Ismāʿīl Bey ( 1735? - March 1791), also known as ''Ismail Bey al-Kabir'' ("the Great") was a

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

emir and regent of

Ottoman Egypt The Eyalet of Egypt (, ) operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17) and the ...

Biography

Ismail was of Georgian origin, and became a Mamluk of the Emir Ali Bey al-Kabir in Egypt. During the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

Ali Bey used the opportunity to declare Egypt's independence from the

Ottoman empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. On Ali's behalf Ismail Bey suppressed a pro-Ottoman revolt in Lower Egypt (1768). Acting on Ali's orders he also invaded Hidjaz and subdued all of its ports and coastal towns north of Djidda (1770). When Ali Bey's most trusted general (and brother-in-law) Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab betrayed him and marched against Cairo, Ismail Bey was sent out to intercept him but was forced to surrender and to submit (1772). After Abu Dhahab's death (1775) Ismail Bey rallied the remaining mamluks of Ali Bey but failed to prevent Abu Dhahabs comrades

Ibrahim Bey Ibrahim Bey or İbrahim Bey may refer to: * Bedreddin I. İbrahim Bey (ruled 1312–1333 and 1348–1349), bey of Karaman * Tacettin Ibrahim Bey (ruled 1443–1461), Isfendiyarid prince * İbrahim II of Karaman aka Damad II (?–1464), bey of Kar ...

and Murad Bey from succeeding him. Murad tried to poison him, however, Ismail and the Ali-Bey-faction (''Alawiyya'') managed to expel the Abu-Dhahab-faction (''Muhammadiyya'') from Cairo to Upper Egypt (1777). A few months later several Alawiyya-emirs changed sides. Ibrahim and Murad came back and forced Ismail to flee (1778). File:Ali Bey al-kabir.jpg, Mentor: Ali Bey File:Any Mameluke Emir portrait.jpg, Rival: Abu Dhahab File:Mourad Bei.jpg, Enemy: Murad Bey File:Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Paşa büstü.JPG, Ally: Hasan Pasha Following the intervention of the Ottoman admiral

Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha or Hasan Pasha of Algiers (1713 – 19 March 1790) was an Ottoman Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) (1770–90), Grand Vizier (1790), and general in the late 18th century. Primary life He is known to have been brought ...

in 1786 Ismail Bey returned to Egypt and was installed as

Shaykh al-Balad Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

(civil governor and de facto ruler) while Ibrahim and Murad escaped to Upper Egypt again. Due to another Russo-Turkish War the Ottoman Empire withdrew the Turkish troops the next year. Ismail Bey asked the French consul whether France could send military instructors and training units. However, the French revolution made this impossible. Ismail Bey and almost the whole of his faction was wiped out because of the plague. After the Ismailiyya-regime collapsed, Ibrahim and Murad returned and took over the power again. Murad decided to reside in Ismail's palace.

References

Literature

*ʿAbdarraḥmān al-Ǧabartī, Arnold Hottinger (translator): ''Bonaparte in Ägypten - Aus den Chroniken von ʿAbdarraḥmān al-Ǧabartī'', pages 58–71. Piper, Munich 1989 * Robin Leonard Bidwell: ''Dictionary of Modern Arab History'', pages 205 und 286f. London/New York 1998 *M. W. Daly, Carl F. Petry: ''The Cambridge History of Egypt'', Volume 2, pages 79–85. Cambridge 1998

External links

*Sauveur Lusignan:
A history of the Revolution of Ali Bey against the Ottoman Porte
'. London 1783 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail Bey 1735 births 1791 deaths 18th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt Egyptian nobility Political people from the Ottoman Empire Slaves from the Ottoman Empire Mamluks Ottoman governors of Egypt Georgians from the Ottoman Empire Muslims from Georgia (country) 18th-century deaths from plague (disease) 18th-century slaves