Egyptian officers’ ranks depended on British recognition rather than Egyptian authority.

Evidence

Gordon also returned Fawzï’s honor, bestowing on him the high rank of liwä´ (general) of the army, and the title of pasha that this conveyed. It was to be Fawzï’s great frustration that he would have to fight for the legitimacy of this title for the rest of his life. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 528