Bashir Shihab II
Through his Constantinople-based contact Hesekiel al-Baghdadi, a fellow Jew and a banker with close ties to the powerful Jannisary corps, Farhi lobbied the Sublime Porte for five months before it agreed to appoint Abdullah Pasha as Wali of Sidon and assign him the rank of vizier. Bribes to various imperial officials and influential figures in Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, amounted to about 11 million piastres. On 27 January 1820, Abdullah was confirmed as governor of Sidon. In the interim period, Emir Bashir Shihab II of Mount Lebanon maintained order throughout the province.