Albanians in Egypt
A substantial community would grow up later by soldiers and mercenaries who settled in the second half of the 18th century and made a name for themselves in the Ottoman struggle to expel French troops in 1798–1801.
Muhammad Ali was an Albanian commander in the Ottoman army (His father, Ibrahim Agha, was from Korca, Albania, who had moved to Kavala) who was supposed to drive Napoleon's forces out of Egypt.
Upon France's withdrawal however, Muhammad Ali seized power himself and forced the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II to recognize him as Wāli, or Governor of Egypt in 1805.
Ultimately, the intervention of the Great Powers prevented Egyptian forces from marching on Constantinople, and henceforth, his dynasty's rule would be limited to Africa, and the Sinai Peninsula.
Muhammad Ali had conquered Sudan in the first half of his reign and Egyptian control would be consolidated and expanded under his successors, most notably Ibrahim Pasha's son Isma'il I.
[6] Though Muhammad Ali and his descendants used the title of Khedive in preference to the lesser Wāli, this was not recognized by the Porte until 1867 when Sultan Abdulaziz officially sanctioned its use by Isma'il Pasha and his successors.
Three years later, Egypt and Sudan's freedom became little more than symbolic when the United Kingdom invaded and occupied the country, ostensibly to support Khedive Tewfik against his opponents in Ahmed Orabi's nationalist government.
While the Khedive would continue to rule over Egypt and Sudan in name, in reality, ultimate power resided with the British High Commissioner.
This was continually rejected by Egyptians, both in government and in the public at large, who insisted on the "unity of the Nile Valley", and would remain an issue of controversy and enmity between Egypt and Britain until Sudan's independence in 1956.
In 1914, Khedive Abbas II sided with the Ottoman Empire which had joined the Central Powers in the World War I, and was promptly deposed by the British in favor of his uncle Hussein Kamel.
Farouk was forced to abdicate in favor of his infant son Ahmed-Fuad who became King Fuad II, while administration of the country passed to the Free Officers Movement under Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser.
The infant king's reign lasted less than a year and on June 18, 1953, the revolutionaries abolished the monarchy and declared Egypt a republic, ending a century and a half of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty's rule.
By that time Egypt experienced a massive economic development and prosperity, French and British investments (i.e. the Suez Canal), modernization, and opportunity for entrepreneurship.
[4] Nationalist figures and writers such as Thimi Mitko, Spiro Dine, Filip Shiroka, Jani Vruho, Nikolla Naço, Anastas Avramidhi, Thoma Kreini, Thoma Avrami, Thanas Tashko, Stefan Zurani, Andon Zako Çajupi, Mihal Zallari, Milo Duçi, Loni Logori, Fan Noli, Aleksandër Xhuvani, Gaqo Adhamidhi and many others were all active in Egypt at some point in their careers.
[16] Many newspapers and collections would come out, including the successful Shkopi ("The stick"), Rrufeja ("The lightning"), Belietta Sskiypetare ("The Albanian Bee") and so on.
[4] An Albanian school operated during 1934–1939, initially supported by the "Shpresa" (Hope) society founded by Stathi Ikonomi, and later by the exiled King Zog I.
[4] Up to the 1940s the Kingdom of Egypt continued to recruit ethnic Albanians from the Balkans in order to place them in key civil service positions.
Names would include Baba Rexheb, a Bektashi monk, former minister Mirash Ivanaj, Branko Merxhani, and even the former King Ahmet Zogu with his family.
The sizeable Albanian guards and the janissary troops settled on the banks of the Nile during the early rule of Mehmed Ali' dynasty, played a major role in Gérôme's paintings.
