Egyptian conscripts violently resisted quarantine orders, forcing military intervention.

Evidence

The reaction to the imposition of quarantines was no different. Seeing this as another abrupt intervention in their lives, soldiers attempted to evade the quarantines by all means. After spending nearly two years in Syria and being excited about going back home, soldiers disembarking at Damietta were asked to stay on board their ships for the duration of the quarantine. When they staged a minor mutiny in which the captain of the ship as well as the sentries were beaten by the soldiers, a battalion had to be sent from Cairo to assist the quarantine officials to restore order in the port. Quarantines imposed around certain camps in Syria were also difficult to maintain. In one incident, even after soldiers were warned that if they attempted to break through the quarantine they would be shot, they still dared to break the rules and eventually a trench was dug around the camp to force the soldiers to comply with the regulations. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1159

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in how Muhammad Ali’s soldiers resisted state discipline, paralleling the resistance of conscripts seen in other chapters on the army’s social origins.