Muhammad Ali
His Rise and Internal Reforms
• Assess the impact of Muhammed Ali on Egypt in the first
half of the nineteenth century.
Essential Question
Mamluks and Egypt before
Muhammad Ali
• Ottomans control Egypt
• Ottomans use Mamluks as the local rulers to control Egypt
• Mamluks are a social class that had risen to control
• Political anarchy
 "We are all pillagers; you pillage, and [he] pillages, and I pillage too." (One
Mamluk to another, Jabarti)
• Economic activity
• Egypt begins to export raw materials to/import finished products from Europe
• Sufi ṭarīqas flourish
• ‘Ulamā’ flourish
• Mediate between rulers and people
• Considerable land in awqāf
Egypt before Muhammad Ali
• Originally from Balkan Region – ethnically Albanian, born in
Kavala – Near Greece
• Was promoted to military after serving as tax collector
• Served as Second Commander of the Kavala Regiment of the
Ottoman Empire under his Cousin.
His Background and Rise
• French invade Egypt in 1798
• Napoleon lands troops in Alexandria
• Begins a war against the Mamluks
• Disrupts balance of power in Egypt
• Ottomans land on Nile Delta in 1801 to repel the French
Reasons for Muhammad in Egypt
• Muhammad Ali worked with local tribes of Egyptians while
campaigning against French
• Napoleon left in 1801, French expelled by 1802
• Mamluks wounded by not vanquished
• Power struggle existed between Mamluks, Ottomans, and
Muhammad Ali’s Army
Success in Egypt
• Muhammad Ali allied with local leaders to gain support of the
public
• Albanians forced Ottoman governor out in 1803
• Islamic Scholars demanded the Ottoman government appoint
Muhammad Ali the Pasha - 1805
• This began Muhammad Ali’s seizure of power in Egypt
• Sultan Selim III was unable to oppose because of Muhammad
Ali’s popular support
Consolidation of Power
• After a temporary alliance with Mamluks to get rid of Ottomans,
• Ali was focused on removing the leaders of Mamluks, then their
followers
• Ali invited the leadership to a celebration of an Arabian invasion,
which they accepted in 1811
• His troops assassinated all the leaders
• After their demise, Muhammad Ali sent his troops through Egypt
to quash the rest of the Mamluks
End of the Mamluks
Assassination of the Mamluks
• Muhammad Ali recognized the demise of the Ottomans:
• “I am well aware that the (Ottoman) Empire is heading by the day
toward destruction…On its ruins I will build a vast kingdom… up to
the Euphrates and the Tigris’’
• Ali’s conquest of Mamluks and exile of former allies gave him
total control over reforming Egypt
• Prevented British invasion in _______________________________
• Establish a European style country be reforming all aspects of
society:
• ______________________________________________________
Ali’s Goals and Reforms
• Institutes high taxes on land owning elite
• Failure to pay would result in state control of farms
• ____________________________________
• 1813: sharing of common land (changed the state of the fellaheen in
Egypt)
• Muhammad Ali established a virtual monopoly on land
• ___________________________________
• Took control of new product – bought from producers
• Sold to European to manufacture - Bought back from Europeans
• Sold to public
• ________________________________________________,
which resulted in greater support of Muhammad Ali
Gaining Control and Agricultural Control
• Educational system was founded in 1821 – SEPARATE FROM
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
• Offered scholarships for students to go _________________________
• Used to create people he needed for military (Veterinarians, doctors,
engineers)
• Established Language schools ___________________________________
• Focused on Tertiary education first
• Ulema (Islamic Scholars) not prepared for “Western” subjects – math,
science, language
• To build a native Egyptian workforce and military, needed to
educate the secondary and primary students
• Took effort to educate all people in his country, especially girls
• Established many schools particularly in rural areas
Education Reforms
• Muhammad Ali was the viceroy/ pasha of Egypt from 18051848
• He wanted to create an independent, sovereign Egypt
politically and economically
• Divided Egypt into 10 provinces and collected taxes from
them
Politics
• Muhammad Ali desired a professional bureaucracy
• He reorganized the administrative structure of the
government
• Created a professional governmental organization
• Appointed sons to positions of power
• Worked to modernize Egypt
Political Reforms
• Religious leaders acted as intermediaries/ buffers between
the public and administration
• Intermediaries would take money or authority for services
• In times of crisis, intermediaries would usurp the central
government
• Guilds had tax-collecting elders
• Village shaikh was power booker, money lender, and
landlord
Social Structure
• Confiscated _______________________________
• 1808, he started confiscating private lands of individuals
and gave them pensions
• Landholders now collecting from _________________________
• Reform programs were aimed at creating a modern
Egyptian society
• European educations created social mobility for Egyptians
• Primary recipients were __________________________________
Social Reforms
• By reorganizing the administrative structure of the
government, Muhammad Ali guaranteed strict control of
the economy
• Created state monopolies over chief products - 1809
• ____________________________
• Encouraged overland transit of goods
________________________________________________
• Early 1820’s – this practice resumed
Economic Reforms
• He tried constructing a modern industrial system to process
raw materials
• 1809 – _______________________________
• Shipbuilding and construction in ___________________ in 1809
• 1815 - Factories weaving silk and cotton
• __________________________ used to manage factories
• Foreign infrastructure (machines) imported to promote
industrialization
• Created factories to manufacture military goods
• 1815 - _________________________________ begin production
in Cairo
Industrial Reforms
• Monopolized all industry
•
•
•
•
Forced __________________________ on foreign imports
Merchants worked for government or went broke
_____________________ trained to work in factories
1825 – Total exports valued at ~$10.6 million
• Imports only ~$5 million
• 1819 Started building a new canal, called Mahmudiya
• This made travel safer and trading more efficient
• Between _______________________________
• Named after Sultan Mahmut II
Industrial Reforms Cont’d
• Military campaigns forced need for more troops
• Needed troops loyal only to Muhammad Ali and his sons
• 1820 – _____________ – Peasants mandated to unpaid work
and military conscription
• Used to complete canals, provide troops for Sudan and Greece
• _____________________specifically during late 1820’s
following losses in Greece
• French were used to train and modernize Egyptian Army
• Also assisting in modernization of industry
• Military leaders training in Europe since _________________
Military Reforms
• Establishment of Training grounds throughout Egypt following
Arabian Campaign
• ________________________________ led Aswan camp
• Patterned after French Army
• Bought and built artillery
• Built ________________________________ schools to train
troops
• 1826 - ______________________________to train military
and government officials
• French regulations translated into _______________
Military Reforms
• Muhammad Ali was unable to sever ties with Ottoman
Sultanate
• ________________________________________due to Egypt’s
lack of power sources and a skilled working class
• Agricultural sector declined due to
_____________________________ and ____________________
• _____________________________increased because of
military campaigns
Failure of Reforms
ESTABLISHING CONTROL OVER
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
• _______________________in 1808 – Muhammad Ali fends them off
• ________________________to prevent the Wahhabi Rebellion – 1811
•
•
•
•
Celebration was the end of Mamluk Leaders in Egypt
Tusun, at the time eldest son of Muhammad Ali, led the invasion.
Controlled _______________________________
By 1813, was planning to take Diriyah – the capital of the Wahhabi
rebellion - 1815 – a treaty is signed with Ibn Saud’s son Abdullah I
• 1816 – Muhammad Ali ____________________________to finish the
campaign
• Long and arduous marches – Diriyah Captured by 1818
• Muhammad Ali controlled ________________________, and had
designs to complete his empire.
Muhammad Ali Controls the
Middle East
• 1820 – Muhammad Ali decides to conquer __________________
• February 1820 – captured Siwa in the _______________________
• July 1820 – Ismail (youngest son) leads troops south
•
•
•
•
•
Ismail meets with quick progress
Muhammad Ali also dispatches _________________________
____________________________ by a Sudanese King in 1822
Mohammad Bey leads the rest the expedition
By 1825, Controls most of ______________________and
_____________ through the Sudan down to Massawa on the Red
Sea
Muhammad Ali Controls
Libya and Sudan
EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION IN
GREECE
• Greek Rebellion – Asked by Sultan in intervene
• ___________________________ by 1824
• ___________________________(already controls the Hejaz)
• In return for his participation in _________________________
• Invades Pelopon
nesus in 1825 – controls ________________
• Battle of ________________- 1827
• Rejection of the Treaty of London led to Naval Battle
• Muhammad Ali’s navy _____________________
• British ships appear off __________________ and “convince”
Muhammad Ali to withdraw troops from Greece
• French landed troops in 1828 – ______________________________
Muhammad Ali Sends his
troops to Greece