Ottoman countermeasures against Egypt escalated from diplomacy to excommunication edict

Evidence

Alarmed at the spectacular success of the advance of Ibrahim’s army into Syria, the Sultan sent a special emissary to Alexandria in an attempt to persuade Mehmed Ali to pull back his forces and to warn him that if he did not comply, then a huge army of newly trained nizami troops would be assembled against his son’s forces. When it became clear that the Egyptian Pasha had no intention of pulling back his forces, the Porte ordered the Syrian valis to raise men and send them to Aleppo in preparation for fighting Ibrahim’s troops. Mehmed Pasha, deputy of the vali of Aleppo, was given the title of Serasker (Commander-in-Chief) of Syria and Arabia and was entrusted with heading this force that it was hoped would stop the advance of the Egyptian army. Furthermore, on 3 March 1832 the annual tevcihat (imperial appointments to the posts of provincial governors) were announced leaving the positions of the governors of the eyalets of Egypt, Jedda and Crete vacant until Mehmed Ali and Ibrahim should respond positively to the Porte’s request to withdraw. When this failed, a fetva (religious edict) was issued, in effect, excommunicating both Mehmed Ali and Ibrahim Pasha and appointing in their respective pashalɩks Hüseyin Pasha, the destroyer of the Janissaries, who was then Governor of Edirne. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 244

Categorization

• XREF: Nizami troops referenced here tie to the reader’s stated interest in the modern Egyptian army’s origins and rival Ottoman nizami forces.
• DEFINE: Defines tevcihat and Serasker, key Ottoman administrative and military terms.