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| 1859 |
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| Port Said was founded. By 1914 it had grown into a city of about 50,000. | 1 |
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| 1862–66 |
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| Construction of the modern port of Suez. | 2 |
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| 1863–79 |
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| KHEDIVE ISMA’IL. This son of Muhammad Ali's son Ibrahim Pasha has figured among the most controversial personalities in modern Egyptian history. His pursuit of rapid development has ranked him among the leading modernizers of the period, but his excesses, which drove Egypt into bankruptcy and then occupation, have occasioned his condemnation as irresponsible and incompetent. He was the first ruler of the dynasty to use the Persian title of khedive, which he acquired from the Ottoman sultan in June 1867 as a way of elevating his status above that of other Ottoman governors. | 3 |
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| 1863 |
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| Founding of the Egyptian Museum, which indicated the advancement of the study of ancient Egypt. | 4 |
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| 1865 |
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| The Red Sea ports of Suakin and Massawa were ceded to Egypt by the Ottomans. | 5 |
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| 1866, May |
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| Change of the principle of succession from seniority to primogeniture. Isma’il obtained this privilege from the Ottoman sultan in return for a substantial increase in the annual tribute. Whereas succession had until then passed to the eldest male in accordance with the Ottoman decree of 1841, all subsequent rulers were descended from Isma'il. | 6 |
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| Nov |
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| Isma'il established the Assembly of Delegates (Majlis shura al-nuwwab), a parliamentary body of 75 members that began as a rubber stamp for the khedive but gradually developed a degree of independence. | 7 |
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