IBRAHIM PASHA, Egyptian general: b. Kavala, Thrace, 1789; d. 184& His father was Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt. At the age of 16, he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Empire, but returned to Egypt after the failure of the English army to gain a foot hold in his father's territory. In 1816 he led the Egyptian army in Arabia and was success ful in vanquishing the Wahhabis in western Arabia and in Nejd. He proved himself an able commander, and in the War of Greek Inde pendence was appointed in charge of both the naval and land forces in the Morea. His long siege of Missolonghi was conducted with great vigor and resulted in victory in 1826. He was so ruthless in his punishment of the Greek troops that European forces felt called upon to punish him. At die naval battle of Navarino (1827), his fleet met those of the combined English, French and Russian squadrons, and was completely destroyed. Shortly afterward the French expeditionary forces landed in Morea, and in 1828 Ibrahim was compelled to leave the country. He returned to Egypt, but it was not long before his father became en gaged in a quarrel with Syria and Ibrahim again took the field. With characteristic im
petuosity he laid siege to Acre, captured it and put the Turkish forces to rout. By the Treaty of Kutayah in 1833, Syria was surrendered to Mehemet Alt, and Ibrahim was made governor of Cilica. There was a lull in hostilities until 1839, when Ibrahim was sent out once more against the Turkish armies, and inflicted a de cisive defeat at Nezib. However, by the inter vention of foreign powers, the Egyptian armies were defeated on the sea, and their leader was again obliged to return to Egypt. He outlived his father by a few months, and his son, Ismail Pasha, succeeded to the rule of Egypt.
Ibrahim Pasha was distinguished by his ex treme energy and vigor, as well as by his in telligence and docility in learning European methods from the armies with which he came in contact. As a ruler, he showed superior judg ment and diplomacy, winning over hostile fac tions with great shrewdness and tact. Consult 'Cambridge Modern History' (Cambridge 1903).