Mehmed Ali promoted officers on handwriting quality as well as merit.
Evidence
30 A number of these letters survive; see for example, S/1/48/1/362 and 363 both on 18 Za 1239/16 July 1824; S/1/48/1/440 on 8 Ca 1240/30 December 1824 in which the Pasha approves the promotion of a certain Hüseyin Efendi because he has good handwriting (yazisi hoş); S/1/48/2/384 on 4 Z 1241/10 July 1826; Sham 10/251, on 29 Ra 1248/27 August 1832. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 990
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- CANDY: “Promoted for good handwriting” is a light, memorable bureaucratic oddity.
Related
- Mehmed Ali initially accepted illiterate officers due to time pressure (similarity 0.80)