>>509561593
It's a wild story. The guy was born to an albanian tobacco marchant from a small village in Albania and maneuvered himself to a rival of the Ottoman empire. He almost took Constantinople twice, saved by england and France which feared the ottomans falling would embolden Russia. Russian containment is an old policy.
Another fun fact is that the Al Saud family tried an islamic revolt during his reign. The ottomans weren't strong enough to crush it so they offered him Syria in exchange for him to do the dirty work.
>The Egyptian troops were led by Muhammad Ali's elder son, Ibrahim Pasha, and penetrated into the heart of Central Arabia, besieging the chief centres of Qasim and Najd. Waging a war of extermination between 1816 and 1818, the invading armies pillaged various towns and villages, forcing the inhabitants to flee and seek refuge in remote regions and oases. By 1817, the armies had overrun Rass, Buraida and Unayza.[29] Saudi armies put up a fierce resistance at Al-Rass where they withstood a siege of 3 months. Faced with the advance of Egyptian Albanians, Abdullah, the Saudi Emir retreated to Diriya.[30][31]
>The Ehyptians began the Najd Expedition in 1818, involving a series of military conflicts. En route to Dariyya, the Albanian armies executed everyone over ten years age in Dhurma. Ibrahim's forces would march towards Diriyya during the early months of 1818, easily routing Saudi resistances and arrive at the capital by April 1818. The Siege of Diriyah would last until September 1818, with the Albanian forces waiting for Saudi supplies to run out.[30] On 11 September 1818, Abdullah Ibn Saud would sue for peace, offering his surrender, in exchange for sparing Diriyya. However, Al Diriyya would be razed to ground under orders of Ibrahim Pasha.
Then they played music and held folk dances in front of the Al Saud captured members (which was harram and forbidden under their rule) before beheading the lot.
This is the reason behind the meme pictured <