In the second half of the nineteenth century, belediyye (municipality) was established in major Ottoman cities. Its principal role was to maintain public health by means of street cleaning and disinfection. Though it was the autonomous body, a Provincial Health Inspector (Vilâyet Sıhhiyye Müfettişi) regularly examined the task of sanitary services offered by the municipality. Also, he often ordered it to take preventive measures such as a medical care for the poor and a vaccination for children. Street sweepers who were recruited by Dutch auction cleaned the street, collected the garbage and disinfected the city. Hygiene guidelines issued by the municipality instructed its inhabitants on how to maintain public health. But at the same time, these kinds of municipal services were strongly demanded by inhabitants of Izmir who considered it essential to keep the environment clean in order to defend against poisonous air. Thus, it can be said that the sanitary reform of the municipality was not only the top-down process, but also the bottom-up process. Personal hygiene was stressed as well as public hygiene. With the progress in bacteriology, the sanitary measure in this period seems to have become an individual thing.

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This article considers role and meaning of the village association, which organized by people originally from countryside in Egyptian city, based on anthropological participant observation. The member of the association extends from migrant workers to the people who was born and raised in the city, and have countryside-born farther. All of them are related to Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt. This article explains each role of head office of the association and branch one and how different those. Head office acts as branch office’s deputy for administrative office of the Ministry of Social Solidarity. On the other side, branch offices have subsequent member. Then, the article analyzes the motive of joining the village association for the member who take part in branch office. The point of the motive is not only the aid, but also getting to know many kinds of people from same hometown who have different job and social level. The latter is more important than the former for daily life of the city where many stranger live in. In conclusion, the meaning of the village association in the city is the one of the choices to know the people in the name of the hometown. According to the associational law No. 84, the association manages activities as much as religious or trade associations do. Only difference is the membership whether same hometown, religion, or profession. Through the association, the members create their social networks and their identities, and recognize many kinds of people together with knowing the city itself.

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This study examines a dispute between the Waṭṭāsid dynasty and Kingdom of Portugal over the north area of al-Maghrib al-Aqṣā, as well as the relationships between the sultan and his vassals in the Northern Frontier, which bordered the Portuguese occupied territory in the late 15th century. Muḥammad al-Shaykh al-Waṭṭāsī, the first sultan of the dynasty, concluded a peace treaty with Afonso V of Portugal in 1471, one year before the dynasty was established, in which he recognized Portuguese possessions in North Africa. Despite the temporal suspension of this treaty between the death of Afonso V (1481) and the disaster of the Graciosa expedition (1489) by his successor João II, it established a semblance of peace in the area until its final expiration around 1500. During this period, the sultan organized defense structures against Portuguese raids by appointing influential persons as the local governors in important towns of the frontier and providing for them financial and military aid. Although they enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, there existed vertical relationships between them and the sultan, and when ‘Alīb. Rāshid, a frontier governor preached Jihād and revolted in Shafshāwun, the sultan succeeded in subjugating him. This success demonstrates that the royal authority of the dynasty was recognized to be legitimate in the country.

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This paper examines how the present Omani government interprets the historical Omani rule of East Africa and constructs its national history, through analysis of how history is presented in school social studies textbooks and teachers’ guidelines. There are some features in the description of school textbooks, concerning the historiography of Omani rule of East Africa. First, Said bin Sultan is represented as a hero, and the territory he controlled is described as the “Omani Empire.” Second, Omani rule in East Africa is implicitly justified on the basis that Oman spread Arab-Islamic civilization to East Africa and brought prosperity. Third, the peaceful coexistence with local inhabitants is emphasized. Fourth, description concerning slavery is absent. Lastly, vocabulary is carefully chosen to avoid words that might suggest colonialism. Compared with history books published before 1970, when the nation state of Oman was founded, it is clear that the modern educational system has constructed and spread the idea and name of the Omani Empire, frequently described in a positive way, among Omani citizens. The Omani Empire is described as an ideal that achieved cultural, ethnic, and religious pluralism; its capital, Zanzibar, flourished and connected the globe as a key junction of the Indian Ocean trade. The current Omani government presents the glory of the Omani Empire as a historical acme of which Omanis are to be proud. The government not only spreads the idea as a source of Omani national identity through school textbooks, but also reproduces it through governmental media and academic activity, such as international conferences.

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