Mehmed Ali ousted Husrev Pasha from Egypt and became vali himself

Evidence

Their story together starts in 1801 when they independently joined an Ottoman naval force that the Sultan dispatched to Egypt to help British troops evict Napoleon’s Armée d’Orient from the wealthy province. The force was headed by Küçük Hüseyin Pasha, a close friend of Sultan Selim who was appointed as Grand Admiral in 1792 and who was a strong supporter of naval reform. Since Husrev was himself a protégé of the Grand Admiral, he was appointed as his lieutenant and joined him on his expedition to Egypt. For his part, Mehmed Ali was appointed as second-in-command of a force of 300 troops of Albanian origin that was headed by a certain Tahir Pasha. After the British had managed to evict the French from Egypt, it was natural for Istanbul to appoint the most senior Ottoman official in the campaign as governor of Egypt in recognition of his efforts in collaborating with the British in their military activities. Since both the Grand Vizier and the Grand Admiral had earlier left for Istanbul, Husrev was the Sultan’s best choice and he was soon appointed as vali of Egypt. In that way Husrev found himself with a wealthy province to rule in the name of the Sultan and he began to try out his ideas of military reform. He did not have much time to do so, however; soon after he was confirmed as vali the Albanian troops under Tahir revolted and forced him to flee for his life to Damietta. Tahir himself was then assassinated, apparently at the hand of some of Mehmed Ali’s men, and in time Mehmed Ali turned against Husrev, took him prisoner and eventually had him deported from Egypt. Two years later Mehmed Ali was himself confirmed as vali of the prized province. Thus, through trickery and deception Mehmed Ali managed to deny Husrev his precious prize and instead snatched it for himself. Their deep-seated mutual hostility can be said to have started from that early time and it continued throughout their long lives. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1554

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s goal of understanding Mehmed Ali’s rise and the birth of the Egyptian army — the Albanian troops under Tahir who revolted are the seed of that army.