Universally considered to have sown the first seeds of an Egyptian sense of nationalism, al-Tahtawï also set down on paper important tropes about the Sudan, a place he despised yet considered intrinsic to the territo- rial and historical integrity of Egypt. On one hand, al-Tahtawï made his concept of watan (homeland) legendary with his historical perspective on Egypt's place in the Nile Valley. On the other, his disparaging remarks about the "blackness" of the Sudanese offer an important introduction to the racial constructions of the Sudanese that influenced many writers after his time.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 114