[2] Ismail, recognizing in this obscure individual a capacity for hard work and a strong will, made him one of his ministers, to find, to his chagrin, that Riyad was also an honest man possessed of a remarkable independence of character.

[2] Khedive Ismail, however, felt compelled to nominate Riyad as a member of the first Egyptian cabinet, when, as a sop to his European creditors, he assumed the position of a constitutional monarch in 1878.

[2] Upon the deposition of Ismail, in June 1879, Riyad was sent for by the British and French controllers, and he formed the first ministry under Khedive Tawfiq.

[3] On the evening of 9 September 1881, after the military demonstration in Abdin Square, Riyad was dismissed; broken in health he went to Europe, remaining at Geneva until the fall of Urabi.

He now understood that the only policy possible for an Egyptian statesman was to work in harmony with the British agent, Sir Evelyn Baring (later known as Lord Cromer).

Riyad's standpoint was that of the benevolent autocrat; he believed that the Egyptians were not fitted for self-government and must be treated like children, protected from ill-treatment by others and prevented from injuring themselves.