Statesman, governor of Egypt
and the founder of the dynasty of Egypt (B.
Village of Kondova / Kavala / Greece, 1769 - D. 1849, Cairo / Egypt). He
was the nephew of Hüseyin Ağa, who was the alderman of Kavala, and the son of
İbrahim Ağa who was the Aga of Derbent. Even though some historians say that he
was a Pomak, it is understood that his family was most probably from Konya according to the
last researches made. He didn’t have any education and he gained a little bit
of literacy after the age of forty-forty five. He accomplished his military
service in his homeland as a soldier. He started a revolt that ended
successfully against the Ottoman Empire. Even
though he seemed related to the Ottomans, he was accepted as the real emperor
of Sudan, Egypt, Palestine
and Syria
in this period and these lands were governed by his dynasty for 150 years. Namely,
he was the person who transformed Egypt
into a government separated from the Ottoman Empire and he was the founder of
the dynasty of the Kingdom
of Egypt.
Kavalalı
went to Egypt with the
Ottoman army directed by the
commander-in-chief Yusuf Ziya Pasha sent in order to take out the French
from Egypt.
He came into prominence in the army with his great wisdom and his courage and
he won the degree of “Serceşmelik” meaning the commandant of a civilian soldier
procession. A force composed from the Janissaries and the Albanian civilians
was left in Egypt in order
to provide the discipline and to prevent the rebellions of the Mamelukes after
the French left Egypt
in the year of 1801. The commandant of this force was Arnavut Tahir Pasha and the serceşme was Kavalalı Mehmed
Ali Ağa. Koca Hüsrev Pasha, who became the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) in the
first year of the sultanate of Abdülmecit, was the Governor of Egypt at the
time. Mehmed Ali Ağa took advantage of the disorders and increased his
authority. He benefited from the revolt prompted against the governor Hüsrev Pasha
and he became the governor of Egypt
on 8th July 1805.
Mehmed
Ali Pasha made various innovations for the development of Egypt. He formed a strong army with
the teachers he brought from Europe. He moved
against the Mamluk rulers, who were still active in the government in the year
1811, and he definitively ended the Mamluk sovereignty in Egypt. After
that, his armies battled against the Wahhabis in the Arabian
Peninsula on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan between the years
1811-18. The Albanian Soldiers in Cairo
prompted a revolt of a short duration in the year of 1815. Kavalalı sent these
soldiers against the state of Func for the conquest of Sudan in 1821. In this way, Sudan was brought under the control of Egypt.
The Ottoman Empire, having difficulties in suppressing
the rebellion erupting in Mora, asked for help from Mehmed Ali Pasha. He was
promised the governorate of Mora and Crete in
the case he would be successful. The rebellion was suppressed. But when Mora
was left to Greece with the Treaty
of Edirne in 1829, Kavalalı asked for the governorate of Syria at that time.
The Ottoman Empire, afraid of the enlargement
policy of Mehmed Ali Pasha, rejected his request.
Upon that, Mehmed Ali Pasha moved to Palestine with his army and captured the Castle of Acre.
Even though the Ottoman government sent an army against Pasha, the Ottoman army
directed by Ağa Hüseyin Pasha was defeated by the Egyptian forces directed by
İbrahim Pasha, who was the son of Kavalalı. The Egyptian forces captured Aleppo, Damascus and Adana. They also defeated
the forces of the Grand Vizier Reşid Pasha in Konya and they moved till Kütahya. Upon that,
Mahmut II asked for the help of England
and France.
However, he couldn’t get what he expected upon the fact that France stood up for Mehmed Ali Pasha and that England didn’t
want to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman. This time, the
Ottoman was obliged to ask for the help of Russia. The Treaty of Hünkâr
İskelesi was signed with Russia
and the Russian armada came to Istanbul.
The Peace
Agreement of Kütahya (1833) was signed upon the interference of England and France, which were afraid of the
fact that Russians would take the possession of straits. According to the peace
agreement, the governorates of Egypt,
Syria and Crete were given
to Mehmed Ali Pasha and the governorate of Jeddah and Adana were given to his son İbrahim Pasha.
However, both sides were unpleasant with this agreement. Mahmud II wanted to
remove the governor of Egypt
and wanted to take back the lands he had lost. The Ottoman army and the army of
Kavalalı came face to face in Nizip. Since the Ottoman army was defeated again,
the European states, afraid of the reinforcement of Mehmed Ali Pasha, organized
a conference in London
in order to discuss this topic. In this while, Abdülmecid ascended the throne
after Mahmud II had deceased and Firari Ahmet Fevzi Pasha was assigned as the
grand vizier. Being afraid of the hostility of Koca Husrev Pasha,
the new grand vizier delivered the Ottoman armada to Mehmed Ali Pasha. In the
end, an agreement was made with the interference of Europeans, especially England. Abdülmecid
was leaving Egypt
to the lineage of Mehmed Ali Pasha according to the enact he gave in 1841. Syria, Crete and Adana
were given back to the Ottoman Empire according to the treaty signed in London. Even though
Kavalalı Mehmed Ali Pasha didn’t accept the treaty at the first place, he had
to accept it after the fact that England
and Austria had landed
troops to Beirut and that the English armada
bombarded the coasts of Lebanon.
Mehmed
Ali Pasha was old then. He came to Istanbul in
1845 and he kissed the foot of the young sultan Abdülmecit to show that he made
peace with the Ottoman Empire. He was greeted in
the Feriye Palace and the importance and care he
deserved was shown to him. In this time, he took permission and visited his
place of birth Kavala and he returned back to Egypt. Since he went senile two
years before his death, the governorate of Egypt was transferred to his son
İbrahim Pasha with the title of deputy. However, upon the fact that İbrahim Pasha
deceased unexpectedly before his father did, Abbas Pasha, who was the son of
his younger son Tosun Pasha, took the charge of his uncle. Mehmed Ali Pasha was
buried in his mausoleum in Cairo
after his death. His grandson Abbas Pasha (1848), who was officially assigned
as the governor instead of Mehmed Ali Pasha, had a bronze sculpture of his
grandfather built in Alexandria.
Kavalalı
Mehmed Ali Pasha improved the agriculture by means of the technics he applied
in Egypt, especially with
the channels he had formed from the Nile
River till Alexandria. Therefore, the income of Egypt
improved quickly in a short time. Mehmed Ali Pasha endeavored for creating an
orderly army on one hand and created factories of artillery, rifle and gun
powder on the other. He had shipyards and pools constructed for the new armada.
He sent some of the children and slaves of the local community to Europe and enabled them to take education in various
fields. He benefited from the experts and scientist, whom he brought from Europe, in the maximum way possible.
He
had the origins of a craftsman, not soldier, and he was someone who had a
forecast ability in this field. Within this context, Kaptan-ı Derya (the Commander of the Naval
Forces), Koca Hüsrev Pasha was in an expedition when the Janissary was
abolished. During this time, he liked the fez he saw on the head of Bedouins in
Tunisia
very much and he made his crew wear those on their heads. He came into presence
with this fez when he returned back to Istanbul.
The Sultan Mahmud II very liked the fez that he saw for the first time and he
made preparation for all the soldiers to wear fez. He founded a factory of fez
in the coast of the Golden Horn. However,
Mehmed Ali Pasha assayed to make a clothing reform in Egypt by the
beginnings of the 1820s and accepted the fez as a headdress. Mehmed Ali Pasha,
who had the origin of craftsmanship in him, made the factories of fez founded
before even declaring his opinion. After the preparations were finished, he put
a ban on the local headdresses of Fellahs and Mamelukes and he obliged the
wearing of fez. The governor of Egypt Mehmed Ali Pasha also founded the first
sugar mill in Egypt in the
year of 1830, namely one hundred year before Turkey, by virtue of his similar
forecast ability.