Arabi

Arabi, Ahmed, Pasha, the son of the Sheikh of a village in the Nile Delta, was born in 1839, and claims descent from the Prophet. He passed from the military school at Cairo into the Egyptian army. and after serving in Abyssinia and the Soudan had attained the rank of full colonel in 1879, when Tewfik became Khedive. In January, 1881, he headed a military demonstration in favour of military reform, and was arrested by Riaz Pasha. but forcibly released by the troops. His position grew daily stronger as head of the National party, and in September he took the lead in a second demonstration, demanding the removal of Riaz, the increase of the army, and the grant of a liberal constitution. The Khedive yielded. Arabi was named Under-Secretary for War (January, 1882), and soon after Minister of War, with the title of field-marshal, whilst the Sultan conferred on him the order of the Mejidieh. From the bombardment of Alexandria (July 11th) to the battle of Tel-el-Kebir (September 13) he directed as Commander-in-chief all the operations for the defence of Egypt; but, misconstruing the attitude of England and the Powers, or unwilling to impede the traffic of the world, he left the Suez Canal open. Sir Garnet Wolseley promptly took advantage of this omission, and in a few days the revolutionary movement was crushed. Arabi surrendered to General Drury Lowe at Cairo immediately after the action of September 13, and was brought to trial. Before the completion of the case he agreed to plead guilty, and to accept perpetual exile in Ceylon, whither he was conveyed with five of his chief accomplices.