The Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II, who had been caught unprepared and without an army of his own (having suppressed the Janissaries), had been forced to seek the aid of his rebellious vassal and rival in Egypt.

His rule attempted to create a synthesis between the Muslim landowners and the emergent Christian commercial classes.

For a time, Mustafa Naili Pasha angled unsuccessfully to become a semi-independent prince but the Cretan Greeks rose up against him, once more driving the Muslims temporarily into siege in the towns.

An Anglo-Ottoman naval operation restored control in the island and Mustafa Naili Pasha was confirmed as its governor, though under command from Istanbul.

He remained in Crete until 1851 when he was summoned to the capital, where at a relatively advanced age he pursued a successful career.