Ali Pasha Sherif

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Ali Pasha Sherif (also spelled Cherif) was known as a renowned breeder of Arabian horses in Egypt during the late 1800s. He was originally born Ali Bey, and was the son of El Sayed Mohammed, also known as Sherif Pasha, an Algerian who came to Egypt at the age of twelve. El Sayed was a brilliant student and had caught the eye of his distant relative, the Governor of Egypt, Muhammed Ali Pasha, who obtained admittance for him into an elite Egyptian boarding school. El Sayed Mohammed became an important administrator in Muhammed Ali's regime, serving as prime minister and eventually becoming Governor of Syria. Through this connection young Ali Bey developed a love of horses and horsemanship and developed contacts with many desert chieftains, as well as being exposed to the Arabian horses collected by Muhammad Ali and his successor Abbas I (also known as Abbas Pasha).

As a teen, Ali Bey attended French staff officer's school in Paris, and became an artillery colonel in Mohammed Ali's Egyptian Army. After the death of his father, Ali Bey received the title of Ali Pasha Sherif. In this capacity he served throughout the reign of Khedive Tewfik Pasha, and Abbas Hilmi Pasha. He first obtained a few Arabian horses while his father was governor of Egypt and obtained others directly from the breeding program of Abbas Pasha I.

When Abbas Pasha I was assassinated in 1854, his Arabian horses were inherited by his eighteen year old son El Hami Pasha, who had little interest in them, giving away several and putting the rest up for auction. In 1861, Ali Pasha Sherif purchased approximately 30 horses of the original Abbas Pasha stock. Ultimately, Ali Pasha had four hundred horses by 1873.

Ali Pasha Sherif was reputed to have kept extensive records and manuscripts about his stud, which were passed onto his son, Huseyn Bey Sherif, who refused to allow anyone to view them, and they are now considered lost.

In the last 1870s, a devastating epidemic of African horse sickness hit Egypt, killing thousands of horses, including many horses of prized bloodlines. Only the horses Ali Pasha had moved to upper Egypt were saved. As he aged, Ali Pasha Sherif's health also failed and he encountered financial and political problems, leading to many problems for his stud farm.

He made the fortuituous acquaintance of Wilfred and Lady Anne Blunt, in 1880. Though he was generally reluctant to sell horses to foreigners, he sold them the stallion Mesaoud in 1889 as well as other horses. In 1897 Ali Pasha Sherif died and a month later his remaining horses went up for auction. At that time, Lady Anne Blunt was able to purchase many of the best for Wilfred and Lady Anne's Sheykh Obeyd stud, later exporting some to their Crabbet Arabian Stud in England