overnment, notably of the monopolies and
conscription, had driven Syrians, Druses and Arabs, who had welcomed him
as a deliverer, into revolt. The unrest was suppressed by Mehemet Ali in
person, and the Syrians were terrorized and disarmed. But their
discontent encouraged Sultan Mahmud to hope for revenge, and a renewal
of the conflict was only staved off by the anxious efforts of the
powers. At last, in the spring of 1839, the sultan ordered his army,
concentrated under Reshid in the border district of Bir on the
Euphrates, to advance over the Syrian frontier. Ibrahim, seeing his
flank menaced, attacked it at Nezib on the 24th of June. Once more the
Ottomans were utterly routed. Six days later, before the news reached
Constantinople, Mahmud died. Once more the Ottoman empire lay at the
feet of Mehemet Ali; but the powers were now more prepared to meet a
contingency which had been long foreseen. Their intervention was prompt;
and the dubious attitude of France, which led to her exclusion from the
concert and encouraged Mehemet Ali to resist, only led to his obtaining
less favourable terms. (See MEHEMET ALI.)

Mehemet Ali's authority confined to Egypt.

The end was reached early in 1841. New firmans were issued which
confined the pasha's authority to Egypt, the Sinai peninsula and certain
places on the Arabian side of the Red Sea, and to the Sudan. The most
important of these documents are dated the 13th of February 1841. The
government of the pashalik of Egypt was made hereditary in the family of
Mehemet Ali.[24] A map showing the boundaries of Egypt accompanied the
firman granting Mehemet Ali the pashalik, a duplicate copy being
retained by the Porte. The Egyptian copy is supposed to have been lost
in a fire which destroyed a great part of the Egyptian archives. The
Turkish copy has never been produced and its existence now appears
doubtful. The point is of importance, as in 1892 and again in 1906
boundary disputes arose between Turkey and Egypt (see below). Various
restrictions were laid upon Mehemet Ali, emphasizing his position of
vassalage. He was forbidden to maintain a fleet, and his army was not to
exceed 18,000 men. The pasha was no longer a figure in European
politics, but he continued to occupy himself with his improvements, real
or imaginary, in Egypt. The condition of the country was deplorable; in
1842 a murrain of cattle was followed by a destructive Nile flood; in
1843 there was a plague of locusts,