
Khedive (, ota, خدیو, hıdiv; ar, خديوي, khudaywī) was an
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...
title of
Persian origin used for the
sultans and
grand viziers of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, but most famously for the
viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.
[Adam Mestyan]
"Khedive"
''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three'' (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 2:70–71.
It is attested in Persian poetry from the 10th century and was used as an Ottoman honorific from the 16th. It was borrowed into Turkish directly from Persian.
[ It was first used in Egypt, without official recognition, by ]Muhammad Ali Pasha
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...
, the ethnically Albanian governor of Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
and Sudan from 1805 to 1848. The initially self-declared title was officially recognized by the Ottoman government in 1867, and used subsequently by Ismail Pasha, and his dynastic successors until 1914.[Encyclopædia Britannica: Ismail Pasha, Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt](_blank)
/ref> The term entered Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic lan