Mehmed Ali sought hereditary personal rule, not national independence for Egypt

Evidence

In short, rather than seeing Mehmed Ali as striving to achieve independence on behalf of the Egyptian nation, and instead of viewing Great Britain as the main obstacle in this endeavor, this book has argued that Mehmed Ali was seeking the establishment of a secure personal rule for himself and his household in Egypt. His efforts in this regard were crowned with success when in 1841 the Sultan, with the acquiescence of Britain, granted him a firman bestowing on him the hereditary rule of Egypt. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1690

Categorization

• XREF: Directly answers the reader’s stated question about the nature of Mehmed Ali’s expansion.