Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

496
EGYPT.
Egypt, who accordingly resolved to expel the young Albanian
general from that country. But he little kneW the cha¬
racter of the person with whom he had to deal. The pay
of the troops being considerably in arrear, they applied for
redress to the pasha, who referred them to the defterdar, or
minister of finance ; but the latter being in no condition to
satisfy their demands, told them to go toMehemmed Ali,
who, in his turn, assured them that he had not received a
piastre for the liquidation of their claims, and at the same
time encouraged them to persevere in their demand for
payment. Meanwhile the viceroy sent orders to Mehem-
med to appear before him in the night; but the latter,
not unacquainted with the object of such private inter¬
views, returned an answer stating that he would appear
on broad day in the midst of his troops. The danger of
the viceroy now became imminent. The soldiers demand¬
ed their arrears in an audacious tone, accompanied with
menaces, which Kusruf, reckoning on his means of repres¬
sion, had the imprudence to despise ; a revolt immediate¬
ly broke out; the artillery opened on the mutineers, who
replied by volleys of musketry directed against the palace
of the viceroy ; and a fierce conflict ensued. The soldiers
of Ali, w'ho had been cantoned in the environs of the capi¬
tal, now joined the insurgents, and the battle became ge¬
neral. At this moment, Taber Pasha, chief of the Albanians,
went to present himself before the viceroy, and to offer to be¬
come mediator between him and the exasperated troops.
But Kusruf refused to see him, and sent him orders to
return to his residence, without concerning himself about
what was passing. Taher, however, chose to follow a dif¬
ferent course. Repulsed by the viceroy, he now openly
took part with the mutineers ; and having, partly by force
and partly by stratagem, obtained possession of the cita¬
del, he attacked the palace, whence the viceroy was soon
forced to fly with his wife and one or two attendants to
Mansoura. In short, the revolt speedily became a revo¬
lution, and the vice-regal power passed from the hands of
Kusruf to those of Taher Pasha.
But the power which the Albanian chief had acquired
by mutiny was soon lost by misconduct. Taher governed
only twenty-two days, during which brief space he com¬
mitted all sorts of injustice and cruelty, and in particular
caused two Coptic intendants and a merchant of Da¬
mascus to be decapitated. His career was cut short by
two Turkish bimbashis, who anticipated the wishes of the
Porte, which, on receiving intelligence of what had occur¬
red in Egypt, dispatched a couple of capidgis-bashis for
the head of Taher. The Mamlukes, seconded by Mehem-
med Ali, now entered Cairo, and having formed an alli¬
ance with the Albanians, the government reverted into the
hands of their chiefs, Ibrahim Bey and Osman Bey Bar-
dissi, in conjunction with Mehemmed. The new allies then
marched an army against Kusruf Pasha; besieged and
took Damietta, into which the viceroy had thrown him¬
self with his adherents; and having made the latter pri¬
soner, conducted him back to Cairo. Meanwhile the Porte
observing Egypt about to slip a second time through its
fingers, lost no time in dispatching a new pasha, Ali Ge-
zalrli, to assume the direction of affairs; but as soon as
the intelligence of his arrival reached the confederate
chiefs, they quitted Damietta, marched against the intrud¬
er, and soon forced him to take refuge within the walls
of Alexandria. Whilst matters were in this state, discord
arose between the Mamlukes and Albanians. The latter
demanded their pay, which had fallen into arrear, from
Osman Bey Bardissi, and not receiving any satisfactory
answer, they quitted the camp at Da manhour, and return¬
ed to Cairo under the conduct of Mehemmed Ali. Os¬
man Bey Bardissi made the same movement with his
Mamlukes, and returned to Cairo, where he resumed the
direction of affairs. Profiting by this disunion, Ali Qe- V
zairli summoned the rebels to submit to his authority*
and, to his great surprise, the summons was obeyed. Fulj ^
of hope, and conceiving he had now the ball at his feet
Ali set out for Cairo at the head of a considerable force’
instead of an escort merely, as had been agreed on. But
the Mamlukes and Albanians, apprised of his design, took
up a position at Chalakan, near the Nile, where’they
awaited the arrival of the pasha. Ali here attempted to
negociate, and even tried to draw over to his side some of
the commanders of the confederate insurgents; but these
men, aware that they had gone too far to recede, treated
his advances with disdain ; and the Mamlukes having
charged with their usual impetuosity, overthrew the pa¬
sha’s force in an instant, and put to death Ali himself,
whom they overtook in his flight from the field of battle.’
As the undisputed ascendency of the Mamlukes might
in the end have proved fatal to designs which Mehemtned
Ali was now cherishing, the wily Albanian, who knew that
he was an object of dread and suspicion both to Turks and
Mamlukes, contrived to embroil Bardissi, the Hotspur of
the Beys, with some of his associates, and to fan the flame
of that discord which he had artfully kindled. These im¬
petuous and headstrong men fell into the snare which had
been laid for them ; they went to war amongst themselves,
and sought to exterminate one another, whilst Mehemmed
took care to keep alive the disunion by which he was so
soon to profit. At length, on the 12th of March 1801, he
threw off the mask, attacked Bardissi and Ibrahim in their
palaces, whence these brave men cleared a passage with
their swords; and recognized Kusruf, whom he took out
of prison in the citadel, as pasha of Egypt, intending, no
doubt, to use the latter as an instrument for promoting his
own ends. But shortly afterwards he again expelled the
unfortunate viceroy, who was promptly replaced by Kur-
sebid Pasha. Meanwhile the Beys having taken refuge in
Upper Egypt, commenced war against the Turks and Al¬
banians; and Elfi Be}r, who had been for some time in
England, having by this time returned, joined his brethren
in arms; but his counsels, though they served to delay,
could not avert the fate which now impended over the
Mandukes. An order issued by the Porte for the return
of the Albanians to their own country, brought on the
crisis which had been long prepared. Mehemmed, whose
designs were in a great measure matured, disobeyed the
mandate, upon the pretext that his services were still ne¬
cessary to repress the audacity and insubordination of the
Mamlukes. The people of Cairo rose, and the sheikhs
and ulemas having proclaimed Mehemmed Ali their pasha,
demanded his confirmation of the Porte, which was grant¬
ed. The Mamlukes were now summoned to submit to the
new governor; and as they hesitated or refused, a snare
was laid for them which proved fatal to many of their num¬
bers. Some sheikhs and Albanian captains with whom
the governor maintained a secret understanding, having
opened a communication with the Mamluke chiefs, pro¬
mised to deliver up to them the gates of Cairo on the
day of the festival of the inundation of the Nile. Ac¬
cordingly, on the 18th of August 1805, a large party of
Beys, who were devastating the environs of the city, pene¬
trated into the suburbs, and, meeting with no resistance,
entered Cairo itself, where all appeared equally tranquil.
Nothing was heard but the sound of their martial instru¬
ments, whilst the terrified inhabitants, having shut them¬
selves up in their houses, left the streets completely de¬
serted. Dividing their numbers into two parties, they
advanced resolutely, anticipating only a triumph; when,
all of a sudden, as soon as they had become entangled in
the narrow streets of the city, a rattling fire of musketry
opened upon them from the houses in which their ene-