Tahir Pasha

Tahir Pasha Pojani or Tahir Pasha born in Kavala as the son of Ahmed Bey from Pojan and Zohra Khanum, oldest sister to Muhammad Ali Pasha. His siblings was Ismail, Huseyin and Gülsün who was married with Mehmet Sabit Pasha. His son was Ahmed Tahir Pasha Pojani in Kavala, who was married with Hatice Khanum in Alexandria, she was a daughter of Nawab Mirza Shahmir Khan, the Bahadur of Oudh. He was the Albanian commander of bashi-bazouks under Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha. He rebelled and assumed government of Cairo, becoming the acting Ottoman governor of Egypt on 6 May 1803. Muhammad Bey al-Alfi had accompanied the British to lobby them to help restore the power of the Mamelukes. In their attempts to return to power, the Mamelukes took Minia and interrupted communication between Upper and Lower Egypt.

About six weeks later, the legitimate Ottoman governor of Egypt Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha, finding himself in a financial bind and unable to pay all the troops under his command, attempted to disband his Albanian mercenaries or Albanian bashi-bazouks (or Arnauts) without pay in order to be able to pay his regular other Otomans soldiers. The Albanians, led by Tahir Pasha, largely because his Albanian troops were very loyal to him.

On May 19 there was a disturbance that resulted in the arrest beheading of Master Malati, also known as Moallem Malati, a Coptic Orthodox Church scribe of Ayyoub Bey El-Defterdar. He was one of the Mamluks of Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab and was made general manager of a department to look after national problems when the French under Napoléon Bonaparte occupied Egypt. After the French left, the rulers of Egypt assumed the responsibility to protect Master Gergis El-Gohary, Master Wasef, and Master Malati. Malati was beheaded at Bab Zoweila in Cairo and subsequently canonized by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Manipulated by his maternal Uncle Muhammad Ali, two Janissary chiefs confronted him for their jamakiya pay that he was unable to pay. The two drew their swords and rushed at Tahir, and one beheaded him.

A prolonged battled then ensued between the Albanians and other Ottoman troops, creating a chasm between the two leading forces. For a time, Mameluks oscillated between the two factions and also considered regaining power on their own behalf. His maternal Uncle Muhammad Ali, one of the regimental commanders, became the leader of the Albanians. Realizing he had a weaker position than the other Ottomans, Ali entered into an alliance with the Mameluke leaders Ibrahim Bey and Osman Bey al-Bardisi.