Key Facts
- Siege duration
- ~6 months (Nov 1831 – May 1832)
- Siege start
- 26 or 29 November 1831
- Siege end
- 27 May 1832
- Distance from Jerusalem
- 125 km (78 mi) northwest
- Prior Egyptian cities taken
- Gaza, Jaffa, Haifa before Akka
Strategic Narrative Overview
Ibrahim's forces swept through the Levantine coast with little resistance, occupying Gaza, Jaffa, and Haifa within weeks of launching the campaign. By late November 1831 they invested Akka, a fortress that had famously repulsed Napoleon in 1799. Abdullah Pasha's garrison held out for roughly six months, but Egyptian siege operations, conducted while the main army pushed further north, eventually overwhelmed the defenders.
01 / The Origins
The First Egyptian–Ottoman War grew from tensions between Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Ottoman Porte, as Ali sought territorial rewards in Syria after supporting Ottoman campaigns in Greece. Denied compensation, he dispatched his son Ibrahim Pasha northward in October 1831 to seize Syria by force, exploiting Egyptian military strength built through decades of modernisation and French-trained officers.
03 / The Outcome
Akka fell on 27 May 1832, delivering Egypt a strategically vital Mediterranean fortress and completing control of the Palestinian coast. The conquest allowed Ibrahim to press deeper into Syria and Anatolia. The siege demonstrated the effectiveness of the modernised Egyptian army and opened the way for Egyptian administration over Greater Syria until the Convention of London (1840) reversed the gains.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Ibrahim Pasha.
Side B
1 belligerent
Abdullah Pasha.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.