Ibrahim Bey was born as Abram Shinjikashvili (აბრამ შინჯიკაშვილი), of
Georgian origin, into the family of an
Orthodox Christian priest in
Martqopi in the southeastern Georgian province of
Kakheti. As a child, he was captured by
Ottoman slave raiders and sold out in
Egypt where he was converted to
Islam and trained as a
Mamluk. Through loyal service to
Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab, the Mamluk ruler of
Egypt, he rose in rank and attained to the dignity of
bey. With time he emerged as one of the most influential Mamluk commanders, sharing a
de facto control of Egypt with his fellow
Murad Bey. The two men became a
duumvirate, Murad Bey managing military matters while Ibrahim Bey managed civil administration. They survived through the persistent
Ottoman attempts at overthrowing the
Mamluk regime and civil strifes. From 1771 to 1773, Ibrahim Bey served as the
amir al-hajj (commander of the hajj caravan) of Egypt. In 1786, the Ottoman sultan
Abdul Hamid I sent
Kapudan Pasha (grand admiral of the
Ottoman Navy)
Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha to drive out Ibrahim and Murad Bey in the
Egypt Campaign (1786-1787). Hasan Pasha was fervent and thorough in his efforts and succeeded in the short term, reestablishing direct
Ottoman Empire control over Egypt. When the
French invaded Egypt in 1798, Ibrahim fought against
Napoleon's armies at the
battles of the Pyramids,
Salahieh (11 August 1798), and
Heliopolis but was defeated on each occasion. Though the French eventually withdrew from Egypt in defeat, the battle defeats of the Pyramids and Heliopolis effectively ended his reign over the country, and he died in obscurity in 1816 or 1817, having survived
Mohammad Ali Pasha's 1811 massacre of Mamluk leaders. == In fiction ==