The Mamluk ascendancy has been fatally weakened.…
May 1803 CE
The Mamluk ascendancy has been fatally weakened.
Murad Bey, who had made his peace with the French, died shortly before their capitulation in 1801; and Ibrahim Bey, who returns to Egypt with the Ottomans, has henceforward little power.
The new Mamluk leaders, 'Uthman Bey al-Bardisi and Muhammad Bey al-Alfi, former retainers of Murad, head rival factions and have in any case to reckon with the British and Ottoman occupation forces.
In March 1803, the British are evacuated in accordance with the Peace of Amiens.
However, the Ottomans, determined to reassert their control over Egypt, remain, establishing their power through a viceroy and an occupying army, in which the most effective fighting force is an Albanian contingent.
The Albanians, however, act as an independent party and in May 1803 mutiny and install their own leader as acting viceroy.
When he is assassinated shortly afterward, the command of the Albanians passes to his lieutenant, Muhammad 'Ali, who, during the ensuing two years, will cautiously strengthen his position at the expense of both the Mamluks and the Ottomans.
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