Mehmed Ali and Mahmud II both destroyed hereditary military castes to adopt European-style drilling

Evidence

On the face of it, the military reforms of both Mehmed Ali and Sultan Mahmud II look strikingly similar. Both men were influenced by the nizam-i cedid army that Sultan Selim III established prior to his deposition in 1807. Both also realized that to start introducing new tactics and drills in their respective domains, they had to get rid of the traditional military castes that saw the introduction of such new techniques as a direct threat to their privileged positions. Mehmed Ali thus got rid of the Mamluks in the infamous massacre of the Citadel in 1811, and Mahmud got rid of the Janissaries in 1826, to pave the way for the introduction of new drills. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1375

Categorization

• XREF: Provides comparative frame between Cairo and Istanbul reforms central to the reader’s interest in Ottoman pashas’ performance.