Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt

Who was Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt?

Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager. In the final year of his life, he succeeded his still living father as ruler of Egypt and Sudan, due to the latter's ill health. His rule also extended over the other dominions that his father had brought under Egyptian rule, namely Syria, Hejaz, Morea, Thasos, and Crete. Ibrahim pre-deceased his father, dying 10 November 1848, only four months after acceding to the throne. Upon his father's death the following year, the Egyptian throne passed to Ibrahim's nephew, Abbas.

Ibrahim remains one of the most celebrated members of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, particularly for his impressive military victories, including several crushing defeats of the Ottoman Empire. Among Egyptian historians, he, along with his father, Muhammad Ali, his son, Ismail the Magnificent, and his great-grandson Abbas II, is held in far higher esteem than other rulers from the dynasty, who were largely viewed as indolent and corrupt. Today, a statue of Ibrahim occupies a prominent position in Egypt's capital, Cairo.