Page:PhilipK.Hitti-SyriaAShortHistory.djvu/234

Rh Ali, viceroy of the country and founder of its royal family.

When, a few years, later Muhammad Ali launched his campaign against Turkey through Syria, Bashir cast his lot with him. The Egyptian viceroy had expected — by way of compensation for the services he had rendered his Turkish suzerain on the battlefields of Greece and Arabia — the addition at least of Syria to his viceroyalty. But his ex- pectation was not fulfilled. Lebanese troops stood side by side with the Egyptians in the siege of Acre in 1831. Thanks to Bashir's co-operation the task of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali and commander of the Egyptian expedi- tion, was rendered comparatively easy. Ibrahim captured Damascus, routed the Turkish army at Horns, crossed the Taurus and struck into the heart of Anatolia before being forced to withdraw by England, Austria and Russia. In Syria his regime was ended in 1841. Muhammad Ali's ambition to establish an empire of Arab lands with himself at its head turned out to be a daydream. As yet there was no foundation in the consciousness of the people for such a state. On the expulsion of Ibrahim the Turks called Bashir to account. He went to Malta and died in Constantinople in 1850.

The Lebanon of Bashir prospered no less than that of Fakhr-al-Din. Bashir built roads, renovated bridges and set Beirut on its way to becoming what it is today, the gateway to Lebanon and Syria. The city had been avoided by the Manids and earlier Shihabs partly because of its exposure to piratical and other hostile attacks. Both Bashir and Fakhr-al-Din envisaged a greater Lebanon which would embrace with the mountain the coastal towns and the eastern plain. Both encouraged foreign trade relations. Both welcomed political refugees and religious minorities. Bashir offered refuge to a number of Druze families from Aleppo and to Greek Catholics. He was doubtless a Christian but did not consider it expedient to profess his faith. If Rh