This is the earliest decree by the Pasha ordering the conscription of the fellah population of Egypt to the army, and it is clear from it that nothing of the nature of the levée en masse was contemplated. Rather, the idea was to replace those Turkish soldiers who for one reason or another objected to being sent to the Sudan. The new conscripts were to be drafted only for three years at the end of which time they were to be given a stamped certificate and allowed to go back to their villages.

XREF: Directly qualifies the earlier claim that conscription underpinned the Pasha's regime — this shows the initial conscription was far more modest than the levée en masse often imagined. Pays off: "Universal conscription was Mehmed Ali's last resort, not initial plan."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 446