The question of whether the wars that the governor of Egypt waged during the first third of the nineteenth century were dynastic wars of imperialistic expansion or national wars of independence is central to understanding the whole of Mehmed Ali's career and, indeed, of the history of Egypt during his reign. If, as Toledano argues, Egypt was very much an Ottoman province, ruled by an Ottoman–Egyptian elite, then Marsot's claim that, unlike contemporary Ottoman notables "who had merely sought quasi-independence for their provinces but were content to remain within the empire, Muhammad Ali sought independence," has to be qualified. For even if it is granted that Mehmed Ali was seeking to get rid of the "Ottoman yoke" right from the beginning of his career, the question remains as to the nature of this independence. Could it be viewed as similar to the independence sought by the Greeks during their War of Independence when large sections of the population rose against their Ottoman rulers? Or is it more plausible to link Mehmed Ali's wars, as Shaw does, with a series of internal wars within the Ottoman Empire that were waged by local governors against central government control? If so, Mehmed Ali would appear, like Ali Pasha of Janina, Davud Pasha of Baghdad, or Amir Bashir of Lebanon as a local governor of an Ottoman province who seized the opportunity of the difficulties that the Ottoman Sultan was facing both internally and externally to try and expand his own local dominions. The reason why he succeeded where most of these local governors failed is seen as stemming from the fact that he managed to prepare for his military ventures by a complete and thorough reorganization of the province's economic, administrative and, above all, military systems.

XREF: Directly engages the historiographical debate named earlier at loc 103 about nationalist lenses distorting Ottoman-era interpretations. Also builds on loc 104's ambivalence toward the sultan. Builds on: "Ambivalence toward sultan reflected strategic rebellion, not identity crisis."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 199