A firman, or royal decree, granted by Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire to the ruler of Egypt, Albanian-born general Muhammad Ali Pasha, in 1841. Following Ali’s successful rebellion against the Sultan, the latter agreed to name him the hereditary khedive (viceroy) of Egypt, effectively recognizing his independence, in return to an Egyptian withdrawal from Syria and other areas. The boundary thus established, which left most of the Sinai Peninsula under Ottoman control, became the first recognized border between Egypt and Syria/Palestine.