British and Ottoman troops bombard Beirut against Muhammad Ali

Background. Muhammad Ali, the de facto ruler of Egypt, held the Levant in 1840, alongside Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, Cyprus, Crete and parts of Greece. On 15 July 1840, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia signed the Convention of London, offering Muhammad Ali hereditary rule of Egypt within the Ottoman Empire if he withdrew from the Syrian hinterland and the coastal regions of Mount Lebanon. In September 1840, the European powers moved from diplomatic means to military action.

Bombardment and Landing. In September 1840, European powers moved from diplomatic means to military action. The Royal Navy and Austrian Navy blockaded the Nile Delta before moving east to shell Sidon and Beirut on 11 September 1840. This bombardment was part of a broader campaign to force Muhammad Ali's Egyptian garrisons to retreat from the coastal regions of Lebanon and Syria.

Resolution. After the surrender of Acre, Muhammad Ali accepted the terms of the Convention on 27 November 1840. The Convention of London had offered him and his heirs permanent control over Egypt, Sudan and part of the Damascus Eyalet, nominally within the Ottoman Empire. Faced with European intervention, he later accepted a brokered peace in 1842 and withdrew from the Levant, receiving hereditary rule over Egypt and Sudan.