Initially the Pasha did not think of conscripting the fellahin of Egypt mainly because that would have meant moving productive labor from the agricultural sector which was the main source of revenue. Instead, he had his eye on the Sudan to supply him with docile, obedient soldiers for his new army, and in the summer of 1820 the Pasha dispatched two expeditions to the Sudan

Builds on: "Sudan's conquest served multiple state-building aims beyond gold."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 410