And perhaps in response to Holt and Daly, Ramadan also discounts the idea that slavery attracted Muhammad Alï to the Sudan and that the invasion amplified the trade. Rather, the trade in slaves existed long before the Egyptians con- quered the Sudan, and that trade was only one of the resources Muham- mad Alï hoped to exploit. Finally, Ramadan negates the possibility of imperialism because, unlike in Europe, there was no bourgeoisie in Egypt, no class of capitalists who could really generate markets for Sudanese goods at the time of the invasion.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 187