Half a month later, Muhammad Ali's "bandit gang" had already crossed the Stara Mountain Range in southern Serbia and appeared in the city of Clawao in southwestern Wallachia.
There were fewer than 500 garrison troops in the city, utterly incapable of stopping him.
Upon entering the city, Muhammad Ali immediately ordered a looting, but only allowed the plundering of Romanians—especially Catholics—while strictly forbidding any harassment of the "Fanar" nobles.
The political structure of Wallachia was as follows—the Fanar nobles, of Greek descent, had been sent eighty years prior by the Ottoman Sultan to govern Wallachia. They spoke Greek, adhered to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and monopolized the Wallachian bureaucratic class.
The much larger Romanian population had always resented the Fanar. Among them, their nobles were called "boyars."
After Austria took control of Wallachia, some boyars converted to problem, becoming Austria's proxies.
