Egypt is conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517) and the absorption of Syria into the Empire in 1516.

Egypt is administered as an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 until 1867, with an interruption during the French occupation of 1798 to 1801.Egypt is always a difficult province for the Ottoman Sultans to control, due in part to the continuing power and influence of the Mamluks, the Egyptian military caste who had ruled the country for centuries.

As such, Egypt remains semi-autonomous under the Mamluks until it is invaded by the French forces of Napoleon I in 1798.

After the French were expelled, power is seized in 1805 by Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian military commander of the Ottoman army in Egypt.