Following the rebellion of discontended Egyptian officers in 1882, Great Britain acted to protect its financial interests in the area, in particular the Suez Canal. Hostilities commenced with the bombardment of Alexandria on 11 July. The deciding engagement took place on 13 September at Tel el-Kebir, in the desert east of Kassassin, when 18,500 British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Garnet Wolseley defeated Ahmed Urabi’s force of 15,000 Egyptian and Sudanese soldiers. Khedive Tawfiq was formally reinstated 12 days later. The guarantees and concessions he subsequently made facilitated the British occupation of Egypt, which was to last until 1956. Urabi was sentenced to death, but was later exiled to Ceylon.

Photographer unidentified.

The print measures 8.3” by 10.6” (212 mm by 270 mm).