ALI Bey, an eastern adventurer, is said to have been a native of Mount Caucasus, and about the age of twelve or fourteen he was sold for a slave in Cairo. The two Jews who became his masters presented him to Ibrahim, then one of the most respectable men in the kingdom. In the family of this powerful man he received the rudiments of literature, and was also instructed in the military art. Both in letters and military skill he made a rapid improvement. He gradually gained the affection of his patron to such a degree, that he gave him his freedom, permitted him to marry, promoted him to the rank of governor of a district, and afterwards by election he was raised to the elevated station of one of the governors of provinces. Deprived of his protector by death, and engaging in the dangerous intrigues that pave the way to power in that unstable government, he procured his own banishment to Upper Egypt. Here he spent two years in maturing his
his schemes for future greatness, and in 1766, returning to Cairo, he either slew or expelled the boys, and seized the reins of government.
Emboldened by success, he rescued himself from the power of the Porte, coined money in his own name, and boldly assumed the rank of sultan of Egypt. Occupied in more important concerns, the Porte made no vigorous opposition to his measures, and Ali Bey seized this favourable opportunity to recover a part of the Said or Upper Egypt, which had been taken by an Arab shaik. Next he sent out a fleet from Suez, which seized upon Djedda, entered the port of Mecca; while a body of cavalry, commanded by Mohammed Bey his favourite, took and plundered Mecca itself. A young Venetian merchant laid before him a plan of reviving the ancient trade to the East Indies through the Mediterranean and Red seas. Having formed an alliance in 1770, with one Shaik Daher, a rebel against the Porte in Syria, he aimed at the conquest of all Syria and Palestine. He first endeavoured to secure Gaza; then his army forming a junction with that of Daher at a place called Acre, advanced to Damascus. On the 6th of June 1771, a battle was fought at this place with the Turkish pachas, and Mohammed and Daher the commanders of Ali Bey routed them with great slaughter. They instantly took possession of Damascus, and the castle itself had also capitulated, when all on a sudden Mohammed hastened back to Egypt with all his Mamelukes. Some ascribe this strange conduct to an impression made upon Mohammed by the Turkish agents, and others to a report of the death of Ali Bey.
Although unsuccessful, Ali Bey never lost sight of his favourite object, and Mohammed losing his confidence was forced to save his life by exile. Mohammed, however, quickly returned with an army, and drove Ali Bey from Cairo. In this unfortunate state of affairs Ali Bey fled to Daher, and combining their forces, they attacked the Turkish commander at Sidon, and came off victorious, although the Turkish army was three times their number. After a siege of eight months they next took the town of Jaffa. Deceived by letters from Cairo which were only intended to ensnare him, and stimulated with recent victories, he returned to Cairo. Entering the deserts which divide Gaza from Egypt, he was furiously attacked by a thousand chosen Mamelukes led on by Murad Bey, who was enamoured with the beauty of Ali Bey's wife, and had obtained the promise of her, provided that he could take Ali Bey captive. Murad wounded and made Ali Bey prisoner, and carried him up to Mohammed, who received him with affected respect: but in three days, either in consequence of poison or the effects of his wounds, Ali breathed his last.
Ali Bey was certainly a singular production in the school of ignorance and barbarity, and displayed a very great degree of original vigour of character and active penetration of mind. He is blamed for engaging in enterprises beyond his power to accomplish; but he is acknowledged to have been very favourable to the Franks, and to have governed Egypt with no small degree of steady moderation. He is also charged with devolving too much upon his lieutenants, and not being sufficiently attentive to the exactions made by his officers. Among his failings may also be ranked that
of an unbounded confidence in his favourite. Generosity and a sense of justice were not wanting in his character, although his morals, under the sanction of his class and country, were strongly tainted with perfidy and murder in the pursuit of his ambitious plans. (Gen. Biog.)