Muhammad Ali of Egypt

Muhammad Ali (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848. He is known as the founder of modern Egypt.

He was born in a village in Albania and moved to Kavala when he was young. He became a military commander and was sent to Egypt to help remove the French occupation after Napoleon left. Through clever politics, he became the governor of Egypt in 1805.

As governor, Muhammad Ali worked to modernize Egypt. He made changes in the military, economy, and culture. He also removed the power of the Mamluks, a group that had controlled Egypt before him. His rule turned Cairo into a major center of a large empire that included places like Sudan, Hejaz, and parts of Greece.

Muhammad Ali fought in many wars. He helped the Ottoman sultan by taking back Arabian lands and tried to conquer Syria. Although he had some successes, European powers sometimes stopped his plans. In the end, his family was allowed to rule Egypt for many years, until the revolution of 1952 led to a new government.

Early life

Muhammad Ali was born in a village in Albania in the Ottoman Empire. When he was young, he moved with his family to a place called Kavala. His father worked as a merchant and also served in the Ottoman forces. After his father died, Muhammad was raised by his uncle. His uncle gave him a job collecting taxes in Kavala as a reward for his hard work.

Later, Muhammad married his cousin, Amina Hanim, who was a wealthy widow. He then joined an army unit of Albanian mercenaries sent to Egypt. This happened after French forces left Egypt. The group landed at Aboukir in 1801 as part of an effort to take back the country.

Rise to power

Main article: Muhammad Ali's seizure of power

When French forces left Egypt, there was a fight for power. Muhammad Ali used his loyal troops to get support from different groups and the local people. In 1805, leaders of Egypt asked the Ottoman rulers to let Muhammad Ali become the governor, and they agreed.

Muhammad Ali wanted to control all of Egypt. He dealt with the Mamluks, who had ruled for many years, by inviting their leaders to a celebration. When they arrived, his troops removed them. Later, his army went through Egypt to make sure he was in control. Muhammad Ali dreamed of building a large kingdom and saw Egypt as a successor to the Ottoman Empire.

Building the Egyptian state

Sultan Selim III wanted to update the Ottoman military to match European styles, but he faced strong opposition and was removed from power.

Muhammad Ali wanted to make Egypt independent from the Ottoman Empire and rule it with his own family. To do this, he needed to change society, improve the economy, train skilled workers, and create a modern army.

He started by taking control of Egypt’s land and resources. He raised taxes on land owners, and when they couldn’t pay, he took their land. He also took money meant for schools and charities to fund his new military and weaken his opponents. He made all producers sell their goods to the state, which then sold them for profit. This brought wealth to Egypt, especially by growing long staple cotton, a new type of cash crop. He also improved farming by expanding fields and updating irrigation, though this work was done by forcing peasants to labor.

Muhammad Ali also built factories to make weapons like muskets and cannons, and built a navy with a shipyard in Alexandria. He tried to build a textile industry to compete with European companies, which employed many people even if it wasn’t very successful. He brought in European experts to help train Egyptians and set up schools and hospitals. He sent young Egyptians to Europe to study and learn new skills, especially languages like French, to help build a strong army and government.

Law under Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali wanted to change the laws to help him rule when he was not around. In 1829, he made his first big change to the criminal laws. He wanted to create a strong and safe country where everyone, including Christians, felt protected. This helped him gain support from Europe. He also set up a police force in cities like Cairo and Alexandria to keep order and solve crimes. He made the courts more modern by using new kinds of evidence, like reports from doctors, instead of just following old rules.

Hakimas and the school of medicine for women

In 1832, Muhammad Ali let Antoine Clot, called "Clot Bey" in Egypt, start a School of Medicine for women. Clot Bey came to Egypt in 1827 to help create a medical school. This new school taught women, called hakimas, to care for other women and children.

The school taught students to read in Arabic and learn health skills, like helping with births and caring for new mothers. The government gave the students housing, food, clothes, and money. After training, hakimas worked in hospitals or health centers. They helped reduce diseases by giving children vaccinations. It was hard to get enough students because many people did not support educating women at that time. The first students were often young girls who did not have families.

Role in the Arabic literary renaissance

In the 1820s, Muhammad Ali sent Egyptian students to Europe. This helped start a new period in Arabic literature called the Nahda.

Muhammad Ali created schools to improve industry and the military. He wanted French books translated into Arabic. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi led these translations. His government started the first printing press in the Arab World, called the Bulaq Press. This press printed important government news.

Muhammad Ali loved collecting and breeding Arabian horses. He noticed the special qualities of horses raised by the Bedouin, especially from the Anazeh in Syria and the Nejd. Later, his grandson Abbas I continued this work.

Military campaigns

Muhammad Ali wanted to build a strong army and create his own empire. He first fought for the Ottoman Sultan in Arabia and Greece but later fought against the Ottoman Empire. He used new strategies to make his army strong, like giving soldiers strict rules.

Arabian campaign

Muhammad Ali’s first campaign was in the Arabian Peninsula. The holy cities of Mecca and Medina had been taken by the House of Saud. With the main Ottoman army busy in Europe, Muhammad Ali sent his son Tusun to recapture these areas in 1811. Though the first attack failed, a second attack in 1812 succeeded. Later, his son Ibrahim defeated the Saudis.

Conquest of Sudan

Next, Muhammad Ali turned to Sudan, wanting its resources and land. In 1820, he sent an army led by his son Ismail into Sudan. Though they faced resistance, the Egyptian forces won and took control of the region.

Greek rebellion

While Muhammad Ali expanded into Africa, there was a rebellion in the Greek parts of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman army struggled, so the Sultan offered Muhammad Ali the island of Crete if he helped. Muhammad Ali sent troops to Greece, but they faced strong opposition from European powers who supported Greek independence. A big battle at Navarino in 1827 ended with the destruction of Muhammad Ali’s navy, forcing him to withdraw from Greece.

War against the sultan

Muhammad Ali then asked the Ottoman Sultan for control of Syria. When the Sultan refused, Muhammad Ali attacked. His forces quickly took most of Syria, including the city of Acre after a long siege. They then moved toward the Ottoman capital. However, European powers worried about the stability of the Ottoman Empire intervened. Eventually, Muhammad Ali agreed to withdraw from most of his conquests but kept control of Egypt and Sudan.

Final years

After 1843, Muhammad Ali began to think in confusing ways and felt many worries. This may have been because he was very old or because of a medicine called silver nitrate he had used long before.

In 1844, officials told Muhammad Ali that Egypt owed a lot of money—80 million francs. He became very angry, and it took six days to calm him down, even with help from his favorite daughter.

In 1846, Muhammad Ali traveled to meet the leader of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan, in Constantinople. He worried about what would happen to his family after he died and wanted them to continue leading Egypt.

Finally, Muhammad Ali grew too weak and confused to rule any longer. He died at Ras el-Tin Palace in Alexandria on 2 August 1849 and was buried in a mosque in the Cairo Citadel he had built.

Legacy

Muhammad Ali is called the "Father of Modern Egypt" because he was the first ruler to make Egypt stronger and more independent. He worked to build a modern country. He created an army, a government system, schools, and new ways to grow money like farming cotton and making goods for the military. His family ruled Egypt and Sudan for almost 150 years.

Some people think Muhammad Ali was not a true Egyptian leader because he came from Albania and used Ottoman Turkish in his court. But most Egyptian and Arab historians see him as an important leader who helped build modern Egypt.

How people think about Muhammad Ali was shaped by debates in the 20th century. In the 1930s, Fuad I of Egypt collected documents showing Muhammad Ali as a kind ruler. Later, Nasser and his government also called Muhammad Ali a leader but said he cared more about himself and his family than the people of Egypt.