Umar Makram


Umar Makram bin Hussien al-Sayouti (Arabic: عمر مكرم بن حسين السيوطي‎) (1750-1822) was an Egyptian political leader at the time of the 1798 French invasion and in the subsequent political disorders.

Umar Makram

Biography
Omar Makram Statue near Omar Makram Mosque - Tahrir square - Cairo

Makram was born in 1750 in Asyut. He was educated at Al-Azhar University, and became a leader of the nobles of Egypt and an Egyptian national hero. He was prominent in resistance to the 1798 invasion of Egypt by France (led by Napoleon).

After the French withdrew in 1801, control of Egypt was nominally restored to the Ottoman Empire, but in fact was disputed between the old Mamluk elite, Egyptian nobles, and the Ottomans.

Makram allied with Muhammad Ali, the commander of Albanian troops within the army sent by the Empire to restore order.

In May 1805, Egyptians led by Makram forced the Ottomans to replace the Wāli Ahmad Khurshid Pasha with Muhammad Ali. Makram soon discovered that Muhammad Ali planned to rule Egypt himself. Makram objected to a foreign ruler. Muhammad Ali exiled Makram to Damietta on 9 August 1809, where he stayed for four years. Makram then moved to Tanta, where he died in 1822.

Legacy

A mosque named for him stands in Tahrir Square in Cairo. An exhibition on his life was recently celebrated at the Louvre in Paris, France.

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