Wounded Egyptian soldiers classified half-disabled were kept in army, not released

Evidence

After being treated for their wounds, the sakat (lit., the fallen), as the disabled were referred to, were checked by the hakimbaşɩ, the chief doctor of the hospital. Those who were found not to be completely disabled and who were still capable of bearing arms would be designated as yarɩm sakat, i.e. half-disabled, and would be retained in the army. When enough of those half-disabled soldiers had been so designated they would be grouped together to form a battalion and a sakat officer would be appointed as their commander. Alternatively, they were appointed within military units, not in fighting positions, but as, e.g, trumpeters or drummers. When the army had no need for them but they could still be used for other jobs, they were not released or sent back to their villages, but were formed in companies, had a “half-disabled” officer appointed as a commander and assigned to perform various tasks. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1340

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the technical terms sakat and yarım sakat — the army’s own categories for wounded soldiers.