Abstract
This paper aims to reconsider “reforms” allegedly carried out in Syria by Muhammad Ali’s government in the 1830s, through the analysis of the structure of financial administration established under his rule. First, this paper clarifies the outline of the financial administration structure in Syria before the Egyptian rule, and then examines the principal departments and individuals who were significantly concerned with financial administration in Syria under the Egyptian rule using archival documents held in the National Archives of Egypt. By clarifying the role and position of each department and individual in the financial administration, and their inter-relationship, this paper presents the overall structure of the financial administration in Syria under Egyptian rule. Following these findings, the paper clarifies that while Muhammad Ali’s government did indeed change the structure of the financial administration in Syria by expanding and centralizing its financial bureau, it broadly followed the basic structure of the existing financial administration and did not really introduce an entirely new scheme. Considering the fact that Muhammad Ali’s government approached financial administration, the cornerstone of governance, largely by maintaining the status quo while making partial changes, such an approach was not limited to the sphere of financial administration, but was widely practiced in Syria by Muhammad Ali’s government, and was also a characteristic of its “reforms” in Syria.
