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RIAZ PASHA (c. 1835– )

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 281 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RIAZ See also:

PASHA (c. 1835– ) , See also:Egyptian statesman; See also:born about 1835, was of a Circassian See also:family, but said to be of See also:Hebrew extraction. Little is known• of his See also:early See also:life See also:save that until the See also:accession of See also:Ismail Pasha to the See also:vice-See also:royalty of See also:Egypt in 1863 he occupied a humble position. Ismail, recognizing in this obscure individual a capacity for hard See also:work and a strong will, made him one of his ministers, to find, to his chagrin, that Riaz was also an honest See also:man possessed of a remarkable See also:independence of See also:character. When Ismail's See also:financial straits compelled him to agree to a See also:commission of inquiry Riaz was the only Egyptian of known honesty sufficiently intelligent and patriotic to be named as a vice-See also:president of the commission. He filled this See also:office with distinction, but not to the liking of Ismail. The See also:khedive, however, See also:felt compelled, when as a sop to his See also:European creditors he assumed the position of a constitutional monarch, to nominate Riaz as a member of the first Egyptian See also:cabinet. For the few months this See also:government lasted (See also:September .1878 to See also:April 1879) Riaz was See also:minister of the interior. When Ismail dismissed the cabinet 'and attempted to resume autocratic • See also:rule, Riaz liad to flee the See also:country. Upon the deposition of Ismail, See also:June 1879, Riaz was sent for by the See also:British and See also:French controllers, and he formed the first See also:ministry under the khedive Tewfik. His See also:administration, marked by much ability, lasted only two years, and was overthrown by the agitation which had for figure-See also:head Arabi Pasha (q.v.). The beginnings of this See also:movement Riaz treated as of no consequence.

In reply to a warning of what might happen he said, " But this is Egypt; such things do not happen; you say they have happened elsewhere, perhaps, but this is Egypt." On the evening of the 9th of September 1881, after the military demonstration in Abdin Square, Riaz was dismissed; broken in See also:

health he went to See also:Europe, remaining at See also:Geneva until the fall of Arabi. Afterthat event Riaz, subordinating his vanity to his patriotism, accepted office as minister of the interior under Sherif Pasha (q.v.). Had Riaz had his way Arabi and his associates would have been executed forthwith, and when the British insisted that clemency should be extended to the leaders of the revolt Riaz refused to remain in office, resigning in See also:December 1882. He took no further See also:part in public affairs until 1888, when, on the dismissal of Nubar Pasha (q.v.), he was summoned to See also:form' a government. He now understood that the only policy possible for an Egyptian statesman was to work in See also:harmony with the British See also:agent , (See also:Sir See also:Evelyn See also:Baring—afterwards See also:Lord See also:Cromer). This he succeeded in doing to a large extent, witnessing if not initiating the See also:practical abolition of the corvee and many'other reforms. The See also:appointment of an Anglo-See also:Indian See also:official as judicial adviser to the khedive was, however, opposed by Riaz, who resigned in May 1891. In the See also:February follow See also:ing he again became See also:prime minister under Abbas II., being selected as comparatively acceptable both to the khedivial and British parties. In April 1894 Riaz finally resigned office on See also:account of See also:ill-health. See also:Superior, probably, both intellectually and morally to his See also:great See also:rival Nubar, he lacked the latter's broad statesmanship as well as his pliability. Riaz's stand-point was that' of the benevolent autocrat; he believed that the' 'Egyptians were not fitted for self-government and must be treated like See also:children, protected from ill-treatment by others and prevented from injuring themselves. In 1889 he was made• an honorary G.C.M.G.

A worthy See also:

tribute to Riaz was paid by Lord Cromer in his farewell speech at See also:Cairo on the 4th of May 1907. " Little or no courage is now required," said Lord Cromer; " on the part of , a See also:young Egyptian who poses as a reformer, but it was not always so. Ismail Pasha had some very 'drastic methods of dealing with those who did not See also:bow before him. Nevertheless, some See also:thirty years ago Riaz Pasha stood forth boldly to protest against the maladministration that then prevailed in Egypt.

End of Article: RIAZ PASHA (c. 1835– )

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