Muhammad Ali dynasty
Egypt, 1805–1922.
An Ottoman officer, Muhammad Ali, made himself master of Egypt and started a programme of modernisation. His heirs, the khedives, built the Suez Canal, but debt led to British occupation in 1882.
Seat of power: Cairo
Rulers
Muhammad Ali
Wali (Governor) of Egypt, 1805–1848
Eliminated the Mamluk leaders in 1811, took control of nearly all farmland and set state monopolies on crops such as cotton. He built a conscript army, factories and schools, and sent students to study in Europe.
Portrait of Muhammad Ali: Auguste Couder, Public domain, file
Isma'il Pasha
Khedive, 1863–1879
Wanted Egypt to be part of Europe and spent on railways, canals, palaces and a modern quarter of Cairo. Huge foreign loans led to bankruptcy, European control of the finances and his removal by the Ottoman sultan in 1879.
Portrait of Isma'il Pasha: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- The Bulaq Press, founded in 1820, prints books in Arabic and Turkish.
- The Suez Canal opens in 1869, and Verdi's opera Aida premieres at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo in 1871.
- Downtown Cairo is laid out on a Parisian model, with wide boulevards and squares.
Picture
The Khedivial Opera House in Cairo, built for the opening of the Suez Canal. It burned down in 1971.
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
