Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

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EGYPT.
K<o’pt. success. After the battle of Safra, Toussoun had been
compelled to retire to lambo; but having received rein¬
forcements from Egypt, he resumed the offensive, and ad¬
vanced towards Medina, of which he soon made himself
master. Having dispatched one of his officers to Con¬
stantinople with the keys of Medina, and large presents
of money, jewels, and coffee for the sultan, Mehemmed
set out in person for Arabia; and having crossed the Red
Sea, he proceeded to Djidda, where he was received with
the utmost kindness and hospitality by the Scherif Gha-
leb, in return for which the latter was arrested by order
of the pasha, deprived of his office, and sent as a prisoner
to Cairo, probably from a suspicion of entertaining trea¬
sonable designs. But whatever may have been the cause,
the palace of the scherif was plundered of immense trea¬
sures, part of which were applied to the support of the ar¬
my, and part also transmitted in the shape of presents to
the sultan. When the latter, however, came to understand
how these had been acquired, he dispatched a capidji with
a firman ordaining the viceroy to restore the property to
the rightful owner. From Djidda, Mehemmed proceeded
to Mecca, in order to pay his devotions at the shrine of
the Prophet; and having thus acquired the character of
Hadji, he assumed the command of the army, which, un¬
der Toussoun, had recently experienced some reverses,
His presence in the camp restored discipline and confi¬
dence among the troops ; disorder ceased, their spirits re¬
vived, and, anticipating victory under such a leader, they
longed for an opportunity of revenging their losses, and
obliterating the recollection of their defeats. Nor did it
suit the views of the viceroy to baulk their wishes in this
respect. As soon as he found himself in a condition to take
the field, he concentrated his forces, and marched against
the Wahabis, whom he routed and put to flight. The main
body of the Turkish army then entered the country of the
Nedjd, whilst Toussoun, at the head of a division, march¬
ed on El-Rass, which he took by a stratagem, but was
afterwards obliged to evacuate from want of provisions.
The Wahabis, finding that the fortune of war had thus
turned against them, now made proposals of peace; and,
with a view to a negociation, an armistice was agreed to.
But as it soon became evident that their principal object
was to gain time, Toussoun, who, in the interval, had re¬
ceived reinforcements and supplies of all kinds from Me¬
dina, resolved to march against the enemy and to give them
battle. This brought the latter to their senses; a nego- e .
ciation was opened, and as Mehemmed had urgent rea- /
sons for treating, peace was speedily concluded between
him and Abdallah-ebn-Souhoud, chief of the Wahabis-
after which the pasha immediately took his departure for
Egypt, where his presence had become necessary. In the
depths of the Arabian desert he had received intelligence
of the return of Napoleon from Elba; and as he foresaw
that this event would plunge Europe again into war, and
knew that, even to the moment of his fall, Bonaparte had
cherished the hope of recovering Egypt, he set out with
all haste from Medina, sailed from Djidda for Cosseir, and
arrived at Ghizeh on the 18th of June 1815, the day of
the battle of Waterloo. The following morning he made
his public entry into Cairo.
Mehemmed Ali, well aware that tactics often supply
the place of numbers, and that bravery without discipline
is alike unmanageable and unavailing against regular
troops, had long had the intention of clothing and instruct¬
ing his troops in the European manner; and indeed, from
the period of his first accession to power, he had encou¬
raged the formation and training of Turkish and Albanian
troops according to the Frank discipline. But it was only
after his return from Arabia that his determination was
manifested in a formal manner. Having secured the ser¬
vices of several French officers who had been trained in
the school of Napoleon, he repaired to Boulak on the 2d
of August, and, after some preparatory exhortations, he
began to exercise the troops of his son Ismael. These he
put through some evolutions, at the same time declaring
that he wished to establish among them the nizam-jedid,
and that whosoever should disobey his orders would be
severely punished and then expelled from the army. The
troops murmured, but Mehemmed remained firm. A regu¬
lar course of drilling was immediately commenced, and en¬
forced with all the rigour of oriental despotism, whilst the
success of his arms encouraged him to persevere. But
excessive pressure at length wrenched off the head of the
screw, and the spring recoiled with tremendous force.
The soldiers mutinied, murdered their officers, plundered
Cairo, and marched in a body towards the citadel for the
avowed purpose of putting Ali to death. Fortunately the
pillage of the bazars attracted their attention in the first
instance; the chiefs of the government, who were quite
unprepared for an attack, had time to recover from their
to ensure to this prince the succession of Abd-el-Aziz; and he died several years afterwards (14th June 1787), at the advanced age
of ninety-rive. Ilut this event did not diminish the zeal of the followers of his doctrine; and such was the terror which the Afgha¬
nis inspired on all sides, that the towns in the neighbourhood of Bassorah were obliged to implore the protection of the Pasha of Bag¬
dad, who, in 1786, caused a considerable army to march against the heretics. The troops of the pasha were however repulsed by
Souhoud, who, encouraged by this success, ventured the following year to make an incursion into the province of El-Irak, situated
between Bassorah and Bagdad, where he committed dreadful ravages with impunity. The Scherif Ghaleb, who had long struggled
i;1 rV? aSa),nst the growing powmr of these formidable enemies, was constrained to make peace with their chiefs; and Salem-ebn-
Schekban of I>yeheh felt himself equally obliged to submit to the prince of Derayeh. Intoxicated with these successes, Aziz now wished
to attack the Persians as well as the Turks; and accordingly he sent his son at the head of 20,000 men, who directed their march upon
Keibe.eh. On the 20th of April 1810, the AVahabis took possession of this city, which the Persians account sacred, as containing the
tomb of All, and put all the male inhabitants to the sword. Souhoud, thinking that he had not yet done enough, next directed his
march towards Mecca, forced the Scherif Ghaleb to fly, and interrupted the most sacred ceremonies of Islamism. Meanwhile the
saciilege which Abd-el-Aziz had committed in the eyes of the Persians did not pass unpunished ; for a fanatic having undertaken to
avenge the violation of the tomb of Ali, proceeded to Derayeh, and poignarded the prince whilst he was reciting his prayers in the
mosque. But Souhoud in his turn swore to avenge the death of his father. Accordingly, having assumed the chief command of the
H ahabis, he marched the following year against Bassorah, without being intimidated by the menaces of the Shah of Persia. The
Scherit Ghaleb thought the moment favourable for striking a blow in retaliation of the injury he had sustained; but the check
which his arms experienced constrained him to sue for peace ; and soon afterwards he was under the necessity of submitting entirely
to Souhoud. The latter, at the head of 40,000 men, now made a pilgrimage to Medina, in order at the same time to prevent the arrival
of the caravans; and left in that city one of his generals whom he appointed governor. From Medina he proceeded to Mecca, and
after having there piously fulfilled all the duties of the pilgrimage, he caused the tomb of the Prophet to be broken open, and unscru¬
pulously took possession of the riches it contained. Such acts of sacrilege, boldly committed, and frequently repeated, roused the
indignation of the whole Moslemin world; and the viceroy of Egypt was in consequence enjoined by the Porte, as above mentioned,
to inarch against the audacious heretics. I he Wahabis are a sect of Mohammedan Socinians, who regard all pilgrimages, relics,
ablutions, and other outward ceremonies or symbols, as rank idolatry, and who, professing the principles of pure deism, reduce the whole
duty of man as a religious being, to prayer and good works. (Mengin, Hist, de VEgyjptc sous le Gouverncmeiit dc Mohammed Aly^ tom. h
p. 378, et seqq. For an admirable account of the AVahabis, see also Anastasias.)