Ali’s governorship of Egypt rested on his own power, not the Sultan’s consent

Evidence

Mehmed Ali was constantly aware that his position as vali of Egypt rested more on his personal strength than on the Sultan’s consent and satisfaction with him. The possibility of the Sultan expelling him from his post by force was therefore a likely one and if it were to happen, Syria would most probably be the place from which such an attack would be conducted. The reason for this mutual mistrust and apprehension goes back to the very early years of Mehmed Ali’s governorship. The previous Sultan, Sultan Selim III, did not forget the fact that Mehmed Ali was only installed in the pashalɩks of Egypt against his imperial wish. During the power struggle in 1803–5 Mehmed Ali proved himself to be the most capable commander among the various warring factions in that relatively remote but significantly wealthy province of the Empire, and the Sultan had to accept grudgingly the fact that Mehmed Ali did indeed control matters in Cairo whether he liked it or not. Jealous of his power and afraid of his influence and the possibility of his secession, the Sultan attempted to transfer Mehmed Ali to the pashalɩks of Salonika in 1806 only one year after he had been invested in the eyalet of Egypt. Musa Pasha of Salonika had actually arrived in Egypt to fulfill the imperial edict to replace Mehmed Ali as vali. On his arrival, however, Musa Pasha found that Mehmed Ali had much stronger support than the Ottomans originally thought he had and the Ottoman commanders were convinced that the force that Musa had with him was inadequate to dislodge Mehmed Ali from Egypt. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 218