284 Muhammad Ali India By 1800 Britain had ousted the French from India By 1818 the company either directly or indirectly ruled most of India By the 19th century, Mughal emperors had become mere pensioners of the company The last Mughal emperor was deposed and exiled to Burma after the Indian Mutiny in 1857 There were many causes for the decline and fall of the Mughal dynasty First, the lack of tolerance shown to the non-Islamic majority by later Mughal emperors; second, the imperial overreach by emperors in terms of military expeditions which strained resources after 1680; third, the diversity of India’s ethnic and religious groups as well as strong traditions of regionalism which served to weaken the center; and fourth, the superior technological and financial expertise which the West, including England, enjoyed after 1500 gave it an advantage dealing with Islamic emperors who had fallen behind Finally, and perhaps most important, the Mughal dynasty remained a minority in India, distinct in religion, culture, and language from the majority of subjects Given the circumstances, its fall was perhaps inevitable See also Sikh wars Further reading: Chaudhuri, K N Asia Before Europe Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990; Richards, John: The Mughal Empire Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996; Schimmel, Annemarie The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture Chicago: Reaktion Books, 2006; Schweinitz, Karl The Rise and Fall of British India London: Routledge, 1989; Stewart, Gordon The Marathas Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993; Wolpert, Stanley A New History of India, 8th ed Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997 Norman C Rothman Muhammad Ali (1769–1848) Egyptian ruler An Ottoman janissary of Albanian origin, Muhammad Ali became the founder of modern Egypt Following the Napoleonic invasion and short-lived British occupation of Egypt, Muhammad Ali and a number of other janissary forces were sent to reassert Ottoman control in 1802 Muhammad Ali had outmaneuvered rival janissaries for leadership by 1806 Muhammad Ali then cleverly aligned himself with the weaker of the perennially warring Mamluk factions that had previously governed Egypt to defeat the stron- ger He eliminated the remaining Mamluks by inviting them to a celebration at the heavily fortified citadel overlooking Cairo in 1811 Once the Mamluks were securely inside the high walls of the fort, the janissaries massacred them, leaving Muhammad Ali the sole ruler Pledging allegiance to the Ottoman sultan, he was appointed pasha of Egypt and began an ambitious program to increase the strength of his armed forces and to build a new navy The army was conscripted from the Egyptian fellaheen, or peasantry, and ultimately reached over 100,000 men To finance military expenditures, Muhammad Ali increased taxes and established government monopolies over the economy Monopolies controlled the sale of oil, coffee, and Egyptian products including tobacco, grains, sugar, and cotton He also moved the Egyptian economy toward the production of cash crops, especially tobacco and the highly desirable Egyptian long-grain cotton Through government support, Muhammad Ali underwrote the creation of small industries in textile manufacturing, food processing, and some armaments This began a process of industrial modernization that was largely halted by the British occupation of Egypt at the end of the 19th century The irrigation systems were expanded and water and road transport systems were developed throughout the area Medical care improved, although cholera and malaria remained problems A new administrative elite was created The top officials were predominantly of Turkish origins; like Muhammad Ali, they spoke Turkish rather than Arabic Although he was illiterate, Muhammad Ali valued education and established a military training school and sent students at government expense to European universities Muhammad Ali made one graduate Rifa’a Rafi al-Tahtawi director of a new School of Languages; the school was responsible for the translation of many European, especially French, political and philosophic works The Bulaq Press published hundreds of books in Arabic, including many translations from European works These influenced a new generation of Arab and Islamic reformers in the late 19th century An official gazette was also issued As leader of Egypt, Muhammad Ali was involved in four major wars At the behest of the Ottoman sultan, he sent his sons Abbas and Ibrahim to crush the puritanical Islamic reformist movement, the Wahhabis, who threatened Ottoman control over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Hijaz from 1811–81 The Wahhabis were defeated in their stronghold in the Nejd (in northern modern-day Saudi Arabia) After making a pilgrimage to Mecca, Muhammad Ali withdrew his troops in 1824,