Ibrahim Pasha

• He was born in 1789, in the village of Nasratly, Greece.
• As soon as his family returned to Egypt he was appointed the Citadel’s ruler on August 28, 1805.
• On December 13, 1807, he left Istanbul for Egypt and became “Defterdar”- the Minister of Finance then.
• In April 1812, he ruled Upper Egypt along with being the Minister of Finance.
• In 1813, he was the official surveyor of the land of Egypt. According to Muhammad Ali Pasha’s directives, he collected the data of the agricultural land. Moreover, he made a documentation on the area and it is considered one of the most important urban works of Muhammad Ali Pasha.
• His father made him the head of the Egyptian Army in the Wahabi wars (1816 – 1819), where he achieved a great success by conquering the Wahabi capital “Diriyah”.
• In 1829, he headed the Advisory Board. Among his competencies was addressing the civil and military administrative issues. He also made huge reforms in Sharkia Directorate.
• The Ottoman Sultan appointed him the governor of Jeddah, the Great Mosque of Mecca, and Medina.
• Ibrahim Pasha became the commander of the Egyptian troops in the Greek and Levant Wars. He conquered Damascus and defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Konya.
• On September 2, 1848, he became the ruler of Egypt as per the Sultan's decree because of his father’s sickness.
• He granted the agricultural lands to those who want to cultivate them, and exempted them from taxes if they needed reclamation. He established the Agricultural Credit Bank to provide the necessary advances to cultivate the lands.
• He devoted great attention to the sugar industry, as he cultivated vast areas of it. He as well established a steam-powered sugar refining plant, and established a factory known as “Al-Qasr Al-A’ly”.
• He made reforms to the commercial court system and he preferred free trade over the monopoly system put in place by Muhammad Ali Pasha.
• He built several palaces in Cairo, including: Qubba Palace, El-Maghara Palace, and the Al-Qasr Al-A’ly Palace.
• During his reign, the number of forts increased to twenty-five, and he was interested in completing the fortifications of Alexandria by supplying it with soldiers and weapons. He also ordered the paving of a military road from Alexandria to Abu Qir and Rashid to transport soldiers and weapons to the forts.
• He developed a plan to establish public schools in the main cities in accordance with the system used in Egypt, and a regular school was established.
• He passed away on November 10, 1848.