Married officers needed Mehmed Ali’s personal approval to wed

Evidence

Those of Mehmed Ali’s mamluks who by the time of the Syrian campaign had been promoted to the ranks of major, adjutant-major and captains and who had not yet got married still needed the approval of the Pasha to get married; he would ask to see the “registers of their behavior (sicil ahlaklari)” before giving his consent; S/1/48/4/221 on 3 Ra 1249/21 July 1833. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1303

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: This paternalistic control over officers’ personal lives echoes the overarching theme of this book — Mehmed Ali treating the army as a household/family to be governed patriarchally.