In 1882, the British invaded and conquered Egypt to put down a revolt of Egyptian army officers. Colonel Urabi of the Egyptian army—with support from disgruntled officers—overthrew the Khedive. Urabi dressed and looked like Arab peasants who called him “el Wahid,” meaning “the only one”. (Pakenham 125). The British, of course, were worried about the Suez Canal falling into the hands of an unfriendly power. When the British sent the navy to bombard Alexandria from the sea, Egyptian mobs rampaged and killed 50 Europeans (Pakenham 132). With the Khedive’s support, the British attacked both ends of the Suez Canal, sailed to the midpoint, and rushed to Cairo, using a new railroad to transport supplies (Sayyid-Marsot 654). Urabi surrendered. The British had an army of 31,000 while Urabi had only 16,000 poorly trained troops with old rifles and swords (UNESCO 37 and James 272). Britain now held Egypt as a virtual colony, which also gave them responsibility for territory Egypt had controlled in the south, in Sudan.
