The Development of Diwan al-awqaf in Egypt in the 19th Century: Regulations of 1837 and 1851

The paper traces the establishment and development of Swan al-awqaf in Egypt in the 19(th) century. It analyzes two manuscript documents stored in the Egyptian state archive in Cairo. The first one is a regulation of 1837, entitled La 'ihat tartib (c)amaliyat al-awqaf bi-l-thughur wa al-banadir. The second one is La 'ihat Swan al-awqaf, which dates back to 1851. The aim of this paper is to present a full edition of both documents and review their content in the context of diwan's institutional development. It is demonstrated that the regulation of 1837 is, contrary to earlier assessments, predicative of the diwan only to a limited extent. Its significance is reassessed within the broad framework of Muhammad (c)Ali's waqf policy, which is dealt with at the beginning of the paper. Then the document of 1851 is introduced. It represents, most probably, the very first preserved constitutive document of diwan al-awqaf in 19th century Egypt. The content of the document makes it possible to define the structure of the diwan and its executive powers. The paper concludes with a survey of the development of Swan al-awqaf up to 1895, when it evolved into a sophisticated bureau of administration.