Abbas was born on 1 July 1812 in Jeddah and was brought up in Cairo. Being the grandson of Muhammad Ali, he succeeded his uncle Ibrahim Pasha in ruling Egypt and Sudan in 1848.
As a young man, he fought

Abbas has been often described as a mere voluptuary, but Nubar Pasha spoke of him as a true gentleman of the "old school". He was seen as reactionary, morose and taciturn, and spent nearly

During the Crimean War Abbas gave the Sultan of Turkey use of his naval fleet of 12 warships as well as 19,000 troops and 72 guns. The number of troops was later increased to 40,000.

1. ^ Williams 1999, p. 248
2. ^ Williams 1999, p. 253
3. ^ Hoiberg 2010, p. 8
4. ^ Thorne 1984, p. 1
5. ^ Goldschmidt, Jr. 2000, p. 2

Abbas was inaccessible to adventurers bent on plundering Egypt and Sudan of riches, and kicked out all foreign business. However, at the insistence

Among Abbas' personal interests was the breeding of Arabian horses, which was said to be the overriding passion of his life. He continued a

On 13 July 1854, Abbas was murdered in the Benha Palace by two of his slaves. It was said that his cruelty to his servants was a motive for the