Military modernization required first destroying Mamluk power in Egypt

Evidence

Before he undertook to train any troops along the new lines he was contemplating, however, the Pasha had to strengthen his own position as master of Egypt. This necessitated getting rid of the power of the Mamluks who had effectively been the warlords of the country for centuries. Learning from Sultan Selim’s unfortunate experience in dealing with his own old guard, Mehmed Ali knew only too well that any attempt to introduce modern tactics and training drills would have been met with staunch resistance on the part of the Mamluks who would rightly see in these new military techniques an attempt to abolish the old system which they had been monopolizing for centuries and to replace it by a new system in which their privileged positions would be seriously challenged. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 430

Categorization

• XREF: Ties into the reader’s interest in the performance of army expansion against entrenched Ottoman-era power structures.