Al-Tahtawï viewed European colonialism as a model for Egypt to emulate in Sudan

Evidence

To inculcate this sense among his readers, al-Tahtawï drew sharp lines along Egypt’s borders. Israel Altman suggests that this increased sense of geographic and national specificity was al-Tahtawï’s response to European colonialism, which he realized was beginning to target Islamic countries.Al- Tahtawï’s proposed remedy was “that each Islamic country integrate, on an individual basis, in the European political structure.” But European colonialism was less a threat to al-Tahtawï and more a model, offering great promise for Egypt’s future colonial expansion in its natural site, the Sudan. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 235

Categorization

• XREF: Directly evidences the reader’s core comparative question: Egyptian elites as both colonized (by Ottomans/Europe) and colonizer (of Sudan), a dual position central to sub-imperialism literature.
• QUESTION: How common was this ‘learn from the colonizer to become one yourself’ stance among other sub-imperial elites (Japan, Ethiopia, etc.)?