Khedive

For the HMS Khedive, see USS Cordova.

Khedive (from Persian for "lord", also known as "viceroy") was a title granted to governor and monarch of Egypt Ismail Pasha in 1867 by his nominal overlord the Ottoman Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz. From 1882, Egypt was under British military occupation but the Khedive remained on his throne and the country was still nominally under Ottoman sovereignty. When World War I broke out in 1914, Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire and was ruled by a Khedive.

Egypt had gained the position after Mehemet Ali led a rebellion against the Ottoman sultan and became the ruler of Egypt. Ismail's son Tewfik Pasha inherited the title, as did Tewfik's son Abbas. Abbas was deposed by the British in 1914 because he declared war on the United Kingdom due to the fact that his nominal overlord the Ottoman Sultan was on Germany's side, and the title ended with him. Later rulers were known as Pashas. After the Ottoman empire sided with Germany in World War I, however Britain deposed the Khedive and declared Egypt a British protectorate.

See also

• Rulers and heads of state of Egypt