Ahmed Orabi Colonel Ahmed Orabi or Ahmed Urabi ( , ) ( April 1 , 1841 – September 21 , 1911 ) . In British texts his name is generally rendered as Arabi , Pasha , but is also written as Orabi , " Pasha " and as Ahmed - " Pasha " Orabi el - Masri . His name was also transliterated as Ahmad Arabi in older sources . He was an Egyptian army general , and nationalist who led a revolt in 1879 against Tewfik Pasha , the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan , and the increasing European domination of the country . The revolt was ultimately crushed in 1882 when the United Kingdom invaded at the request of Tewfik , thereby commencing the 40 - year British occupation of Egypt . Orabi was the first Egyptian national political and military leader to rise from the " fellahin " . Early life . He was born in 1841 in the village of Hreyya Razna near Zagazig in the Sharqia Governorate , approximately 80 kilometres to the north of Cairo . Orabi was the son of a village leader and one of the wealthier members of the community , which allowed him to receive a decent education . After completing elementary education in his home village , he enrolled at Al - Azhar University to complete his schooling in 1849 . He entered the army and moved up quickly through the ranks , reaching Lieutenant Colonel by age 20 . The modern education and military service of Orabi , from a " fellah " , or peasant background , would not be possible without the modernizing reforms of Khedive Ismail , who had done much to eliminate the barriers between the bulk of the Egyptian populace and the ruling elite , who were drawn largely from the military castes that had ruled Egypt for centuries . Ismail abolished the exclusive access to the Egyptian and Sudanese military ranks held by Egyptians of Balkan , Circassian , and Turkish origin - although Orabi himself was of Balkan , Circassian and Turkish origin , but distant - was a conscripted soldiers , and recruited students throughout Egypt and Sudan regardless of class and ethnic backgrounds in order to form a " modern " and " national " Egyptian military and bureaucratic elite class . Without these reforms , Orabi ' s rise through the ranks of the military would likely have been far more restricted . Protest against Tewfiq . He was a galvanizing speaker . Because of his peasant origins , he was at the time , and is still today , viewed as an authentic voice of the Egyptian people . Indeed , he was known by his followers as ' El Wahid ' ( the Only One ) , and when the British poet and explorer Wilfrid Scawen Blunt went to meet him , he found the entrance of Orabi ' s house was blocked with supplicants . When Khedive Tawfiq issued a new law preventing peasants from becoming officers , Orabi led the group protesting the preference shown to aristocratic officers ( again , largely Egyptians of foreign descent ) . He and his followers , who included most of the army , were successful and the law was repealed . In 1879 they formed the Egyptian Nationalist Party . He and his allies in the army joined with the reformers , and with the support of the peasants launched a broader effort to try to wrest Egypt and Sudan from foreign control , and also to end the absolutist regime of the Khedive , who was himself subject to Anglo - French control under the rules of the Caisse de la Dette Publique . The revolt spread to express resentment of the undue influence of foreigners , including the predominantly Turko - Circassian aristocracy . Parliament planning . He was first promoted to Bey , then made under - secretary of war , and ultimately a member of the cabinet . Plans were begun to create a parliamentary assembly . During the last months of the revolt ( July to September 1882 ) , it was claimed that Orabi held the office of prime minister . Feeling threatened , Khedive Tawfiq called requested assistance against Orabi from the Ottoman Sultan , to whom Egypt and Sudan still owed technical fealty . The Sublime Porte hesitated . British intervention . The British were especially concerned that Orabi would default on Egypt ' s massive debt and that he might try to re - gain control of the Suez Canal . They and the French therefore dispatched warships to Egypt to intimidate the nationalists , though the French later withdrew their contingent of the operation . This naval presence spurred fears of an imminent invasion ( as had been the case in Tunisia in 1881 ) and caused anti - European riots to break out in Alexandria on the June 12 , 1882 . One month later , the warships opened fire on the city ' s gun emplacements after the Egyptians ignored the ultimatum issued by Admiral Seymour which demanded an immediate end to the installation of those emplacements . In September of that year a British army landed in Alexandria but failed to reach Cairo after being defeated at the Battle of Kafr - el - Dawwar . Another army , led by Sir Garnet Wolseley , landed in the Canal Zone and on September 13 , 1882 they defeated Orabi ' s army at the Battle of Tel el - Kebir . From there , the cavalry advanced on Cairo which surrendered without a shot , as did Orabi and the other nationalist leaders . Exile and return . Orabi was tried by the restored Khedivate for rebellion on December 3 , 1882 . In accordance with an understanding made with the British representative , Lord Dufferin , Orabi pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death , but the sentence was immediately commuted to one of banishment for life . He left Egypt on December 28 , 1882 for Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) . His home in Halloluwa Road , Kandy is now the Orabi Pasha Museum and Cultural Centre . During his time in Ceylon , Orabi served to improve the quality of education amongst the Muslims in the country . Zahira College , Sri Lanka ' s first school for Muslims , was established under his patronage . In May 1901 , Khedive Abbas II , Tewfiq ' s son and successor permitted Orabi to return to Egypt . Abbas was a nationalist in the vein of his grandfather , Khedive Ismail the Magnificent , and was deeply opposed to the British occupation of the country . Orabi returned on October 1 , 1901 , and remained until his death on September 21 , 1911 . While British intervention was meant to be short term , British forces continued to occupy the country , instituting the ousting of Khedive Abbas II in 1914 , after which Egypt once more became a sultanate , and also a British protectorate . Britain finally recognised Egyptian independence in 1922 , following the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 . Orabi ' s revolt also had a long lasting significance as the first instance of Egyptian anti - imperialist nationalism , which would later play a very important role in Egyptian history . Especially under Gamal Abdel Nasser , Orabi would be regarded as an Egyptian patriot , and a national hero and is considered an anti - imperialist hero in Sri Lanka .