battle of Tel-el-Kebir

Tel-el-Kebir, battle of, 1882. In the third quarter of the 19th cent. Egypt's external debt became so great that Britain and France took control of the country's finances. The heavily taxed peasantry, led by an army officer, Ahmed Arabi, rebelled. British troops under Sir Garnet Wolseley landed in Egypt to support the khedive and in a surprise attack destroyed Arabi's army at Tel-el-Kebir, 130 miles north-east of Cairo.