IBRĀHĪM PASHA°

IBRĀHĪM PASHA ° (1789–1848), Muslim ruler of *Syria and *Palestine from 1832 to 1841, and later governor of *Egypt. Ibrahim was born in Kavalla, *Greece, the eldest son of *Muhammad (Mehemet) Ali. In 1831, on his father's instructions Ibrāhīm invaded Syria: Gaza, Jaffa, Jerusalem, and the region of Nablus yielded to him; Acre fell in 1832 after a long siege, and after it, Damascus and Aleppo. In every large city Ibrāhīm established a local council. He divided Palestine and Syria into administrative districts where he opened schools and conscripted an army of the native population. Ibrāhīm ameliorated the condition of Jews and Christians by abolishing the road tolls and by his efforts to equalize taxation of members of all religions, but he left the jizya (poll tax) on the protected peoples. The Ḥurvah synagogue of R. *Judah he-Ḥasid which had been deserted and unfinished at Judah's death, was returned to the Ashkenazi Jews in 1836. Under the influence of the European Great Powers, in 1833 the sultan recognized Muhammad Ali's rights to Syria, and Ibrāhīm was appointed governor. During Ibrāhīm's rule in Syria, Jews enjoyed – along with Muslims and Christians – security of life and property. Furthermore, the jizya, previously levied from Jews and Christians only, was now imposed on Muslims, too. The Turks tried to reconquer the occupied territories; in the summer of 1839 they were defeated decisively near Nezib (i.e., Nizip, S. Turkey) but the European Powers intervened on their behalf. In late 1840 Ibrahim's army was stopped on the coast of Lebanon, when the British-Austrian fleet landed troops near *Beirut and defeated Ibrāhīm's weak and scattered troops. The pact of 1841 between Turkey and Muhammad Ali compelled Ibrāhīm to return to Egypt.

bibliography:

M. Sabry, L'Empire égyptien sous Mohamed-Ali et la question d'Orient (1930), passim; P. Crabitès, Ibrahim of Egypt (1935). add. bibliography: J.M. Landau, Jews in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (1969), index.

[Jacob M. Landau]