Mehmed Ali seized most of the Sultan’s Arabic-speaking provinces by the mid-1830s

Evidence

Less than ten years later these words would prove to be most prophetic. In 1833, indeed, Mehmed Ali appeared as the most important vali in the Ottoman Empire, his strength and resources favorably competing with those of the Sultan himself. By the mid-1830s the Pasha had carved a small empire for himself at the expense of the Sultan’s own dominions. After firmly entrenching himself in Egypt he extended his control to Syria, the Hijaz, the Sudan, Crete and most of Yemen and Eastern Arabia, that is, most of the Sultan’s Arabic-speaking lands and some of his wealthiest provinces. Having wiped out two huge armies that the Sultan had mustered to confront him with, his forces then penetrated the heartland of the Ottoman Empire, Anatolia, and threatened the capital itself. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 187

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the reader’s stated purpose of understanding the nature of Mehmed Ali’s military expansion. — connects to: Mehmed Ali’s ambivalence toward the Sultan stemmed from his imperial ambitions; Mehmed Ali’s army briefly conquered Hijaz, Sudan, Syria and parts of Anatolia — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 75; Mehmed Ali’s Syrian campaign ran from 1831 to 1840. (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 187