Editing Muhammad Ali's rise to power (section)

==Trabluslu Ali Pasha attempts to regain control==
Days later, [[Trabluslu Ali Pasha]] landed at Alexandria with a [[firman]] from the [[Ottoman Porte]] appointing him the new governor of Egypt, and assumed control of the remaining Turkish forces. He threatened the Mamluk beys, now virtual masters of Upper Egypt, as well as of the capital and nearly all of Lower Egypt. Muhammad Ali and his Mamluk ally, al-Bardisi, therefore descended on [[Rosetta]], which had fallen into the hands of a brother of Trabluslu Ali Pasha. The town and its commander were successfully captured by al-Bardisi, who then proposed to proceed against Alexandria; his troops, however, demanded back-pay which he was unable to provide. During this delay, Trabluslu Ali Pasha destroyed the dykes between the lakes of [[Aboukir]] and [[Mareotis]], creating a moat around Alexandria. Unable to proceed with operations against Alexandria, Al-Bardisi and Muhammad Ali returned to Cairo.

The troubles of Egypt were exacerbated by an insufficient flood of the Nile, resulting in great scarcity, aggravated by the onerous taxation the Mamluk beys were forced to resort to in order to pay their troops. Riots and violence continued in the capital, with the bashi-bazouks under little or no control.

Meanwhile, Trabluslu Ali Pasha had been behaving with brutality towards the French in Alexandria. He received written instructions from the Ottoman sultan, which in an effort to sow dissension and mistrust between Muhammad Ali Pasha and his Mamluk allies, he sent to Cairo and caused to be circulated there. The Ottoman sultan announced that the Mamluk beys could live peaceably in Egypt with annual pensions of fifteen purses and other privileges, provided the government returned to the hands of the Turkish governor. To this many of the beys assented, and in the process opened a rift with Muhammad Ali Pasha and the Albanians. The Mamluks had already been suspicious of their Albanian allies, having previously intercepted letters addressed to them from Trabluslu Ali Pasha, endeavoring to win their alliance as well.

Trabluslu Ali Pasha advanced towards Cairo with 3,000 men to discuss his resumption of control. The forces of the beys still with Muhammad Ali Pasha and their Albanian allies advanced to meet Trabluslu Ali Pasha at [[:ar:شلقان|Shelqan]], forcing the Ottoman governor to fall back on a place called [[Zufeyta]].

At this point, the Albanians managed to seize Trabluslu Ali Pasha's transport boats, capturing soldiers, servants, ammunition, and baggage. They then demanded to know why he had brought such a large host with him, contrary to both custom and a prior warning to not do so. Finding his advance blocked, reluctant to retreat with his forces to Alexandria, and being surrounded by the enemy in any case, Trabluslu Ali Pasha attempted to give battle, but his men refused to fight. He therefore abandoned his troops and went over to the camp of the Mamluk beys. His army was eventually allowed to retire to [[Syria]].

With Trabluslu Ali Pasha in the hands of the beys, a horseman was seen to leave his tent one night at full gallop, and it was discovered that he bore a letter to [[Osman Bey Hasan]], the governor of Kine (Kucuk Kine, Turkey).<ref>{{cite web|title=Küçük Kine: Turkey|url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1091245&fid=6250&c=turkey|website=Geographic.org|accessdate=17 September 2015}}</ref> This gave the Mamluks a welcome pretext to rid themselves of him. Trabluslu Ali Pasha was sent under an escort/ guard of forty-five men towards the Syrian frontier; about a week later, news was received that during a skirmish with some of his own soldiers, he had fallen mortally wounded.