Muhammad Ali (viceroy)

Muhammad Ali (viceroy), also Mehemet Ali (1769-1849), Ottoman viceroy of Egypt (1805-1849), who reformed the country along modern lines and founded a dynasty that ruled it until the mid-20th century.

Muhammad Ali was probably born in Kavála (now in Greece) of Albanian parentage. From 1799 to 1801 he fought in several battles in Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire, against the invading Napoleonic armies. In 1805 he was appointed viceroy of Egypt, with the title of pasha. He defeated an invading British army in 1807; four years later he ensured his supremacy in Egypt by massacring the Mamluks, a military group that had conspired to usurp his power. He modernized Egypt's governmental administration and military forces and in 1811 launched a war against the Wahhabis of Arabia; the war was won in 1818 by his son, Ibrahim Pasha. From 1820 to 1822 Muhammad Ali was engaged in the conquest of the Sudan, and shortly thereafter, in 1823, he founded the city of Khartoum. In 1824 the Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II, called on him for aid in the war against the Greek rebels. His successes in the ensuing campaigns prompted the sultan to award him the island of Crete (Kríti).

Britain, France, and Russia found it necessary to protect their interests in the Mediterranean by shattering Ibrahim Pasha's fleet at Navarino (now Pílos), on the west Peloponnesian coast of Greece, thereby preventing Muhammad Ali from pressing his victories over the Greeks. In 1831 Muhammad Ali invaded Syria after Mahmud refused to make him governor there. His victory in this war resulted in the extension of his dominions to the Persian Gulf. In 1839 war again broke out with the sultan; Muhammad Ali was again victorious, but as before was deprived of the fruits of victory by the European powers. He was, however, given the right to pass his power to his descendants, who ruled Egypt until the overthrow of King Faruk I in 1952. Muhammad Ali died in Alexandria on August 2, 1849.