Al-Zubayr blamed Egyptian misrule of Sudan on ignorance of Sudanese customs.

Evidence

But civilization and modern culture could not be brought to these regions unless accompanied by a true understanding of the customs and beliefs of the inhabitants. The governor really had to understand those whom he governed. This was why, according to al-Zubayr, the Egyptian government (the Turks, as he and other Sudanese termed the government) was never able to hold on to the Sudan. They did not possess any understanding of the Sudanese “and treated them as if they were the inhabitants of Cairo, or Istanbul.” — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 565

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the reader’s stated goal: the ‘Turks’ (Egyptian government) treated Sudan as extension of Cairo, a central colonial-failure mechanism.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing how far this ‘civilizational misapplication’ argument recurs across Egyptian vs British colonial discourse on Sudan.