After the defeat of the Mamelukes in the battle to capture the pyramid, Cairo experienced a very restless night in many suburbs, full of rumors of French attacks on residents and their homes. At the same time, the French began to celebrate their victory over the Mamelukes.
Napoleon Bonaparte entered Cairo on this day filled with a sense of pride, soldiers celebrated with fireworks, eager to show the Egyptians that a new era would come with a brand new great leader, while Napoleon made no secret of his happiness, settling into the “al-alpha” palace that had recently been built.
French sources described in detail the lavish life in that palace, both the decorations and the furniture or carpets. It gave such an impression as if the Mameluke leader had built this palace to serve as Napoleon’s headquarters upon his arrival in Cairo!!!.
According to his nature, Napoleon did not waste a moment. Soon after arriving in Egypt, he began holding meetings with the nobles, merchants and sheikhs of Al-Azhar, showing his respect for Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, and assuring them that he had come to Egypt as the savior of the Egyptians from the heavy Mameluke rule and the prevailing corruption in Egypt. He decided to establish a “Civil Service Council” of 9 members to discuss the issues and affairs of Egypt on a daily basis, and appointed guards to guard the place.
He divided Egypt’s provinces and delegated a number of French generals to control them in order to maintain peace, which would motivate farmers to supply them with food and other important things that could affect the functioning of the economy at the time.
In addition to forming a new government under Napoleon and his commanders, they were given the following tasks to perform:
– Bringing in weapons from the civilian population.
– Gathering the necessary horses for the French soldiers.
– Building facilities.
– Building the necessary hospitals.
– Conquering the estates of the Mamelukes
– Surveying and looking at the residents and their problems.
So Napoleon and his commanders began to chase them, all the way to the eastern province of ” Sharqiya,” where there were many of them, and Napoleon entered through the eastern part of the delta toward Syria, where many of his soldiers were located. One of the news reports spoke of an attack by the Mamelukes on the pilgrimage caravans to Mecca, causing them to lose a lot of money.
Napoleon attacked these Mamelukes until they managed to escape on their way to Syria, as they received information that the Ottoman Empire had decided to cooperate with the British in the fight against Napoleon and the expedition he was leading in Egypt.
The other generals set out from the province of “Beni Seuf,” which lies about 100 kilometers south of Cairo.
Here I would like to omit detailed descriptions of the battles fought against the Mamelukes in upper Egypt, as they contain too many details. I will only mention that in some of the battles the Mamluks were far outnumbered by the French themselves, but thanks to new tactics and war strategies the French managed to defeat the Mamelukes and reach the first cataract and the island of Philae, where the temple of the goddess of beauty and love “Isis” is located and where to this day any visitor can see at the entrance gate the graffiti the French left there.
It should also be added that the French occupied and controlled the port of “El-Qusier,” through which considerable quantities of horses and camels were shipped for use in fighting the French.
Napoleon also had a hand in defeating the Mamelukes at Sharqiya, and on his return to Cairo he received word of the destruction of his fleet in Alexandria, which was a turning point in the rest of the campaign in Egypt.