Muhammad Sa’id Pasha

• He was born on March 17, 1822 in Alexandria
• He received his education in Paris. He adopted a western life approach and was fluent in both English and French.
• His father sent him to join the fleet. He was promoted until he became the Admiral of the fleet.
• On July 14, 1854, he became the ruler of Egypt.
• He exerted great efforts to make the conditions of farmers better, so he gave them the right to own agricultural lands which is considered one of his greatest reforms. He also abolished the monopoly system of the agricultural crops and relieved the tax burden on the people.
• He enacted the regulation of pensions for retired employees who have reached the retirement age. This is the basis upon which the pension system in Egypt is built.
• He was known for his love to the army that he was interested in promoting the conditions of the soldiers. He often spent his days in the army camp, where he made a great effort to improve the conditions of the army. He decided to shorten the length of military service and made it obligatory for everyone.
• He established the Nile navigation company in 1854 and the marine navigation company in 1857.
• He did not direct his attention to Education. This is considered as a point of weakness during his era.
• He reshuffled the government bureaus (divans) to have four ministries: Ministries of “Interior”- “Finance”- “War”- “Foreign Affairs”.
• The Sultan gave him the right to choose the judges instead of the Chief Justice who used to be the only one entitled to appoint them. He achieved judicial independence for Egypt in addition to the fact that he prevented a source of corruption in the judicial system.
• Sa'id granted Ferdinand de Lesseps the concession to dig the Suez Canal. The drilling of the Canal began in 1859. His era was considered as the onset of economic freedom.
• He passed away on January 18, 1863.