Ibrahim Pasha (Arabic: إبراهيم باشا Ibrāhīm Bāshā; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was a distinguished Egyptian general and politician. He held the position of commander for both the Egyptian and Ottoman armies and was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, who served as the Ottoman Wāli and the unrecognized Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. Ibrahim began his military career in the Egyptian army, which was established by his father during his reign, and undertook his first command during his adolescence. In the final year of his life, he was appointed Regent for his father, who was incapacitated due to ill health, and effectively assumed control over Egypt and Sudan. His governance extended to other territories that his father had brought under Egyptian administration, including Syria, Hejaz, Morea, Thasos, and Crete. Ibrahim passed away on 10 November 1848, only four months after assuming power, and was succeeded as Regent by his nephew Abbas, the son of Muhammad Ali's second eldest son, who subsequently inherited the Egyptian throne upon Muhammad Ali's death the following year.
Background
Ibrahim is regarded as one of the most esteemed members of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, particularly noted for his significant military achievements, which included decisive victories against the Ottoman Empire. Among Egyptian historians, Ibrahim, along with his father Muhammad Ali and his son Isma'il the Magnificent, is held in considerably higher regard compared to other rulers of the dynasty, who are often perceived as indolent and corrupt. This favourable portrayal is largely attributed to the efforts of his grandson, Fuad I of Egypt, who established the Royal Archives in the 1920s, which served as a principal source of Egyptian historical narrative until the 1970s. A statue commemorating Ibrahim occupies a prominent location in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
His mother, Amina Hanim (1770-1824), was the widow of Ottoman official Serezli Ali Bey and the daughter of Ottoman Major Ali Aga of Nusratli. Ibrahim was her first-born son with Muhammad Ali of Egypt (her first daughter was Princess Tawhida). Notably, he was born in the village of Nusratli (presently Nikiforos), located near the town of Drama in the Ottoman province of Rumelia, which corresponds to the eastern regions of present-day Macedonia in Greece.
In 1805, during his father’s efforts to consolidate power as ruler of Egypt, the young Ibrahim, at the age of 16, was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Kapudan Pasha. However, he was permitted to return to Egypt once his father was recognized as Wāli of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan and after successfully repelling a British military expedition led by Major General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser.
When Muhammad Ali travelled to Arabia to engage in warfare against the Al Saud in 1813, Ibrahim was entrusted with command over Upper Egypt. He continued the campaign against the weakened Mamelukes, effectively suppressing their influence. In 1816, he succeeded his brother Tusun Pasha as the commander of Egyptian forces in Arabia.
Ottoman–Saudi War
Muhammad Ali had commenced the implementation of European military discipline within his army, and Ibrahim likely received some military training. Nevertheless, his initial campaign was conducted predominantly in the traditional Asiatic manner, unlike his subsequent operations. This campaign spanned two years and culminated in the dissolution of the House of Saud as a political entity. Muhammad Ali landed at Yanbu, the port of Medina, in 1813, recovering the holy cities from the Saudis. Ibrahim's objective was to pursue them into the Nejd desert and eliminate their strongholds. The training received by the Egyptian troops and their artillery equipped them with a considerable advantage in open-field engagements. However, the challenges of traversing the desert to reach the Saudi stronghold of Diriyah, located approximately 400 miles east of Medina, rendered the conquest particularly arduous. Ibrahim demonstrated substantial energy and perseverance, sharing the hardships endured by his troops and remaining resolute in the face of setbacks. By the end of September 1818, he compelled the Saudi leader Abdullah bin Saud to surrender and capture Diriyah, which he subsequently sacked.
Operations in the Morea
On 11 December 1819, Ibrahim Pasha made a notable entry into Cairo. Following his return, he provided substantial support to Colonel Sève (Suleiman Pasha), a French military officer assigned to train the Egyptian army in European military practices. Demonstrating commitment to this endeavour, Ibrahim volunteered to undergo training as a recruit. In 1824, Muhammad Ali was appointed governor of the Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece) by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II. The Sultan sought the assistance of the well-trained Egyptian army to suppress the Greek Revolution, which had proven challenging for his forces. Notably, in 1822, the Greeks achieved a decisive victory over an Ottoman army of approximately 30,000 men commanded by Sultanzade Mahmud Dramali Pasha.
Ibrahim was dispatched to the Peloponnese with a force of 17,000 men. The expedition commenced on 4 July 1824; however, for several months, it was unable to advance beyond the islands of Rhodes and Crete due to the threat posed by Greek fireships. Following a mutiny among the Greek sailors due to lack of pay, Ibrahim successfully landed at Modon on 26 February 1825 and remained in the Morea until his capitulation on 1 October 1828, necessitated by the intervention of Western powers.
Ibrahim achieved victories against the Greeks in open engagements. Despite a costly siege of Missolonghi, which inflicted heavy losses on both his troops and the Ottoman forces allied with him, he ultimately secured its capture on 24 April 1826. Nevertheless, he faced three consecutive defeats in the region of Mani. Greek guerrilla forces harassed his army, prompting Ibrahim to retaliate by devastating the landscape and enslaving thousands of inhabitants, actions that provoked widespread condemnation in Europe and garnered intervention from naval forces of the United Kingdom, the restored Kingdom of France, and Russia during the Battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827. This defeat was succeeded by the landing of a French expeditionary force as part of the Morea expedition. Following the terms of the capitulation on 1 October 1828, Ibrahim withdrew from the region.
Campaigns in Syria
In 1831, following escalating tensions between his father and the Porte, Ibrahim was tasked with the conquest of Ottoman Syria. He successfully captured Acre after a protracted siege on 27 May 1832, occupied Damascus, defeated an Ottoman army at Homs on 8 July, triumphed over another Ottoman force at Beilan on 29 July, invaded Asia Minor, and ultimately routed Grand Vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha at Konya on 21 December. In Syria, he encountered the mystic Umar Tal, who, according to reports, healed Ibrahim's son from a fatal fever. Inspired by Ibrahim, Umar Tal later became the leader of the Toucouleur in present-day Guinea, Senegal, and Mali.
The Convention of Kütahya, signed on 6 May, temporarily placed Syria under Muhammad Ali's control. Ibrahim benefitted from the expertise of Colonel Sève and various European officers within his ranks. Despite his potential for effective governance in Syria, the burdens imposed by his father's policies led to a decline in his popularity and incited revolts. From 1834 to 1837, he was supported by the French officer Beaufort d'Hautpoul, who served as his Chief of Staff.
During the 1834 peasant uprising in Palestine, Ibrahim Pasha besieged the Transjordanian city of Al-Karak for 17 days in pursuit of the rebellion’s leader, Qasim al-Ahmad. Following the breach of the city walls in late August, Al-Karak was devastated, and its surrounding orchards were razed as punitive measures against the inhabitants for their support of Qasim. In fear of further reprisals from Ibrahim Pasha, the rebel leaders surrendered to the Egyptian forces.
In 1838, as the Porte regained confidence, hostilities resumed. Ibrahim secured his final victory for his father at Nezib on 24 June 1839; however, the United Kingdom and the Austrian Empire intervened to maintain the Ottoman Empire's integrity. Their naval squadrons severed his communication lines with Egypt, and a widespread revolt isolated him in Syria, ultimately compelling his evacuation of the region in February 1841.
The Karakis sought retribution against Ibrahim Pasha, resulting in his and his Egyptian army's expulsion from Damascus six years later. In 1841, as the Pasha and his troops traversed the Hajj road from Damascus, they were subjected to incessant attacks from Qatraneh to Gaza. This resulted in significant losses, diminishing his forces, ammunition, and supplies by the time Ibrahim Pasha reached Gaza.