Egyptian Sudan 4 Egyptian Sudan and English Policy In 1881, the Mahdist call arose in Sudan and the Urabi Revolution in Egypt at the same time, as if they were scheduled. English policy was apparent in both, because the English were watching Egypt, seizing opportunities if not taking them, an old plan they had devised since Napoleon landed in Egypt and threatened India in 1797. From that day on, the English created the concept of "the route of the Empire," which they pursued. After Napoleon's expulsion, and despite the Treaty of Amiens (1802) between them and France that Egypt's status would remain unchanged – the occupation of Egypt (1807) – Muhammad Ali, with French support, was able to assert his authority in Egypt when they realized the English intentions and their inability to resist them. The French, after expelling the English, continued to support Muhammad Ali and consolidate his rule, until he defeated Turkey and extended Egyptian rule to the Taurus Mountains, and established a vast empire of Egypt, Syria, and Sudan. But the English were watching him, and soon after Muhammad Ali's death in Egypt and the Levant, "they struggled and failed, and kept Egypt a Turkish province." Then they made Abbas I a tool in their hands, through whom the route to India passed through the heart of Egypt, and secured the transfer of troops from Alexandria to Suez, for which they built paved roads, and so on. They granted many concessions, and the ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, oversaw the construction of the Suez Canal, making it a route. ----. ---