On a deeper level, then, this chapter has argued that the significance of conscription in Mehmed Ali’s army exceeds the sheer weight of the number of those gathered or its impact on the demographic composition of the countryside. Conscription, the population’s aversion and reaction to it, and the government’s attempts to counteract this resistance formed the impetus for the implementation in Egypt of a radically different system of controlling and governing the country. Resorting to physical force as represented by the conscription gang was no longer thought effective in tapping the country’s human resources. Gradually a shift to more subtle, hidden techniques of power took place, represented by the tezkere, the register, and ultimately the census.

Builds on: "Conscription fundamentally transformed Egypt's government-population relationship."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 490