What if the Egyptian Muhammad Ali dynasty did not wage campaigns to conquer Sudan?
In OTL this was part of the dynasty's expansionist scheme, and one motive for acting in this region is it seemed to be the only one where it could act unilaterally, with the European powers twice denying the Egyptians the fruits of victory in Syria at the conference table.
What if the dynasty left the Sudan region alone instead however? What other opportunities, or costs, would it open up for Egypt?
Would Egypt fall into debt receivership later or not at all without the costs of the Sudan campaigns?
Would Egypt fall into debt receivership earlier without the taxes imposed on Sudan?
If Egypt had remained solvent, could it have acted to become formally independent of the Ottoman Empire, and be actually independent (for at least a decade or so) during, for example, the Russo-Turkish War of 1876?