The fellahin rank-and-file would not have seen Mehmed Ali’s wars as national

Evidence

That struggle was a dynastic one and it was conceived of as such by him and his contemporaries. The wars that the Pasha fought, and in particular those that were waged against the Ottoman Sultan, could not therefore be viewed as wars of national independence, aimed at liberating the Egyptians from the “Turkish yoke,” nor could they be compared to those that the Greeks fought against the Sultan. Not only would the thousands of fellahin who made up the bulk of his fighting force have found this claim difficult to believe, but also the Pasha himself could think of these wars only along dynastic lines. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1537

Categorization

• XREF: Challenges the nationalist framing of Egypt’s modern military history; relevant to army origins.