their watches and money, but this failed to appease the angry villagers.
Two officers escaped, one of whom managed to contact the British Army, but the other died of heatstroke some distance from the village. An Egyptian peasant who tried to help the sick man was killed by soldiers who came across them. Meanwhile, in the village the elders had intervened, saving the remaining soldiers and allowing them to return to their base.
British response
"Instead of showing understanding for the peasants' self-defense against the officer's tactless blundering, the colonial administrators viewed the native's actions as a dangerous popular insurgency that had to be dealt with harshly."Concerned about a growing nationalist movement, Egyptian officials used the Denshawai incident as a pretext to harshly punish any resistance to British rule. The next day, the British army arrived, arresting all the men in the village, including Abd-el-Nebi, Hassan Mahfouz, a man called Darweesh and Zahran. At a summary trial (where the judges were mostly British) Hassan, Darweesh, Zahran and one other man were convicted of murdering the officer who had died of sunstroke, and were sentenced to death. One of the judges was Boutros Boutros Ghali’s grandfather. Abd-el-Nebi and another villager were given a life sentence of penal servitude and twenty-six villagers were given various terms of hard labour and ordered to be flogged. The officers stated that they had been "guests" of the villagers and had done nothing wrong.
Hassan was hanged in front of his own house. Darweesh said from the gallows:
- “May God compensate us well for this world of meanness, for this world of injustice, for this world of cruelty.”
The Egyptian police official accompanying the soldiers to the village did not confirm their story. He testified in court that after Abd-el’s wife had been shot, the officers fired twice more on the mob. For his testimony, he was stood down, and a court of discipline sentenced him to two years imprisonment and fifty lashes.
Consequences
Concerned with growing Egyptian nationalismEgyptian nationalism
Egyptian nationalism is an ideology that rose to prominence in Egypt before the British occupation to Egypt.- History :It is first used to refer to the native officers’ movement, led by Col. Ahmad ‘Urâbî, against Egyptian government policies that favored officers of Turkish, Circassian , or other...
, British officials chose to show their strength and make an example of the villagers
Commentary
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, in the preface to his play John Bull's Other Island
John Bull's Other Island
John Bull's Other Island is a comedy about Ireland, written by G. Bernard Shaw in 1904. Shaw himself was born in Dublin, yet this is the only play of his where he thematically returned to his homeland....
, says that because “they had room for only one man on the gallows, and had to leave him hanging half an hour to make sure [he was dead] and give his family plenty of time to watch him swinging, thus having two hours to kill as well as four men, they kept the entertainment going by flogging eight men with fifty lashes each.”
Fifty years later, the Egyptian journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
Mohamed Hassanein Heikal is a leading Egyptian journalist. For 17 years he was editor-in-chief of the Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram and has been a respected commentator on Arab affairs for more than 50 years.-Background and Books:...
said “the pigeons of Denshawai have come home to roost”, to describe the eventual defeat of the Anglo-French strikes in Egypt
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in 1956.
"The Hanging of Zahran" is a poem by Salah Abdel-Sabour about the incident, and Nagui Riad made the film Friend of Life, based on the poem.