Toledano rightly points out one of the most important characteristics of the upper echelons of Egyptian society in the nineteenth century, namely the fact that its members had more in common with the urban elite members of other provinces of the Ottoman Empire than with the Arabic-speaking inhabitants of the province they were ruling.

XREF: Builds directly on loc 106's earlier claim that Ottoman-era Egypt was a vibrant society embedded in empire, specifying that even the ruling class was Ottoman-identified. DEFINE: Rebrackets 'Upper Egyptian society' as an Ottoman, not national-Arab, category. Builds on: "Ottoman-era Egypt was a vibrant society embedded in empire."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 106