Even mid-level Egyptian governors quietly defied the state for local ties

Evidence

In spite of the harsh penalties by which the authorities attempted to bring them under firm control, some shaykhs managed through various ways to side with their fellow villagers rather than act as reliable agents of the government in Cairo blindly executing its orders. This was the case not only with the village shaykhs, but also with the district governors (ḥākims of the khuṭṭs) and the department governors (nāirs of the qisms) who showed their loyalty to their fellow countrymen by a tightly guarded silence and a calculated pretense at ignorance of their local environment. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 479