Muhammad Ali of Egypt: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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[[File:Kavala, Greece Mohammed Ali House 76.jpg|thumb|left|Muhammad Ali's birthplace in [[Kavala]], now in northeastern Greece.]]

Muhammad Ali was born in the [[Sanjak of Kavala]] (modern-day [[Kavala]]), in the [[Rumelia Eyalet]], to an [[Albanians|Albanian]] family from [[Korçë|Korça]] region. Some historians argue that his family migrated to [[Kavala]] from [[Konya]].<ref>{{cite web |title=In a document written by İbrâhim Pasha, it is clearly stated that Mehmed Ali's father İbrâhim Ağa and grandfather Osman Ağa migrated from Konya to Kavala due to a blood feud. |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kavalali-mehmed-ali-pasa |accessdate=October 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=KAVALALI MEHMED ALİ PAŞA ERZİNCANLI MI? |url=http://www.dogugazetesi.com/kavalali-mehmed-ali-pasa-erzincanli-mi-2-makale,1060.html |accessdate=October 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Al-Daghim |first=Muhammad |title=Muhammad Ali, an ottoman preview |pages=353 |language=Ar |quote=There is no doubt that the personality of Muhammad Ali Pasha is surrounded by mystery, as is the case with the rest of the Batiniyyin. His family, whose lineage is unknown, migrated from Konya in Anatolia to Kavala.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mursi |first=Ismail |url=https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=hyqUEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5&dq=%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF+%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A+%D9%82%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7+%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3hPKE0-iHAxUcefEDHfsRNQwQ6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q=%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%20%D9%82%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%20%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7&f=false |title=History of Egypt in the Era of Muhammad Ali |pages=5 |language=Ar |quote=Muhammad Ali son of the Turkish Ibrahim Agha Ibn Ali Agha; one of the Ottoman officers; from a Turkish family; came from Konya and settled in Macedonia.}}</ref> He was the second son of a [[Bektashi Order|Bektashi]] [[Albanians|Albanian]] tobacco and shipping merchant named Ibrahim Agha, who also served as an Ottoman commander of a small unit in their hometown.<ref name="Aksan">{{cite book |last=Aksan |first=Virginia |author-link=Virginia H. Aksan |title=Ottoman Wars, 1700–1860: An Empire Besieged |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |pages=306–307 |isbn=978-0-582-30807-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UaesAgAAQBAJ |quote=Born in the late 1760s, at Kavala in Macedonia, Mehmed Ali was the son of an Albanian Ottoman soldier.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kia |first1=Mehrdad |title=The Ottoman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |date=2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-389-9 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgUmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |language=en |quote=His father... was the commander of a small army unit that served the governor of Kavala}}</ref><ref name="Elsie2012">{{Cite book |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History |author=Robert Elsie |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-78076-431-3 |page=303 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgf6GWJxuZgC&pg=PA303}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kiel |first=Machiel |author-link=Machiel Kiel |title=Ottoman Architecture in Albania, 1385–1912 |volume=5 |series=Islamic art series |publisher=Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture |year=1990 |isbn=978-92-9063-330-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xYzAAAAIAAJ |page=163 |quote=The father of the famous viceroy of Egypt, Muhammed Ali, was a citizen of Korçë.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Katsikas |first=Stefanos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c30_EAAAQBAJ |title=Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821–1940 |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=193 |isbn=978-0-19-065200-5 |language=en}}</ref> His mother was Zeynep, the daughter of Çorbaci Husain Agha, another Muslim Albanian [[Ottoman Ayan|notable]] in Kavala.<ref name="Stanton2012">{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Andrea |title=Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-4129-8176-7 |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtCL2OYsH6wC&pg=PA165}}</ref> When his father died at a young age, Muhammad was taken and raised by his uncle Husain Agha with his cousins.<ref name="Stanton2012" /> As a reward for Muhammad Ali's hard work, his uncle gave him the rank of "[[Bolukbashi]]" for the collection of taxes in the town of Kavala.<ref name="Elsie2012" /> Muhammad Ali later [[cousin marriage|married his cousin]] [[Amina Hanim]], a wealthy widow. She was the daughter of Ali Agha and Kadriye (Zeynep's sister).▼

Muhammad Ali was born in the [[Sanjak of Kavala]] (modern-day [[Kavala]]), in the [[Rumelia Eyalet]], to an [[Albanians|Albanian]] family from [[Korçë|Korça]] region.

▲He was the second son of a [[Bektashi Order|Bektashi]] [[Albanians|Albanian]] tobacco and shipping merchant named Ibrahim Agha, who also served as an Ottoman commander of a small unit in their hometown.<ref name="Aksan">{{cite book |last=Aksan |first=Virginia |author-link=Virginia H. Aksan |title=Ottoman Wars, 1700–1860: An Empire Besieged |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |pages=306–307 |isbn=978-0-582-30807-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UaesAgAAQBAJ |quote=Born in the late 1760s, at Kavala in Macedonia, Mehmed Ali was the son of an Albanian Ottoman soldier.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kia |first1=Mehrdad |title=The Ottoman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |date=2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-389-9 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgUmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |language=en |quote=His father... was the commander of a small army unit that served the governor of Kavala}}</ref><ref name="Elsie2012">{{Cite book |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History |author=Robert Elsie |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-78076-431-3 |page=303 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgf6GWJxuZgC&pg=PA303}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kiel |first=Machiel |author-link=Machiel Kiel |title=Ottoman Architecture in Albania, 1385–1912 |volume=5 |series=Islamic art series |publisher=Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture |year=1990 |isbn=978-92-9063-330-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xYzAAAAIAAJ |page=163 |quote=The father of the famous viceroy of Egypt, Muhammed Ali, was a citizen of Korçë.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Katsikas |first=Stefanos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c30_EAAAQBAJ |title=Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821–1940 |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=193 |isbn=978-0-19-065200-5 |language=en}}</ref> His mother was Zeynep, the daughter of Çorbaci Husain Agha, another Muslim Albanian [[Ottoman Ayan|notable]] in Kavala.<ref name="Stanton2012">{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Andrea |title=Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-4129-8176-7 |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtCL2OYsH6wC&pg=PA165}}</ref> When his father died at a young age, Muhammad was taken and raised by his uncle Husain Agha with his cousins.<ref name="Stanton2012" /> As a reward for Muhammad Ali's hard work, his uncle gave him the rank of "[[Bolukbashi]]" for the collection of taxes in the town of Kavala.<ref name="Elsie2012" /> Muhammad Ali later [[cousin marriage|married his cousin]] [[Amina Hanim]], a wealthy widow. She was the daughter of Ali Agha and Kadriye (Zeynep's sister).

After Muhammad's promising success in collecting taxes, he earned the rank of Second Commander under his cousin Sarechesme Halil Agha in the Kavala Volunteer Contingent of [[Albanians|Albanian]] mercenaries that was sent to re-occupy Egypt following General Napoleon Bonaparte's withdrawal.<ref name="Elsie2012" /> In 1801, his unit was sent, as part of a much larger Ottoman force, to re-occupy [[Egypt Eyalet|Egypt]] following a brief [[Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt|French occupation]] that upended Mamluk dominance in Egypt. The expedition, aboard [[xebecs]], landed at [[Aboukir]] in the spring of 1801.<ref>Cleveland, William L, ''A History of the Modern Middle East'', (Boulder: Westview Press, 2009), 65–66</ref> One of his trusted army commanders was Miralay Mustafa Bey, who had married Muhammad's sister Zubayda and was the ancestor of the Yeghen family.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mahmud Sami al-Barudi: Reconfiguring Society and the Self |author=Terri DeYoung |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8156-5315-8 |page=161}}</ref>