84:. It was a common custom within the Egyptian Mamluk elite to establish valuable alliances and connections by marrying the widows or concubines of other Mamluks. The marriage between Murad Bey and Nafisa al-Bayda, widow of Ali Bey, was an example of this marriage policy, similar to that of Shawikar Qadin, the concubine of
115:, Murad Bey fled to organize the resistance against the French. Nafisa al-Bayda remained in Cairo during the French occupation. She acted as a mediator between her absent spouse and the French merchant community of Cairo, as well as a diplomatic mediator between the French occupation force and Murad Bey.
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She followed the example of many other aristocratic Mamluk women and participated in charity. Her most known charitable project was the foundation of a building that combines a water dispensary with a school for orphans, the Sabil-Kuttub Nafisa al-Bayda, which was founded near Bab
Zuwayla in Cairo in
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In accordance with
Islamic law, Nafisa al-Bayda was permitted to control her own money despite being a married woman. As was common for the women of the Mamluk aristocracy of Egypt, she engaged in business in the form of investments, a form of business which could be managed at a distance from within
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When she was widowed by the death of Murad Bey in 1801, she used her position as a diplomatic mediator with the French to secure that the property of her dead spouse would not be confiscated by the French. She invited
Napoleon Bonaparte himself to her home to negotiate, and he imposed a big tribute.
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in Cairo. She is described as the favorite concubine of Ali Bey, who eventually manumitted her and married her. This was a normal background for the wife of a Mamluk, who either married the daughters of their peers or their own slave concubines, which was also a normal custom for elite men in most
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aristocrats of Egypt. The Mamluk aristocrats, who were themselves of white origin (often
Circassian or from Georgia), preferred to marry women of similar ethnicity, while black slave women were used as domestic maids. The white slave women bought to become concubines and wives of the Mamluks were
33:. She has been referred to as the most famous Mamluk woman in 18th-century Egypt. She was a successful business financier and philanthropist, but is most known for her diplomatic service as the mediator between Murad Bey and the French occupation forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798–1801.
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96:(d. 1754) after the death of Uthman Katkhuda. The second spouse of Nafisa al-Bayda, Murad Bey, was the Ottoman governor of Egypt in 1784–1785, and the
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of the
Islamic world. In 1768, Ali Bey al-Kabir temporarily took Egypt from the Ottoman Empire and became its ruler. In 1773, she became a widow.
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Her origin is unknown, but she is referred to as a "white slave", which was a common origin for the slave concubines and wives of the
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the
Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the
Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the
Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the
Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and the Paradox of Seclusion in Eighteenth
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Gender, Property, and Law in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Communities in
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Gender, Property, and Law in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Communities in
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Gender, Property, and Law in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Communities in
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Gender, Property, and Law in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Communities in
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Americans in Egypt, 1770-1915: Explorers, Consuls, Travelers, Soldiers
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55:), and Nafisa al-Bayda is believed to have had the same background.
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Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa
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Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa
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1768 - 1816), was the spouse of the Egyptian Mamluk leaders
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As a widow, Nafisa al-Bayda remarried the Mamluk leader
132:, and became a successful and rich business investor.
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18th-century businesspeople from the Ottoman Empire
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417:18th-century women from the Ottoman Empire
88:(d. 1736), who were given in marriage by
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100:ruler of Egypt between 1791 and 1798.
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427:French invasion of Egypt and Syria
329:Jutta Sperling, Shona Kelly Wray,
252:Jutta Sperling, Shona Kelly Wray,
166:Jutta Sperling, Shona Kelly Wray,
152:Jutta Sperling, Shona Kelly Wray,
111:. After the French victory in the
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387:19th-century Egyptian women
105:Egypt was invaded by France
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402:Egyptian philanthropists
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353:Ghada Hashem Talhami,
308:Ghada Hashem Talhami,
113:Battle of the Pyramids
67:of the Mamluk leader
53:Black Sea slave trade
90:Abd al-Rahman Jawish
412:18th-century slaves
377:18th-century births
348:Cairo: City of Sand
283:Cairo: City of Sand
269:Cairo: City of Sand
128:the seclusion of a
321:Cassandra Vivian,
109:Napoleon Bonaparte
123:Business activity
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366:Categories
140:References
103:In 1798,
82:Murad Bey
76:Murad Bey
31:Murad Bey
98:de facto
172:p. 256
136:1796.
107:under
48:Mamluk
42:Origin
130:harem
65:harem
37:Life
29:and
187:256
92:to
22:fl.
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19:(
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