The Pasha clearly had in mind the idea of creating a conscript army in which the soldiers would be firmly dominated by their officers. He once told a distinguished French visitor, “I have not done in Egypt except what the British are doing in India; they have an army composed of Indians and ruled by British officers, and I have an army composed of Arabs ruled by Turkish officers … He added, however, that he was determined to forbid these Turkish-speaking immigrants from legally acquiring land in Egypt and “from becoming proprietors and creating for themselves a personal leverage over the population.”

XREF: Connects the Pasha's army-building to British colonial practice in India, a parallel Mehmed Ali himself drew explicitly. SEED: An essay could explore how colonial military models migrated across imperial contexts — Egypt borrowing from British India to control Arabs.

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 1306