Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/789

765 MEHEMET ALI.] EGYPT 765 The pasha, since his return from Arabia, had turned his attention to the improvement of the manufactures of Egypt, and engaged very largely in commerce. The results of these attempts are stated iu other places, but the important work of digging the new canal of Alexandria, called the Mahmoodeeyeh, must here be again mentioned. The old canal had long fallen into decay, and the necessity of a safe channel between Alexandria and the Nile was much felt. Such was the object of the canal then excavated, and it has on the whole well answered its purpose ; but the sacrifice of life was enormous, and the labour of the unhappy fellahs was forced. Towards the accomplishment of a favourite project, the formation of the Nizam Gedeed, a force was ordered to the southern frontier of Egypt, and the conquest of SennAr was contemplated in order to get rid of the disaffected troops, and to obtain a sufficient number of captives to form the nucleus of the new army. The forces destined for this service were led by Ismail, then the youngest son of Mehemet Ali ; they consisted of between 4000 and 5000 men, Turks and A.rabs, and were despatched iu the summer of 1820. Nubia at once submitted, the Shageeyeh A,rabs immediately beyond the province of Dongcla were worsted, and Senmir was reduced without a battle. Mohammad Bey, the defterdar, with another force of about the same strength, was then sent by Mehemet A.H against Kurdufan with a like result, but not without a hard fought engagement. In 1822 Ismail was, with his retinue, put to death by an A.rab chieftain named Nimr; and the defterdar, a man infamous for his cruelty, assumed the command in those provinces, and exacted terrible retribution from the innocent inhabitants. In the years 1821 and 1822 Mehemet Ali despatched both ships and men (the latter about 7000 or 8000 Albanians and Turks) to the Morea, Cyprus, and Candia, to aid the Porte in reducing the Greek insurrection; and he continued to take part in that struggle, his fleet being engaged at Navarino, until the English insisted on the evacuation of the Morea in 1828 by Ibrahim Pasha. In 1822 an army of disciplined troops was at length organized : 8000 men (chiefly slaves, from Sennar and Kurdufan) were trained by French officers at Aswan. Of the vast numbers seized in the countries above named, many died on the way ; those who were not eligible were, with the women, sold in Cairo, and in the remainder were incorporated many fellahs. Colonel Seves (Suleyman Pasha), a Frenchman who after wards became a Moslem, superintended their organization; great numbers of the blacks died, but the Egyptians proved very good troops. Many thousands were pressed in conse quence, and they now constitute the bulk of the army. In 1823 the now conscripts amounted to 24,000 men, com posing six regiments of infantry, each regiment consisting of five battalions of 800 men, and the battalions of eight companies of 100 men. In 1824 a native rebellion of a religious character broke out in Upper Egypt, headed by one Ahmad, an inhabitant of Es-SAlimeeyeh, a village situate a few miles above Thebes. He proclaimed himself a prophet, and was soon followed by between 20,000 and 30,000 insurgents, mostly peasants, but some deserters from the Nizam, for that force was yet in a half-organized state and in part declared for the impostor. The insurrection was crushed by Mehemet Ali, and about one-fourth of Ahmad s followers perished, but he himself escaped and was never after heard of. Few of these unfortunates possessed any other weapon than the long staff (nebboot) of the Egyptian peasant ; still they offered an obstinate resistance, and the combat resembled a massacre. In the same year war was once more made on the Wahhabees, who had collected in considerable numbers. The 2d regiment was sent on this service, and it behaved in a very creditable manner. But the events of the war with the Porte are perhaps the most important of the life of Mehemet Ali. The campaign of 1831 had ostensibly for its object the castigation of Abd-Allah, pasha of A.cre ; the invading force consisted of six regiments of infantry, four of cavalry, four field-pieces, and a greater number of siege-guns, the whole under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, while the fleet, conveying provisions, ammunition, &c., was to accompany the army by sea. The terrible cholera of 1831, however, stayed the expedition when it was on the eve of departing ; 5000 of its number died, and it was not until early in October of the same year that it started. Little opposition was encountered on the way to Acre, whither Ibrahim had gone by sea, and that place was invested on the 29th of November. The artillery of the besieged was well served ; an assault in the following February was repulsed,, and the cold and rain of a Syrian winter severely tried the Egyptian troops. A second assault in like manner failed, and Ibrahim was called away to repel Osman Pasha, governor of Aleppo. The latter, however, hastily decamped without giving him battle, and Ibrahim, deeming this advantage sufficient, retraced his steps towards Acre. He then pushed the siege with fresh vigour, and stormed the city on the 27th of May; 1400 men fell in the breach, and the garrison was found to be reduced to about 400 men. The fall of Acre was followed by negotiation. Mehemet Ali evinced a disposition for peace, but demanded the government of Syria, and the Porte, in consequence, denounced him as a traitor. On his part, Ibrahim pushed his successes ; Damascus was evacuated at his approach, and the battle of Hims, fought on the 8th of July 1832, decided the superiority of the Egyptian army, and the advantage of disciplined troops over an irregular force, although very disproportionate in numbers. The enemy composed the advanced guard of the Turkish armjr, 30,000 strong, and the Egyptians numbered only 16,000 men. Alter this victory, Ibrahim marched to Hamah, and thence to Aleppo (which had just before closed its gates against the Turkish general-in-chief, Hoseyn Pasha, whose troops became rapidly disorganized), forced the defiles of Beylan, and pursued the fugitive Turks to Adaneh. About the same time an Egyptian squadron had chased the sultan s fleet into Constantinople. Diplomacy was, at this point, again resorted to, but without any result ; the sultan depended on his fleet to protect the capital, and determined to risk another engagement with the victorious enemy. The charge of this venture was intrusted to Resheed Pasha, the grand vizir. In the meantime, Ibrahim Pasha had gained the pass of Taurus, and having beaten the Turks at Oulou-Kislak, he hesitated not to give battle to Resheed Pasha at the head of about 00,000 men, his own army being less than half that strength; the battle of Kooniyeh, on the plains of Anatolia, proved utterly disastrous to the Porte ; in the confusion of the fight, and the darkness of a thick day, the grand vizir was made prisoner, his army routed, and Constantinople was within six marches of the victor, without an army to oppose his passage. The capital of the Ottoman Empire, in imminent danger by sea and laud, was then intrusted to the keeping of its hereditary enemy, as the last resource of the sultan Mahmood, and o Russian fleet and army were sent thither. Negotiations were in consequence opened, and on the 14th of May 1833 a treaty was concluded between Mehemet Ali and the Porte, by which the whole of Syria and the district of Adaneh were ceded to the former, on condition of his paying tribute. With this terminated the war, but not the animosity of the sultan. Ibrahim, by excessive firmness and rigour, speedily restored security and tranquillity to the greater part of Syria ; but some years later, the attempt ol Mahmood to get the better of his vassal, and the consequent