Monarchs of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty reigned over Egypt from 1805 to 1953. During the 19th century, their rule also extended to Sudan as well as other parts of the Middle East, notably Syria. The Muhammad Ali Dynasty was founded by Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian tobacco trader who came to Egypt in 1801 as part of an expeditionary force sent by the Ottoman Empire to repel the French invaders led by Napoleon Bonaparte. The defeat and departure of the latter left a power vacuum in Egypt, which had been an Ottoman province since the 16th century. After a long three-year civil war, Muhammad Ali managed to consolidate his control over Egypt, and was officially recognized by the Ottoman Porte as Egypt's new wāli (Arabic word for governor or viceroy) on 18 June 1805, succeeding Ahmad Khurshid Pasha in that position.

Muhammad Ali's family became a dynasty as such when he was granted hereditary control over Egypt in 1840 with the Convention of London. Muhammad Ali had a 43-year reign, the longest in the history of modern Egypt. Called the "father of modern Egypt," he is generally viewed as the dynasty's most important ruler, due to his massive agricultural, administrative and military reforms. His son Ibrahim Pasha was the shortest-reigning monarch of the dynasty. The duration of his rule varies from one source to another, depending on whether or not his reign as regent is taken into account. Contrary to what the short length of his reign might suggest, Ibrahim Pasha is far from being a historically negligible figure, although most of his significant achievements were made before his ascension to the throne. His successor Abbas Helmi I, a traditionalist described by Lord Cromer as "an Oriental despot of the worst type," reverted many of his predecessors' reform-minded measures, and is considered the most controversial ruler of his family. Sa'id Pasha and Isma'il Pasha were far more open to Western influence, and continued the process of expansion and modernization set up by Muhammad Ali, but on a more lavish scale. Isma'il Pasha is especially notable for his inauguration of the Suez Canal and his Haussmann-inspired rebuilding of Cairo. However, his costly policy of Europeanisation left the country bankrupt; as a consequence, European creditors greatly expanded their influence over Egypt's internal affairs. Isma'il's son Tawfiq Pasha became increasingly powerless following the Urabi Revolt, and was turned into a puppet ruler following the British occupation in 1882. After his death, his son Abbas Helmi II tried unsuccessfully to detach himself from the influence of the British, who ended up deposing him in 1914. The following reign, that of Hussein Kamel, lasted only three years and was thus little more than an interregnum. Hussein Kamel's successor Fouad I was a far more historically significant figure. Described by historian Philip Mansel as "the last great royal patron of history," his reign was marked by the 1919 Revolution and Egypt's resultant independence from the United Kingdom. Fouad's son Farouk I was Egypt's last monarch to exercise real popular. After his forced abdication in 1952, his son Fouad II continued to reign as a nominal king-in-exile until the monarchy was formally abolished on 18 June 1953.

Rulers of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty governed Egypt as absolute monarchs until constitutional rule was established in August 1878. Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Egyptian monarchy emerged as the most important in the Middle East. Powerless during the British occupation, Egypt's monarchs saw their powers increased following the establishment of an independent kingdom and the subsequent adoption of the 1923 Constitution, the most liberal in the country's history. Although King Fouad I often ruled as an autocrat and overrode some provisions of the Constitution, Egypt had the freest parliament in the Middle East. During Fouad's reign and that of his son Farouk, Egypt witnessed six free parliamentary elections and enjoyed a free press as well as an independent judiciary. According to Philip Mansel, "the Egyptian monarchy appeared so splendid, powerful and popular that King Farouk's ignominious end seems inexplicable." The Muhammad Ali Dynasty's downfall is often regarded as having begun with the Abdeen Palace Incident of 1942, which greatly discredited the King. It accelerated with the growing discontent of Egypt's armed forces following the country's defeat in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Disgruntled members of the military formed the Free Officers Movement, which led a coup d'état on 23 July 1952, thereby marking the beginning of the July 1952 Revolution. The military coup in Egypt was the first ever in the modern Arab world, and was a crucial event in the region's history; it ushered in the era of Pan-Arabism and had a domino effect, leading to similar military overthrows of the monarchies of Iraq (1958), North Yemen (1962) and Libya (1969). Egypt has had a republican form of government since the end of monarchical rule. Although the establishment of genuine democratic rule was one of the six core principles of the Revolution, political parties were banned in 1953 and the country was turned into a military dictatorship. The thriving pluralism that characterized political life during the Muhammad Ali Dynasty was thus brought to an end. Even tough a multi-party system was officially restored in Egypt in 1976, the country has never recovered the level of political freedom it had enjoyed during the monarchy. In common with most deposed royal families, the Muhammad Ali Dynasty was initially vilified by the new revolutionary regime. Nonetheless, it has undergone reevaluation in the last few years; nostalgia for the former monarchy has been steadily growing in Egypt, largely fuelled by the airing in 2007 of a hugely successful serial about the life of King Farouk I.

List of monarchs

Ottoman Province (1805–1867)

From 1805 to 1867, Egypt remained a nominal Ottoman province governed by a wāli on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan, although it was de facto autonomous and ruled by its wālis in a quasi-independent manner. Despite their subservient status, Egypt's wālis enjoyed far more political power than their descendants, who were to rule the country as nominally independent sultans and kings decades later. Throughout the 19th century, the legal fiction of Ottoman suzerainty was nonetheless symbolically maintained through Egypt's payment of an annual tribute. Moreover, although the Muhammad Ali Dynasty became a hereditary monarchy in 1840, each new ruler had to receive a firman (Arabic word for decree) from the Ottoman Sultan appointing him as wāli in order to be formally invested with his office. Until 1866, Egypt's laws of succession followed the principle of agnatic seniority, which means that the reigning wāli always had to be the eldest male member of the dynasty. Rulers thus inherited the throne based on their age, not on their degree of proximity. This explains why none of Ibrahim Pasha's successors was directly succeeded by his own son.

Wāli	Portrait	Relationship with predecessor	Reigned from	Reigned until	Fate
Muhammad Ali Pasha محمد علي باشا		—	18 June 1805	20 July 1848	Replaced by Ibrahim Pasha due to poor health; Died in Alexandria in 1849.
Regency Council assuming the powers of Wāli Muhammad Ali Pasha (15 April 1848 – 20 July 1848)
Ibrahim Pasha إبراهيم باشا		Presumed son	20 July 1848	10 November 1848	Reigned until his death.
Abbas Helmi I عباس حلمي الأول		Nephew	10 November 1848	13 July 1854	Reigned until his death; Assassinated in unclear circumstances.
Sa'id Pasha سعيد باشا		Half-uncle	14 July 1854	18 January 1863	Reigned until his death.
Isma'il Pasha إسماعيل باشا		Half-nephew	19 January 1863	8 June 1867	Became Khedive.

Ottoman Khedivate (1867–1914)

On 8 June 1867, Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz granted Isma'il Pasha the title of Khedive, which ranked higher than that of Vizier but lower than that of Caliph. The Khedivate of Egypt was still nominally part of the Ottoman Empire and its ruler was still appointed and dismissed by an imperial firman. Nevertheless, the Khedive of Egypt actually exercised some sovereign powers, including the appointment of his council of ministers, the rector of Al-Azhar, and high-ranking military and naval officers. He could also sign treaties with foreign powers and borrow money for the state treasury. On 17 May 1866, the rule of succession in Egypt was changed from one based on agnatic seniority to one based on male primogeniture in the direct line of Isma'il Pasha. After the British occupied Egypt in 1882, the Khedive's exercise of power was greatly limited by the advice of the British agent and consul general, who became the de facto ruler of the country.

Khedive	Portrait	Relationship with predecessor	Reigned from	Reigned until	Fate
Isma'il Pasha إسماعيل باشا		See above	8 June 1867	26 June 1879	Deposed by Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II under pressure from the UK and France; Died in exile in Istanbul in 1895.
Tawfiq Pasha توفيق باشا		Son	26 June 1879	7 January 1892	Reigned until his death.
Abbas Helmi II عباس حلمي الثاني		Son	8 January 1892	19 December 1914	Deposed by the British following the outbreak of World War I; Abdicated in 1931; Died in exile in Geneva in 1944.

Sultanate (1914–1922)

On 19 December 1914, Abbas Helmi II was deposed by the United Kingdom while he was on a visit to Vienna due to his anti-British stance. The British severed Egypt's nominal ties to the Ottoman Empire, thus ending Egypt's status as a khedivate. Prime Minister Hussein Rushdi Pasha served as acting head of state until Abbas Helmi II's half-uncle Hussein Kamel was chosen by the British as Egypt's new monarch. For a brief while, the British had considered putting an end to the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and installing Aga Khan III as ruler. Hussein Kamel took the title of Sultan of Egypt (preceded by the untranslatable style of Sa Hautesse), thereby putting him on an equal footing with the Ottoman Sultan. However, the end of nominal Ottoman suzerainty over Egypt did not result in genuine independence; the Sultanate of Egypt was a British protectorate where real power lay in the hand of the High Commissioner.

Sultan	Portrait	Relationship with predecessor	Reigned from	Reigned until	Fate
Hussein Kamel حسين كامل		Half-uncle	19 December 1914	9 October 1917	Reigned until his death.
Fouad I فؤاد الأول		Half-brother	9 October 1917	15 March 1922	Became King.

Kingdom (1922–1953)

On 28 February 1922, the United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt. As a result, Sultan Fouad I issued a decree on 15 March 1922 whereby he adopted the title of King of Egypt. It has been reported that the title change was due not only to Egypt's newly independent status, but also to Fouad I's desire to be accorded the same title as the newly installed rulers of the newly created kingdoms of Hejaz, Syria and Iraq. However, the Kingdom of Egypt's independence was only nominal, and British influence remained pervasive, as evidenced by the Abdeen Palace Incident of 1942, which almost led to Farouk I's forced abdication. In October 1951, Prime Minister Mustafa el-Nahhas introduced, and Parliament approved, decrees unilaterally abrogating the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 and proclaiming Farouk I King of Egypt and the Sudan. The move was intended to further Egypt's claims over the Sudan, an Anglo-Egyptian condominium since 1899.

King	Portrait	Relationship with predecessor	Reigned from	Reigned until	Fate
Fouad I فؤاد الأول		See above	15 March 1922	28 April 1936	Reigned until his death.
		Regency Council assuming the powers of King Farouk I (8 May 1936 – 29 July 1937)
		Aziz Ezzat Pasha	Chairman Prince Muhammad Ali	Sherif Sabri Pasha
Farouk I فاروق الأول		Son	28 April 1936	26 July 1952	Forced to abdicate following a military coup by the Free Officers; Died in exile in Rome in 1965.
Revolution
Cabinet assuming the powers of King Fouad II (26 July 1952 – 2 August 1952)		Regency Body assuming the powers of King Fouad II (2 August 1952 – 7 September 1952)			Prince regent assuming the powers of King Fouad II (7 September 1952 – 18 June 1953)
Prime Minister Ali Maher Pasha		Bahey El Din Barakat Pasha	Chairman Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim	Rashad Mehanna	Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim
Fouad II فؤاد الثاني		Son	26 July 1952	18 June 1953	Monarchy abolished; Currently lives in exile.

See also

• Muhammad Ali Dynasty
• Muhammad Ali Dynasty family tree
• History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty
• History of Sudan under Muhammad Ali and his successors

Notes

References

General

• Egyptian Royalty by Ahmed S. Kamel, Hassan Kamel Kelisli-Morali, Georges Soliman and Magda Malek.
• L'Egypte D'Antan... Egypt in Bygone Days by Max Karkegi.

Specific

Bibliography