The change is reflected in the increase…

The change is reflected in the increase of foreigners in Egypt—from between eight thousand and ten thousand in 1838 to ninety thousand in 1881.

The majority is engaged in cotton production, import-export trade, banking, and finance.

The European community occupies a privileged position as a result of the capitulations, the treaties governing the status of foreigners within the Ottoman Empire.

These treaties had put Europeans virtually beyond the reach of Egyptian law until the establishment of the mixed courts (with jurisdiction over Egyptians and foreigners) in 1876.

Like the artisans, Egyptian merchants suffer from a large variety of oppressive taxes and duties from which foreign merchants are exempt.

With the support of their consuls, foreigners in Egypt have become an increasingly powerful pressure group committed to defending their own interests.