Note 192 — Chapter XIV · THE BRITISH IN AFRICA, III (Egypt and Eastern Africa.)

The dynasty of Muhammad Ali may be said to have begun in 1841, in which year it was recognised and made hereditary by Turkey; but Muhammad Ali was the ruler of Egypt (as Pasha) from 1811, after the slaughter of the Mamluk Beys. His sons and son-in-law conquered for him Syria and Western Arabia and the northern part of the Sudan. The conquests west of Sinai were given up in 1841 but in that year he became the Vali or Viceroy over Egypt and the Sudan, the succession to that post to fall to his male descendants. His immediate successor was his grandson Abbas bin Tusūn; then followed the rule of his favourite son, Said bin Muhammad. Said was succeeded in 1863 by his nephew Ismail, son of Ibrahim, the reputed eldest son of Muhammad Ali. But according to some accounts Ibrahim, the great conqueror, was only the adopted son of Muhammad Ali. The present Khedive of Egypt is the great-grandson of Ibrahim, but he is also descended from Muhammad Ali through his mother, Princess Amina, who was the great-great-granddaughter of Muhammad Ali through Tusūn. The title of Khedive (a Persian word meaning prince) was conferred on the Pasha or Viceroy of Egypt in 1867.