Abstract
This chapter introduces the beginning of the British administration of Cyprus and details its impact on the traditional waqf building upkeep systems from 1878 to 1905. The chapter stresses on how orientalist attitudes towards non-Western people and institutions were both patronising and ignorant of contexts the British were not that interested in understanding. The discussion in this chapter shows how nationalist and diplomatic rationales, as well as institutional legacies and the need to work with non-state actors, created a complex context for policymakers. The chapter also demonstrates in fine detail the way Western experts and forms of expertise were used to render potentially contentious decisions about conservation technical rather than political, especially in relation to the Latin buildings the British saw as signifiers of a pan-European identity.
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Notes
- 1.
This system of dual governance, as understood from Nasution (2002, 305), would have in 1905 been adopted into the legislation of the administration of waqf endowments in colonised Penang (Malaysia) and perhaps elsewhere. Nasution (ibid.) remarks how the board of delegates of Evkaf in Cyprus, comprising a senior officer of the civil service and a representative of the Muslims, constituted a precedent.
- 2.
See, for instance, the government engineer S. Brown’s correspondence with Seager (then the British delegate of Evkaf) relating to the upkeep works at the mosque at Kouklia (BEF-1882-4-101 (57/82) & BEF-1882-6-176) and the Zuhuri Mosque in Larnaca (BEF-1882-6-166).
- 3.
The British high commissioner W. F. Haynes-Smith, in a notification, published following the death of Mehmet Sadyk Effendi in 1903, appreciated his services as ‘the Turkish Delegate of Evkaf and the Mouhassebedji since the date of the British occupation’ (Haynes-Smith 1903, 5092).
- 4.
See, for instance, document, dated October 28, 1886, in BEF-1886-13-350; BEF-1887-63-1533; BEF-1892-55-1356; document, dated November 18, 1892, in BEF-1892-55-1348.
- 5.
Staying true to its locally used name during the Ottoman and British colonial periods, Ayasofya Mosque is used throughout this book referring to the converted Latin Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Famagusta. The building is now known as Lala Mustafa Paşa Camii.
- 6.
For example, when repairs to Agha Cafer Pasha Mosque were required in 1887, Zaki Effendi, the Evkaf agent in Kyrenia, sent a petition to the mouhasebedji in Nicosia, with a cost estimate appended (BEF-1887-21-529). In another case, it was the mouhasebedji himself, following conversations with the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, who submitted the petition regarding repairs which were required for the Haidar Pasha Mosque (Haydarpaşa Camii, the former Cathedral of St. Catherine) in Nicosia: there were cracks and leaks in the building, mentioned by the mouhasebedji in his letter to the British delegate dated November 7, 1892 (BEF-1892-55-1356).
- 7.
For instance, in 1886, a petition arrived from the villagers of Lapithos requesting the involvement of Evkaf in the repair of the mosque that belonged to the Waqf of Seyyid Mehmed, as no notice had been taken by the Mutawalli Ali Effendi and the said mosque was falling into ruins (BEF-1886-9-266).
- 8.
A petition on June 11, 1887, from the inhabitants of Kalipornou, was addressed to the high commissioner, stating that their mosque was in ruinous condition and complaining of misconduct by the mutawalli of the Waqf, who was also the imam of the mosque (BEF-1887-19-502). In another case, when in 1891 repairs were needed for the Saghir Mosque at Ktima (Paphos), the inhabitants had sent a petition to the commissioner of Paphos, who forwarded it to Nicosia (BEF-1891-55-1352).
- 9.
For instance, when cleaning and repairs were required in 1884 for the aqueducts carrying water to the town of Larnaca, and the trustee of the concerned Waqf of Abou Bekir Pasha made it clear that he wished to undertake minor repairs only, the inhabitants and the Municipality of Larnaca approached the Evkaf, via the commissioner of Larnaca (BEF-1886-9-272).
- 10.
In one instance, the trustee of the Waqf of Kebir Mosque in Limassol applied to the Evkaf for repairs to two shops belonging to the waqf. However, there were insufficient funds to undertake repairs on both the coffee shop and the baker’s shop (BEF-1893-56-1394). As a result, permission was given to repair the coffee shop only, and the mutawalli was advised to forward the matter again once the mosque’s funds would accommodate repairs to the baker’s shop (letter, dated April 5, 1893, in BEF-1893-56-1394).
- 11.
In one instance, when repairs were required for the Agha Cafer Pasha Mosque in Kyrenia in 1887, it was found that the income should have come from the landed properties of the mosque which were rented to the Municipality of Nicosia, which did not pay the rentals for 15 years (BEF-1887-21-529). It appears from the documents that originally in the mulhaka category, the Waqf of Agha Cafer Pasha was administered by Evkaf since the beginning of the colonial era. The properties were rented to the Municipality of Nicosia during the times of M. B. Seager, and rental was paid only once. After the involvement of the delegates and the high commissioner, finally in 1890 the due rents were collected and the budget was adequate to proceed with the repairs (BEF-1887-21-529).
- 12.
For instance, on July 22, 1882, a letter from King Harman, the assistant to the chief secretary, informed the British delegate that the government was sanctioning an advance of £300 for the repair of the Ayasofya Mosque. The money was going to be paid back at Evkaf ’s convenience. They suggested that it could be paid back in three years in annual instalments at an interest rate of 5% (BEF-1882-4-95).
- 13.
See, for instance, the correspondence between the bath keeper of the Beuyuk Hamam and the delegates of Evkaf in which the bath keeper accused the delegates of ignoring his petitions for repairs to the building for many years (BEF-1891-47-1172).
- 14.
In 1902, C. Bellamy, the director of the Public Works Department (PWD), wrote to the chief secretary that PWD engineers could continue to provide consultation and advice to Evkaf on a paid basis (BEF-1902-103-2435).
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Sabri, R. (2019). British Colonial Inputs to Waqf’s Traditional Building Upkeep Systems (1878–1905). In: The Imperial Politics of Architectural Conservation. Heritage Studies in the Muslim World. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18232-8_3
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