Ahmed Bey, the Colonel of the 10th Regiment, who was appointed in charge of the fortress of Acre after its fall, wrote to Ibrahim Pasha complaining of the situation, and instead of requesting the dispatch of bedouin troops to catch the deserters, he suggested a simple, but effective solution: a roll-call (tadad), he said, should be taken twice a day; those found missing would be recorded as firar, i.e. as deserters, and when found a day or more later the penalty for desertion would be inflicted on them.

SEED: The passage highlights how bureaucratic accounting (daily roll-call) converted ambiguous absence into punishable desertion — a simple procedural fix replacing costly dispersed patrols. Could frame an essay on how paperwork systems solve military control problems. Builds on: "Surveillance techniques curbed peasants fleeing conscription in Egyptian villages."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 628