The Muhammad Ali dynasty ( Usrat Muhammad 'Ali; Albanian: Dinastia e Muhamed (Mehmet) Ali Pashës; Turkish: Mehmet Ali Pasa Hanedani, Kavalalilar Hanedani) was the ruling dynasty of Egypt and Sudan, from the 19th to the mid-20th Century. It is named after its progenitor, Muhammad Ali Pasha, regarded as the founder of modern Egypt. It was also more formally known as the Alawiyya dynasty ( al-Usra al-'Alawiyya). Because a majority of the rulers from this dynasty bore the title Khedive, it was often referred to by contemporaries as the 'Khedival dynasty'.