Egyptian invasion of Sudan 1820-24

The Egyptian invasion of Sudan was a major military and technical feat. Fewer than 10,000 men set off from Egypt, but, with some local assistance, they were able to penetrate 1,500 km up the Nile to the frontiers of Ethiopia, giving Egypt an empire as large as western Europe. It was the first time that an invasion of Sudan from the north had penetrated so far; it involved two risky and unprecedented desert crossings; it necessitated the use of explosives to clear a way up the Nile; and it was an early instance of a small force with modern training, firearms and artillery defeating numerically much larger forces in Africa. Together with the campaigns and expeditions which followed it, the invasion roughly established the borders which Sudan has inherited today. The invading forces also made their headquarters at Khartoum in May 1821, from which time it soon developed into Sudan's capital city.

'You are aware that the end of all our effort and this expense is to procure negroes. Please show zeal in carrying out our wishes in the capital matter.' (Muhammad Ali to his son in law the Defterdar Muhammad Bey Khusraw, 23 September 1823)

Muhammad Ali wanted a large and steady supply of slaves to train into a modern army so he could deploy it in other parts of his empire to further his grand territorial ambitions. An army of Sudanese slaves would enable him to dispense with the mutinous Albanian and Turkish troops on whom he had been obliged to rely until then. After the conquest, Muhammad 'All constantly urged his commanders in Sudan to collect and send as many slaves as they could to the training camps at Aswan. Those who proved unfit for military service would be put to work in his many agricultural and industrial projects.

In addition, when Muhammad Ali had exterminated the Mamluks in Egypt in 1811, a remnant of them had fled south into Sudan and established themselves at Dongola. Although they posed no immediate threat, it was not uncommon for a defeated faction in Egyptian power struggles to flee upstream, waiting for the opportunity to descend once more on Cairo when circumstances changed in their favour. In 1812 Muhammad Ali had sent an embassy to the Funj Sultanate of Sennar asking them to clear the Mamluks out of Dongola, however neither the Funj rulers nor the Hamaj Regency had the military resources to do so.

...
Wikipedia