Ibrahim Pasha

(1789–1848)

   The eldest son of Mehmet Ali Pasha of Egypt and an Egyptian general, Ibrahim Pasha conducted largely successful campaigns against the Wahhabis in Arabia between 1816 and 1819. He fought against the Greeks, but the European coalition defeated him in Navarino, and he was forced to withdraw from the country. Ibrahim conquered Palestine and Syria in 1832–1833. His attempts to apply to Syria and Palestine the reforms that his father had introduced in Egypt caused a series of disorders. In 1839, Ibrahim fought again against the Ottomans, but European intervention on behalf of the Ottoman Empire compelled Ibrahim to evacuate back to Egypt. In 1848, he was regent of Egypt during his father’s insanity.

   FURTHER READING:

    Goldschmidt, Arthur, Jr. Modern Egypt: The Formation of A Nation-State, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988;

    Karsh, Efraim, and Inari Karsh. Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East 1789–1923, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.

   MOSHE TERDMAN