Egyptian regular troops harassed Syrian civilians worse than Ottoman irregulars had

Evidence

There are various examples that show the discrepancy between the impressive picture portrayed by such internment devices as the tezkere, for example, and the actual performance of the soldiers on the camps. For instance, on visiting the local market in Acre, Vehid Efendi, Ibrahim Yeğen’s scribe, saw Egyptian soldiers roaming in the market, abusing the local population and insulting the shopkeepers. One of these shopkeepers approached him and complained bitterly of the behavior of the troops. He told him that they had never been so humiliated and insulted before, and that even the irregular troops of the previous Ottoman vali, Dervis Pasha, had been behaving better, adding that “when we heard that Ibrahim Pasha was arriving at the head of a formidable regular army we were relieved, thinking that you will comfort us (rahat edeceğiniz deyerek).” — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1172

Categorization

• XREF: Contradicts the previous chapter’s account of tezkere paperwork presenting an impressive disciplinary facade — echoes the author’s running thesis about document-vs-reality in the Egyptian army.