No sooner was he secured
in his new office than he set out to destroy the power of the Mamaliyk.
In August 1805, his agents led a large number of them into a prepared
ambush, where they were all shot down or taken prisoners and executed.
The news of this ambush was conveyed to England; and since the French
were still as hostile to the Mamaliyk as they had been during
Bonaparte's
invasion, the English all the more heartily espoused their cause.
Muhammad `Aliy, calling to mind the wonderful tales of
France
told to him by Monsieur Léon at Qawalah
now began
seriously to enter into that close friendship with the French people which
lasted, with some lapses, throughout his life; but as he was at this time
once more the dutiful ally of the Sultan, it followed that
France
now supported Turkey, while England, in defense of the Mamaliyk
was estranged from the Porte (Bab al-`Aliy).
Two years later,
in 1807, a British force landed in Egypt with the object
of taking possession of the country, and thereby frustrating any possible
alliance between Muhammad `Aliy and the French, which might
have been dangerous to the English. The young Albanian soldier, however,
was not thus to be crushed. He quickly out-maneuvered the British forces,
who were under the command of Generals Wauchope and Meade,
utterly defeated them at Rashiyd (Rosetta) with the
help of the popular resistance, and took most of them prisoners.
Now it was the turn
of the British to be sold into slavery and to have their heads cut off
and for British prisoners to be led starving and miserable into Cairo
and
paraded at al-'Izbakiyah (downtown Cairo today, in
front of Midan al-Opéra), where four hundred and
fifty British heads on poles were lined up along an avenue of victory.
To the everlasting credit of the city, the Egyptian populace of Cairo
took pity on the captured British and gave them food and helped their sick
and put them on donkeys. Four hundred and sixty-six British soldiers
and twenty-four officers were thrown into the Citadel dungeons.
Many of them were later ransomed from Muhammad `Aliy by General
Frazer in command of the British invasion, but some remained behind.
One of the most amazing
turn of events was the saga of a young Scottish teen. A midshipman
named Keith, who was rescued by an Egyptian mother after she successfully
pleaded for his life and his release into her custody. Later he converted
to Islam and fought as a Muslim with considerable courage
in numerous battles. Eventually Muhammad al-'Iskutlandiy
(former keith) became the governor of the Holy City of Madiynah
in the Hijjaz!
To be continued next month
Bab Al-`Azab at
the citadel is connected in history with the massacre of the Citadel plotted
by Muhammad `Aliy Pasha, ruler of Egypt, to get rid of the Mamaliyk
in 1811 AD where only very few fled away.
The story goes that
Muhammad `Aliy Pasha invited the Mamaliykto attend a celebration.
When the ceremony was over they headed for Bab Al-`Azab, looking
over Salah al-Diyn Square, so as to go out, but they found
it tightly closed.
Soon, the soldiers of
Muhammad `Aliy mounting high on upper rocks, shot bullets
that rained over the unarmedMamaliyk. The passage of Bab
Al-`Azab and the whole of the Citadel courtyard were filled with the dead
bodies.
| Description
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