Most scholars of Egyptian history now agree that the political and economic changes that occurred in the early nineteenth century had their origins not in the French invasion of 1798 but rather in events that occurred in Egypt itself in the latter half of the eighteenth century, when political and military power is consolidated in the hands of the Mamluk Ali Bey al Kabir (1760-66) and his successor, Muhammad Bey Abu adh Dhahab (1772-75).

Before 1760, a balance of power and separate spheres of influence is maintained by the Mamluk beylicate, which controls the civil administration and derives its revenues from the rural tax farms, and by the Mamluks, who dominate the military and derive their revenues from the urban tax farms and the customs house.

Ali Bey gains control of the military in 1760 and drives the sultan's governor from the country.

He issues firmans (decrees) in his own name, redirects the state revenues to his own use, and attempts to recreate the medieval Mamluk empire by invading Syria.

In addition, Ali Bey tries to strengthen commercial ties with Europe by encouraging trade and attempting to open the port of Suez to European shipping.

Ali Bey rules only briefly, but his successors, especially Muhammad Bey, continue his policies.

These two beys effectively eliminate Ottoman control and reposition Egypt at the center of a newly emerging network of international relationships that embraces the lands of the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea coasts, and Europe.

Thus, Napoleon Bonaparte does not "open" an isolated Egypt to the West, nor is Muhammad Ali Pasha in the nineteenth century the originator of the policies responsible for Egypt's transformation.

Only Ali Bey's dramatic expulsion from the country and Muhammad Bey's premature death of a fever prevent them from using the authority they had acquired to carry on those policies that are associated with Egypt's revival in the nineteenth century.