24. A Last-Minute Reprieve of the Mamluks
The 1805 defeat and massacre of the Mamluks greatly weakened but did not eradicate them. Survivors retreated to Upper Egypt and began to unsuccessfully negotiate for a compromise. Muhammad Ali led an expedition that defeated them in 1807, but they were saved at the last minute when news arrived of a British invasion of Alexandria and the surrounding Nile Delta region. Alarmed, the Pasha offered the Mamluks concessions if they joined him to expel the invaders, and they accepted. Together, the two forces marched north to deal with the invaders. Divisions soon arose among the Mamluks, however, when one faction advocated cooperation with the British, while the other sought to honor the agreement with Muhammad Ali.
It became moot when the British, who had invaded on the assumption that the Mamluks would join them, finally grew disgusted with their dissensions, despaired of their assistance, and evacuated Alexandria in September 1807. An uneasy peace then descended between Muhammad Ali and the Mamluks. Some of their leaders were appointed administrators of certain Egyptian districts on condition that they pay taxes, and many of them returned to Cairo and resumed their residence there. However, Mamluk’s forces continued to clash with those of Egypt’s governor, until he took a final step to deal with them once and for all.