Opposition to European intervention in Egypt's internal…

Opposition to European intervention in Egypt's internal affairs emerges from the Assembly of Delegates, which Ismail had created in 1866, and from the Egyptian army officers.

The assembly, composed mainly of Egyptian notables, has no legislative power.

It is Ismail's attempt to associate the Egyptian notables with his financial policies, and thus, to demonstrate support for his taxes and foreign loans.

The presence of Egyptian officers in the army results from the 1854 decree of Sa'id, who had ordered the sons of village notables to join the army.

Sa'id had allowed them to be trained as officers and to rise to the rank of colonel, but the top posts in the army continue to be held by members of the Turco-Circassian elite.