ALI Bey, an eastern adventurer, is said to have been a native of the Caucasus, and about the age of twelve or fourteen to have been sold for a slave in Cairo. The two Jews who became his masters presented him to Ibrahim, then one of the most influential men in the kingdom. In the family of Ibrahim, he received the rudiments of literature, and was also instructed in the military art. Both in letters and military skill he made rapid improvement. He gradually gained the affection of his patron to such a degree that he gave him his freedom, permitted him to marry, and promoted him to the rank of governor of a district. Afterwards he was elected 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 schemes for future greatness; and in 1766, returning to Cairo, he either slew or expelled the beys, 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 assumed the rank of sultan of Egypt. Occupied in more important concerns, the Porte made no vigorous opposition to his measures, and Ali seized this opportunity to recover a part of the Said, or Upper Egypt, which had been taken possession of by an Arab sheik. He next sent out a fleet from Suez, which seizing upon Djedda, entered the port of Mecca; while a body of cavalry, commanded by Mohammed Bey, his favourite, took and plundered Mecca itself. Having formed an alliance in 1770 with one Sheik 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 Acre, advanced to Damascus. There on the 6th of June 1771 a battle was fought with the Turkish pashas, and Mohammed and Daher, Ali's generals, 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 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 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's wife, and had obtained the promise of her, provided that he could take Ali captive. Murad wounded and made Ali prisoner, and carried him up to Mohammed, who received him with affected respect; but in three days, either from the effects of poison or of his wounds, Ali breathed his last.