Railway as Border Technology: The Khedivial Line and Ottoman–British Rivalry in the Eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

TThis article examines the Khedivial (Abbas Hilmi II) Railway from Alexandria toward Tripoli on the basis of British archival materials, adopting a historical and international-relations analytical framework. It reconstructs the technical and operational anatomy of the line, demonstrating how design choices determined performance and cost parameters. Set within the security economy of the pre-1914 Eastern Mediterranean, the railway is interpreted as a border technology along the Egypt–Cyrenaica corridor: it advanced toward Sollum while articulating with caravan routes, seasonal fairs, and barley shipments, yet operated under British surveillance, Ottoman military sensitivities, and Italian concessionary ambitions. The study further situates the project within Egypt's broader railway development following the 1854 Alexandria–Cairo line (the first operational railway in the Middle East) and its subsequent extension toward Suez, clarifying how a khedivial private line both complemented and diverged from State Railways by projecting authority into the western desert corridor. By illustrating how infrastructure inextricably bound sovereignty, commerce, and strategy, this research contributes a systematic, document-based operational history and recasts the line as a critical nexus of late Ottoman-British rivalry and Mediterranean border governance.

Keywords

• Khedivial Line
• Daira Khassa
• Egypt Railways
• Ottoman–British Rivalry
• Eastern Mediterranean

Sınır Teknolojisi Olarak Demiryolu: Hidiviye Hattı ve Doğu Akdeniz'de Osmanlı–Britanya Rekabeti

Abstract

Bu makale, İskenderiye'den Trablusgarp yönüne uzanan Hidiviye (II. Abbas Hilmi) Demiryolu'nu Britanya arşiv belgelerine dayanarak tarihsel uluslararası ilişkiler analitik çerçevesinde incelemektedir. Hattın teknik ve işletme anatomisini yeniden inşa ederek tasarım tercihlerinin performans ve maliyet parametreleri üzerindeki belirleyici etkisini ortaya koymaktadır. 1914 öncesi Doğu Akdeniz'in güvenlik ekonomisi bağlamında demiryolu, Mısır – Sirenaika koridorunda bir sınır teknolojisi olarak yorumlanmaktadır: hat Sollum'a doğru ilerlerken kervan güzergâhları, mevsimlik panayırlar ve arpa sevkiyatlarıyla eklemlenmektedir; ancak Britanya gözetimi, Osmanlı askerî hassasiyetleri ve İtalyan imtiyaz emelleri altında işlemektedir. Çalışma ayrıca projeyi, 1854 tarihli İskenderiye – Kahire hattından (Ortadoğu'nun ilk işletmeye alınan demiryolu) ve ardından Süveyş yönündeki genişleme sürecinde Mısır demiryolu gelişimi içinde konumlandırarak, hidivliğe bağlı özel bir hattın Batı çölü koridoruna otorite projeksiyonu yoluyla Devlet Demiryolları'nı nasıl hem tamamladığını hem de ondan ayrıştığını açıklığa kavuşturmaktadır. Altyapının egemenlik, ticaret ve stratejiyi ayrılmaz biçimde birbirine bağladığını gösteren bu araştırma, belgelere dayalı sistematik bir işletme tarihi sunarak söz konusu hattı, geç Osmanlı dönemi Osmanlı–Britanya rekabetinin ve Akdeniz sınır yönetişiminin kritik bir düğüm noktası olarak yeniden konumlandırmaktadır.

Keywords

• Hidiviye Hattı
• Hattı • Daʾire-i Hassa
• Mısır Demiryolları
• Osmanlı–Britanya Rekabeti
• Doğu Akdeniz

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