Revolt suppressed
128-830: The Mahdist State , also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya , was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad al-Mahdi ) against the Khedivate of Egypt , which had ruled Sudan since 1821. After four years of struggle, the Mahdist rebels overthrew the Ottoman -Egyptian administration and established their own "Islamic and national" government with its capital in Omdurman . Thus, from 1885
256-745: A doubled-edged sword. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened and quickly became a key economic lifeline for the British Empire in India and the Far East. To defend this waterway, Britain sought a greater role in Egyptian affairs. In 1873, the British government therefore supported a programme whereby an Anglo-French debt commission assumed responsibility for managing Egypt's fiscal affairs. To appease
384-479: A lack of resources, and unemployed soldiers from disbanded units troubled garrison towns. Tax collectors arbitrarily increased taxation. In this troubled atmosphere, Muhammad Ahmad ibn as Sayyid Abd Allah , who combined personal charisma with a religious and political mission, emerged, determined to expel the Turks and restore Islam to its original purity. The son of a Dongola boatbuilder, Muhammad Ahmad had become
512-542: A large Anglo-Egyptian fleet on the way and surrendered. The Mahdist navy fought its last battle on 11 or 15 September 1898, when the Anglo-Egyptian gunboat Sultan encountered the Safia near Reng. The two ships fought a short battle, and the Safia was badly damaged before being boarded and captured. The Bordein was eventually captured when Omdurman fell to the Anglo-Egyptian forces. At the start of his insurgency,
640-520: A large class of unemployed and disaffected army officers within the country. The disastrous war with the Ethiopian Empire of 1875–1876 also angered the officers, who felt that the government had sent them unwisely into the conflict. A public consciousness was developing in Egypt during this period, literacy was spreading, and more newspapers were being published in the 1870s and 1880s, such as
768-513: A military camp. The Mahdiyah equalized its male citizenry in totalitarian asceticism, mandating communal jibba ; and firmly excluded women from all public space. The Mahdi dissolved all fiqh , insisting on the literal meaning of the Quran . Sharia courts enforced Islamic law and the Mahdi's precepts, which had the force of law. A contemporary scout on behalf of Muhammad as-Sanusi described
896-408: A military coup, similar to those made about the 1952 movement. Among Western European historians, especially British, there was a traditional view that the ʻUrabi revolution was nothing more than a "revolt" or "insurrection" and not a real social revolution. By far the most influential Englishman in Egypt, Lord Cromer , wrote a scathing assessment of the ʻUrabists in his Modern Egypt . While this view
1024-474: A more distinctly local origin, such as the prediction that the Mahdi would ride the sheikh's pony and erect a dome over his grave after his death. Drawing from aspects of the Sufi tradition that were intimately familiar to both his followers and his opponents, Muhammad Ahmad claimed that he had been appointed as the Mahdi by a prophetic assembly or hadra (Arabic: Al-Hadra Al-Nabawiyya, الحضرة النبوية). A hadra, in
1152-865: A new base in the Nuba Mountains . The Mahdi and a party of his followers, the Ansār (helpers, known in the West as "the Dervishes "), made a long march to Kurdufan . There he gained numerous recruits, especially from the Baqqara , and notable leaders such as Sheikh Madibbo ibn Ali of the Rizeigat and Abdallahi ibn Muhammad of the Ta'aisha tribes. They were also joined by the Hadendoa Beja , who were rallied to
1280-593: A number of central beliefs about the Mahdi, including that he was created from the sacred light at the centre of Muhammad's heart, and that all living creatures had acknowledged the Mahdi's claim since his birth. Muhammad Ahmad framed the Mahdiyya as a return to the early days of Islam, when the Muslim community, or Ummah , was unified under the guidance of Muhammad and his immediate successors. Later, in order to distinguish his followers from adherents of other Sufi sects,
1408-639: A probing/scouting attack at the Battle of Kafr El Dawwar to determine whether or not Cairo could be advanced on from Alexandria, However the British concluded that the Egyptian defences were too strong, so in September of that year a British army was landed in the Canal Zone. The motivation for the British intervention is still disputed. The British were especially concerned that ʻUrabi would default on Egypt's massive debt and that he might try to gain control of
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#17327658604641536-525: A reappointment as governor general, arranged to supervise the evacuation of Egyptian troops and officials and all foreigners from Sudan. After reaching Khartoum in February 1884, Gordon soon decided he could not extricate the garrisons, and called for reinforcements. The British government repeatedly refused to provide them, but Gordon disobeyed orders, preparing for a siege, and eventually British popular support forced Prime Minister Gladstone to mobilize
1664-418: A refuge in the area, he wrote appeals to the sheikhs of the religious orders and won active support or assurances of neutrality from all except the pro-Egyptian Khatmiyyah . Merchants and Arab tribes that had depended on the slave trade responded as well, along with the Hadendoa Beja , who were rallied to the Mahdi by an Ansar captain, Osman Digna . Ahmad's new polity functioned as a jihad state , run like
1792-455: A relief force under the command of Lord Garnet Joseph Wolseley . The force arrived too late: the first troops on steamboat reached Khartoum on 28 January 1885, to find the town had fallen two days earlier. The Ansar had waited for the Nile flood to recede before attacking the poorly defended river approach to Khartoum in boats, slaughtering the garrison, killing Gordon, and delivering his head to
1920-548: A result, Sheikh Sharif expelled his former student from the Samaniyya Order and, despite numerous attempts at reconciliation by Muhammad Ahmad, his mentor refused to make peace. After recognizing that the split with Sheikh Sharif was irreconcilable, Muhammad Ahmad approached another respected leader of the Samaniyya Order named Sheikh al-Qurashi wad al-Zayn. Muhammad Ahmad resumed his life of piety and religious devotion at Aba Island. During this period, he also traveled to
2048-533: A tribe could spark genocidal reprisals. Abdallahi's massacre of the grain-farming Juhaina tribe strained Sudan's food supply, and then an 1888 drought broke it entirely. Sudan fell into famine , even as it continued wars of conquest. Regional relations remained tense throughout much of the Mahdiyah period, largely because of the Khalifa's commitment to using jihad to extend his version of Islam throughout
2176-432: Is still held by many, there has been a growing trend to call the ʻUrabi uprising a real revolution, especially amongst newer historians who tend to emphasize social and economic history and to examine native, rather than European, sources. The earliest published work of Augusta, Lady Gregory —later to embrace Irish nationalism and have an important role in the cultural life of Ireland—was Arabi and His Household (1882),
2304-604: The hajj pilgrimage to Mecca . The Mahdi justified these as responses to instructions conveyed to him by God in visions. The Mahdist State had a large military which became increasingly professional as time went on. From an early point, the Mahdist armies recruited defectors from the Egyptian Army and organized professional soldiers in the form of the jihadiya , mostly Black Sudanese. These were supported by tribal spearmen and swordsmen as well as cavalry. The jihadiya and some tribal units lived in military barracks, while
2432-596: The Battle of Shaykan . The defeat of Hicks also resulted in the fall of Darfur to the Ansār, which until then had been effectively defended by Rudolf Carl von Slatin . Jabal Qadir in the south was also taken. The western half of Sudan was now firmly in Ansārī hands. Their success emboldened the Hadendoa, who under the generalship of Osman Digna wiped out a smaller force of Egyptians under the command of Colonel Valentine Baker near
2560-672: The Bayyudah Desert from Wadi Halfa under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Stewart . This force was attacked by the Hadendoa Beja , or " Fuzzy Wuzzies ", twice, first at the Battle of Abu Klea and two days later closer to Metemma. Twice the British square held and the Mahdists were repelled with high losses. At Metemma, 100 miles (160 km) north of Khartoum, Wolseley's advance guard met four of Gordon's steamers, sent downriver to provide speedy transport for
2688-572: The Danagla mostly wore simple white robes ( tobe ). The Beja also did not adopt the jibba until 1885. As time went on and the Mahdist State became better organized under Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad's leadership, its armies became more and more professional. By the 1890s factories in Omdurman and provincial centers were mass-producing jibba to provide the troops with clothing. Although
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#17327658604642816-510: The Egyptian network required transshipment via steamer from Asyut to Wadi Halfa. The Sudanese system retains the incompatible gauge to this day.) Anglo-Egyptian units fought a sharp action at Abu Hamad, but there was little other significant resistance until Kitchener reached Atbarah and defeated the Ansar. After this engagement, Kitchener's soldiers marched and sailed toward Omdurman , where
2944-487: The Khalifa (successor)—could not unite his followers against foreigners, as the foreignors had already been defeated and expulsed. The Khalifa was too illiterate to present himself as another prophet; and the elites in other tribes owed him no personal loyalty. Quickly, he purged the Mahdiyah of the Mahdi's family and many of his early religious disciples. But he remained wary, and even the slightest hint of disloyalty in
3072-632: The Red Sea port of Suakin . Major General Gerald Graham was sent with a force of 4,000 British soldiers and defeated Digna at El Teb on 29 February. Two weeks later he suffered high casualties at Tamai , and Graham eventually withdrew his forces. After much debate the British decided to abandon Sudan in December 1883, holding only several northern towns and Red Sea ports, such as Khartoum , Kassala , Sannar , and Sawakin . The evacuation of Egyptian troops and officials, and other foreigners from Sudan
3200-572: The Sublime Porte hesitated to employ troops against Muslims who opposed foreign colonial rule. ʻUrabi asked the Sultan to depose Tewfiq, but again the Sultan hesitated. On the afternoon of June 11, 1882 the political turmoil exploded into violence on the streets of Alexandria . Rioters attacked Greek , Maltese and Italian businesses and battles broke out in the streets. About fifty Europeans and 250 Egyptians were killed. The exact cause of
3328-491: The Suez Canal . On September 13, 1882, the British forces defeated ʻUrabi's army at the Battle of Tell El Kebir . ʻUrabi was captured and eventually exiled to the British colony of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ). While the British intervention was meant to be short-term, it persisted until 1956. Egypt was effectively made a colony until 1952. Both the British and the Khedival government did their best to discredit ʻUrabi's name and
3456-940: The Ulema , or orthodox religious authorities, rejected Muhammad Ahmad's claim as the Mahdi. Among his most prominent critics were the Sudanese Ulema loyal to the Ottoman Sultan and employed by the Turco-Egyptian government . Examples were the Mufti Shakir al-Ghazi, who sat on the Council of Appeal in Khartoum, and the Qadi Ahmad al-Azhari in Kordofan. These critics were careful not to deny the concept of
3584-523: The Umma (Nation) political Party in the period before and just after Sudan became independent in 1956. In modern-day Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad is sometimes considered to be a precursor of Sudanese nationalism. The Umma party claim to be his political descendants. Their former leader, Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi , was the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, and also the imam of the Ansār, the religious order that pledges allegiance to Muhammad Ahmad. Sadiq al-Mahdi
3712-609: The jibba still varied in their style, with certain tribes and armies favoring certain patterns and colors, the Mahdist forces became increasingly professional in appearance. The jibba also indicated a fighter's rank within the Mahdist armies. Lower-ranking commanders ( emirs ) wore more colorful and elaborate jibba . The most senior military leadership preferred the most simple designs, however, to indicate their piety. The Khalifa wore plain white. Some Mahdist troops possessed mail armour, helmets, and quilted coats, although these were more often used in parades than in combat. One unit within
3840-407: The siege of Khartoum . After the Nile had receded from flood stage, one of Gordon's pashas (officers), Faraz Pasha, had opened the river gates and let the Ansār in. The garrison was slaughtered, the male population massacred, and the women and children enslaved. Gordon was killed fighting the Mahdi's warriors on the steps of the palace, where he was hacked to pieces and beheaded. When Gordon's head
3968-558: The 1870s was under foreign influence, corruption, misgovernment, and in a state of financial ruin. Huge debts rung up by its ruler Ismaʻil Pasha could no longer be repaid, and under pressure from the European banks that held the debt, the country's finances were being controlled by representatives of France and Britain via the Caisse de la Dette Publique . When Ismaʻil tried to rouse the Egyptian people against this foreign intervention, he
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4096-536: The 1952 revolution, the image of ʻUrabi, at least officially, has generally improved, with a number of streets and a square in Cairo bearing his name, indicating the honored position he has in the official history. Historians have in general been divided, with one group seeing the revolt as a push for liberalism and freedom on the model of the French Revolution and others arguing that it was little more than
4224-412: The 29 June 1881 declaration by Muhammad Ahmad as the Mahdi, he believed that the man would be satisfied with a government pension, and he sent Ahmad a friendly letter. The Mahdi telegraphed an uncompromising reply, saying, "He who does not believe in me will be purified by the sword." Mohammed Rauf Pasha sent a small party to arrest the Mahdi on Aba Island, but on 11 August 1881 it was overwhelmed , and
4352-613: The Anglo-Egyptian forces until captured in January 1900. However, the most long-lasting Mahdist holdouts survived in Darfur, despite the fact that Mahdist rule had already been collapsing there before the Anglo-Egyptian reconquest. The holdouts were concentrated at Kabkabiya (led by Sanin Husain ), Dar Taaisha (led by Arabi Dafalla), and Dar Masalit (led by Sultan Abuker Ismail). The reestablished Sultanate of Darfur consequently had to crush
4480-446: The Ansar overcame an earlier aversion to the use of European weaponry ( guns ). To the west, the Mahdist uprising was able to count on existing resistance movements. The Turkish rule of Darfur had been resented by locals, and several rebels had already begun revolts. Baggara rebels under Rizeigat chief Madibo (Madibbu 'Ali) pledged themselves to the Mahdi and besieged Darfur's Governor-General Rudolf Carl von Slatin , an Austrian in
4608-515: The Ansār that they were unable to penetrate the city. Once the waters rose, Stewart used gunboats on the Nile to conduct several small skirmishes and in August managed to recapture Berber for a short time. But Stewart was killed soon after in another foray from Berber to Dongola, a fact Gordon learned only in a letter from the Mahdi himself. Under increasing pressure from the public to support Gordon,
4736-467: The Ansār, armed only with spears and swords, overwhelmed a 4,000-man Egyptian force not far from El-Obeid , and seized their rifles and ammunition. The Mahdi followed up this victory by laying siege to El-Obeid and starving it into submission after four months. The town remained the headquarters of the Ansār for much of the decade. The Ansār, now 40,000 strong, defeated an 8,000-man Egyptian relief force led by British officer William Hicks near Kashgil, in
4864-487: The British Government under Prime Minister Gladstone eventually had ordered Lord Garnet Joseph Wolseley to relieve Gordon. He was already deployed in Egypt due to the attempted coup there earlier, and organized a large force of infantry, but advanced at an extremely slow rate. Realizing they would take some time to arrive, Gordon pressed Wolseley to send forward a " flying column " of camel-borne troops across
4992-611: The British rebuilt the town 15 years later, no Ottoman-style architecture remained. The newly-captured wealth may have wrought a change in Mahdist standards of behavior: according to his enemies, "publicly [the Mahdi] continued to urge moderation on his followers, but in private he indulged in Turkish sensualities." His companions may have behaved similarly. Certainly, the Mahdist administration responded to its new finances. The beit al-māl , or public treasury, began to disburse funds to
5120-477: The European domination of top positions was preventing their own advancement. The heavily taxed Egyptian peasants were also annoyed by their taxes going to Europeans who lived in relative wealth. Egyptians resented not only Western European domination but also the Turks , Circassians and Albanians , who controlled most other elite positions in the government and military. Albanian troops had come to Egypt along with Muhammad Ali and helped him to take control of
5248-623: The Italians repulsed an Ansar attack at Akordat (in Eritrea ) and forced the Ansar to withdraw from Ethiopia. As the Mahdist government became more stable and well-organized, it began to implement taxes and implement its policies throughout its territories. This negatively impacted its popularity in much of Sudan, as many locals had joined the Mahdists to gain autonomy while removing a centralist and oppressive government. In Darfur, rebellions against Abdallahi ibn Muhammad's rule broke out because he
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5376-500: The Khalifa made his last stand . On 2 September 1898, the Khalifa committed his 52,000-man army to a frontal assault against the Anglo-Egyptian force, which was massed on the plain outside Omdurman. The outcome was never in doubt, largely because of superior British firepower. During the five-hour battle, about 11,000 Mahdists died, whereas Anglo-Egyptian losses amounted to 48 dead and fewer than 400 wounded. Mopping-up operations required several years, but organized resistance ended when
5504-414: The Khalifa organized workshops to manufacture ammunition and to maintain river steamboats. Abdallahi also authorized the burning of lists of pedigrees and books of law and theology because of their association with the old order and because he believed that the former accentuated tribalism at the expense of religious unity. The Mahdi modified Islam's five pillars to support the dogma that loyalty to him
5632-455: The Khalifa, who had escaped to Kordufan , died in fighting at Umm Diwaykarat in November 1899. Although the Khalifa had retained considerable support until his death, many areas welcomed the downfall of his regime. Sudan's economy had been all but destroyed during his reign and the population had declined by approximately one-half because of famine, disease, persecution, and warfare. Before
5760-578: The Khedive ordered ʻUrabi's regiment to leave Cairo. He refused and ordered the dismissal of the Turco-Circassian generals and the creation of an elected government. Unable to oppose the revolt, Tewfiq agreed and a new chamber of deputies and government were established containing a number of ʻUrabi's allies. On January 8, 1882, the French and British sent a joint note that asserted the primacy of
5888-476: The Khedive to abdicate in 1877 for his more politically acceptable son, Tawfiq (reigned 1877–1892). In 1879, Egypt fell into the chaos of the Urabi revolt , and shortly thereafter Gordon resigned. His successors lacked direction from Cairo , and Sudanese discontent grew rapidly. The illegal slave trade revived, although not enough to satisfy the merchants whom Gordon had bankrupted. The Sudanese army suffered from
6016-432: The Khedive's authority. The note infuriated the parliamentarians and ʻUrabi. The government collapsed; a new one with ʻUrabi as Minister of War was created. This new government threatened the positions of Europeans in the government and also began laying off large numbers of Turco-Circassian officers. This broad effort at reform was opposed by European interests, many of the large landowners, the Turkish and Circassian elite,
6144-628: The Mahdi as such, but rather to discredit Muhammad Ahmad's claim to it. They pointed out that Muhammad Ahmad's manifestation did not conform to the prophecies laid out in the Hadith literature. In particular, they argued for the political interests of the Turco-Egyptian government and its British rulers, that his manifestation did not conform with the "time of troubles" "when the land is filled with oppression, tyranny, and enmity". When Governor General Muhammad Rauf Pasha in Khartoum learned of
6272-446: The Mahdi encouraged his followers to wear similar clothing in form of the jibba . As a result, the core army of the Mahdi and Abdallahi ibn Muhammad had a relatively regulated appearance from an early point. In contrast, other armies of supporters and allies initially did not adopt the jibba and maintained their traditional appearances. Riverine forces recruited from the Ja'alin tribe and
6400-513: The Mahdi forbade the use of the word darwish (commonly known as "dervish" in English) to describe his followers, replacing it with the title Ansār , the term which Muhammad used for the people of Medina who welcomed him and his followers after their flight from Mecca . Despite his popularity among the clerics of the Samaniyya and other sects, and among the tribes of western Sudan, some of
6528-562: The Mahdi in 1883 by Osman Digna , an Ansār captain in eastern Sudan. The Mahdist revolution was backed by the northern and western regions of Sudan. It also found great support from the Nuer , Shilluk and Anuak tribes of southern Sudan, in addition to the tribes of Bahr Alghazal . This widespread support affirmed that the Mahdist Revolution was a national rather than regional revolution. In addition to unifying different tribes,
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#17327658604646656-571: The Mahdi proclaimed a jihad , or holy war, against the Egyptians, Khartoum dismissed him as a religious fanatic. The Egyptian government paid more attention when his religious zeal turned to denunciation of tax collectors. To avoid arrest, the Mahdi and a party of his followers, the Ansar , made a long march to Kurdufan , where he gained a large number of recruits, especially from the Baggara . From
6784-469: The Mahdi's supporters, the Ansār , established many of its theological and political doctrines. After Muhammad Ahmad's unexpected death from typhus on 22 June 1885, his chief deputy, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad took over the administration of the nascent Mahdist State. The Mahdist State, weakened by his successor's autocratic rule and inability to unify the populace to resist the British blockade and subsequent war,
6912-420: The Mahdi's tent. Kassala and Sennar fell soon after, and by the end of 1885, the Ansar had begun to move into the southern region. In all of Sudan, only Sawakin , reinforced by Indian army troops, and Wadi Halfa on the northern frontier remained in Anglo-Egyptian hands. The Mahdists destroyed Ottoman Khartoum, building a new capital across the river at Omdurman. All buildings were demolished and ransacked; when
7040-523: The Mahdist State to the west began to provide the Darfurian rebels with troops and other support. Faced with a growing number of rebels, the Mahdist rule in Darfur gradually collapsed. The Mahdist era became known as the umkowakia in Darfur—the "period of chaos and anarchy". In 1892, Herbert Kitchener (later Lord Kitchener) became sirdar , or commander, of the Egyptian army and started preparations for
7168-932: The Mahdist armies, the Mulazimiyya , adopted a full uniform, as all their members wore identical white-red-blue jibba . The Mahdist State and its armies had no uniform flags, but still used certain designs repeatedly. Most flags carried four lines of Arabic texts which signified allegiance to God, Muhammad, and the Mahdi. The flags were usually white with colored borders, and the text displayed in varying colors. Most military units had their own individual flags. 15°38′54″N 32°29′03″E / 15.64833°N 32.48417°E / 15.64833; 32.48417 Muammad Ahmad bin Abdullah Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Fahal ( Arabic : محمد أحمد بن عبد الله بن فحل ; 12 August 1843 – 21 June 1885)
7296-467: The Mahdist government maintained sovereignty and control over the Sudanese territories until its existence was terminated by the Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1898. Mohammed Ahmed al-Mahdi enlisted the people of Sudan in what he declared a jihad against the administration that was based in Khartoum , which was dominated by Egyptians and Turks. The Khartoum government initially dismissed the Mahdi's revolution; he defeated two expeditions sent to capture him in
7424-425: The Mahdist loyalists in a series of lengthy wars. The Kabkabiya holdout under Sanin Husain persisted until 1909, when it was destroyed by the Sultanate of Darfur after a siege of 17 or 18 months. The Mahdi's direct family did not participate in the Mahdist resistance, and instead regained substantial power during the remaining British occupation . A descendant of his would win 1986 Sudanese parliamentary elections ,
7552-414: The Mahdist regime acted to strictly prohibit them. The Ottoman fez was also forbidden. The Khalifa instituted appointed Ansar (usually Baqqara) as amirs over each of the several provinces. Borderland provinces were under martial law , while internal provinces funded military expenditures. The Khalifa also ruled over rich Al Jazirah . Although he failed to restore this region's commercial wellbeing,
7680-479: The Mahdist soldiers "dervishes". Muhammad Ahmad's early insurgent force which was mostly recruited among the poor Arab communities living at the Nile. The later armies of the Mahdiyah were recruited among various groups, including mostly autonomous groups such as the Beja people . The early forces of the Mahdi were termed the "ansar", and divided into three units led by a Khalifa. These units were termed raya ("flags") in accordance to their standards. The "Black Flag"
7808-402: The Mahdists. The captured steamboats were armed with light artillery pieces, and crewed by Egyptians as well as Sudanese. The Mahdist navy also used supply ships. In October 1898, parts of the Mahdist navy were sent up the White Nile to assist the expedition against Emin Pasha 's forces. The Ismailiah was sunk on 17 August 1898 as it was placing naval mines on the Nile near Omdurman to block
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#17327658604647936-461: The Nile to safeguard a planned irrigation dam at Aswan. In 1895, the British government authorized Kitchener to launch a campaign to reconquer Sudan. Britain provided men and materiel while Egypt financed the expedition. The Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force included 25,800 men, 8,600 of whom were British. The remainder were troops belonging to Egyptian units that included six battalions recruited in southern Sudan. An armed river flotilla escorted
8064-536: The Sudan in order to provide a counter to the Ansār. London rejected both proposals, and so Gordon prepared for a fight. In March 1884, Gordon tried to stage an offensive to clear the road northward to Egypt, but a number of the officers in the Egyptian force went over to the enemy and their forces fled the field after firing a single salvo. This convinced him that he could carry out only defensive operations, and he returned to Khartoum to construct defensive works. By April 1884, Gordon had managed to evacuate some 2,500 of
8192-409: The Sufi tradition, is a gathering of all the prophets from the time of Adam to Muhammad , as well as many Sufi holy men who are believed to have reached the highest level of affinity with the divine during their lifetime. The hadra is chaired by Muhammad, known as Sayyid al-Wujud, and at his side are the seven Qutb , the most senior of whom is known as Ghawth az-Zaman. The hadra was also the source of
8320-467: The advance of Anglo-British gunboats. One mine accidentally exploded, destroying the ship. The Safia and Tawfiqiyeh , towing barges with 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers, were sent up the Blue Nile against French forces holding Fashoda on 25 August 1898. There, the two ships attacked the fort, but the Safia broke down and was exposed to heavy fire before being towed to safety by the Tawfiqiyeh . The Tawfiqiyeh subsequently retreated to Omdurman, but encountered
8448-434: The authentic voice of the people of Egypt. To them, he represented a peasant population frustrated with tax-exempt foreigners and wealthy local landlords. ʻUrabi commanded the respect and support of not only the peasantry but also a large portion of the Egyptian army. Tension built over the summer of 1881 as both the Khedive and the Egyptian officers, now led by ʻUrabi, searched for supporters and gathered allies. In September
8576-471: The battle at Sheikan, he ordered all Sufi orders under his control to disband, lest they divide the Ansar ideologically. The advance of the Ansar and the Hadendowa rising in the east imperiled communications with Egypt and threatened to cut off garrisons at Khartoum, Kassala, Sennar , and Suakin and in the south. To avoid being drawn into a costly military intervention, the British government ordered an Egyptian withdrawal from Sudan. Gordon, who had received
8704-406: The belief of the Samaniyya prior to Muhammad Ahmad's pronouncement. The previous Samaniyya leader, Sheikh al-Qurashi Wad al-Zayn, had asserted that the long-awaited-for redeemer would come from the Samaniyya line. According to Sheikh al-Qurashi, the Mahdi would make himself known through a number of signs, some established in the early period of Islam and recorded in the Hadith literature. Others had
8832-408: The city . The coastal batteries returned fire. The French fleet, also at Alexandria, refused to participate. A large British naval force then tried to capture the city. Despite encountering heavy resistance, the British forces succeeded, forcing the Egyptians to withdraw. As revolts spread across Egypt, the British House of Commons voted in favour of a larger intervention. The British army launched
8960-455: The commission, the Egyptians allowed Christian missionaries to proselytize throughout the Sudan. Meanwhile, Khedive Ismail appointed the Briton Charles George Gordon as governor-general of the Sudan. Gordon's (and the general British) commitment to abolition squarely opposed the traditional Sudanese economy, which was coming to center on the slave trade now that ivory sources were being exhausted. The debt commission eventually forced
9088-458: The country and were highly favoured by the Khedive. Ottoman Turkish was still the official language of the army and Turks were more likely to be promoted. In the ruling cabinet under Khedive Tewfiq, every member was a Turco-Circassians. The growing fiscal crisis in the country forced the Khedive to drastically cut the army. From a height of 94,000 troops in 1874, its strength was cut to 36,000 in 1879, with plans to shrink it even more. This created
9216-453: The course of a year. The Mahdi's power increased, and his call spread throughout Sudan, with his movement becoming known as the Ansar . During the same period, the 'Urabi revolution broke out in Egypt, with the British occupying the country in 1882. Britain appointed Charles Gordon as General-Governor of Sudan . Months after his arrival in Khartoum and after several battles with the Mahdi rebels, Mahdist forces captured Khartoum , and Gordon
9344-596: The death of his father, his brothers Mohammed and Hamed, who continued to trade and built boats. Then the family moved to live in Khartoum for a short time, where their mother, Zainab bint Nasr, died and was buried. While his siblings joined his father's trade, Muhammad Ahmad showed a proclivity for religious study. He studied first under Sheikh al-Amin al-Suwaylih in the Gezira region south of Khartoum , and subsequently under Sheikh Muhammad al-Dikayr 'Abdallah Khujali near
9472-537: The disciple of Muhammad ash Sharif , the head of the Sammaniyah Sufi order. Later, as a sheikh of the order, Muhammad Ahmad spent several years in seclusion and gained a reputation as a mystic and teacher. In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself the Mahdi ("expected one"). Some of his most dedicated followers regarded him as directly inspired by Allah. He wanted Muslims to reclaim the Quran and hadith as
9600-617: The early 19th century, Egypt had begun to conquer Sudan and subjugated it as a source of human and material resources. This period became locally known as the Turkiyya , i.e. the "Turkish" rule by the Eyalet and later Khedivate of Egypt . The name was something of a misnomer: the Egyptians recruited local Sudanese for initially low-level, and then later quite high-level official posts. Egyptian control integrated Sudan into global commercial networks, but Egypt's trans-Mediterranean links proved
9728-529: The early rebellion, as the insurgents took control of boats operating on the Nile. In May 1884, the Mahdists captured the steamboats Fasher and Musselemieh , followed by the Muhammed Ali and Ismailiah . In addition, several armed steamboats which had been supposed to aid Charles Gordon's besieged force were wrecked and abandoned in 1885. At least two of these, the Bordein and Safia , were salvaged by
9856-411: The east bank of the Nile, Kitchener captured the former capital of Nubia by September. The next year, the British constructed a new rail line directly across the desert from Wadi Halfa to Abu Hamad , which they captured in the Battle of Abu Hamed on 7 August 1897. (The 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge, hastily adopted to make use of available rolling stock, meant supplies from
9984-448: The end of 1885, the Ansār had begun to move into the southern regions of Sudan. In all of Sudan, only Suakin , reinforced by Indian troops, and Wadi Halfa on the northern frontier remained in Anglo-Egyptian hands. Five months after the capture of Khartoum, Muhammad Ahmad died of typhus . He was buried in Omdurman near the ruins of Khartoum. The Mahdi had planned for this eventuality and had chosen three deputies to replace him. After
10112-548: The ensuing Battle of Gallabat , the Ethiopians withdrew. Overall, the war with Ethiopia mostly wasted the Mahdists' resources. Abd ar Rahman an Nujumi , the Khalifa's best general, invaded Egypt in 1889, but British-led Egyptian troops defeated the Ansar at Tushkah . The failure of the Egyptian invasion ended the myth of the Ansars' invincibility. The Belgians prevented the Mahdi's men from conquering Equatoria , and in 1893,
10240-525: The field even as he fell ill. Six months after the capture of Khartoum, the Mahdi died, probably of typhus (22 June 1885). The task of establishing and maintaining a government fell to his deputies—three caliphs chosen by the Mahdi in emulation of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Rivalry among the three had begun even before the Mahdi's death, when he had unequivocally favored Abdallahi ibn Muhammad as his wazir over members of his own clan. Nevertheless,
10368-436: The final defeat of the Khalifa by the British under General Kitchener in 1898, Muhammad Ahmad's tomb was destroyed to prevent it from becoming a rallying point for his supporters. His bones were thrown into the Nile. Kitchener was said to have retained his skull and, in the words of Winston Churchill , "carried off the Mahdi's head in a kerosene can as a trophy". Allegedly the skull was later buried at Wadi Halfa . The tomb
10496-412: The first relieving troops. They gave Wolseley a dispatch from Gordon claiming that the city was about to fall. Moments later a runner brought in another message, claiming the city could hold out for a year. Deciding to believe the latter, the force stopped while they refit the steamers to hold more troops. They finally reached Khartoum on 28 January 1885, to find the town had fallen two days earlier during
10624-495: The force, which also had artillery support. In preparation for the attack, the British established an army headquarters at the former rail head Wadi Halfa and extended and reinforced the perimeter defenses around Sawakin. In March 1896, the campaign started as the Dongola Expedition . Despite taking the time to reconstruct Ishma'il Pasha 's former 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge railway south along
10752-415: The foreign population who had been able to make the trek northwards. His mobile force under Colonel Stewart returned to Khartoum after repeated incidents when the 200 or so Egyptian forces under his command would turn and run at the slightest provocation. That month the Ansār besieged Khartoum, and Gordon was completely cut off. But his defensive works, consisting mainly of mines , proved so frightening to
10880-457: The foundational sources of Islam, creating a just society. Specifically relating to Sudan, he claimed its poverty was a virtue and denounced worldly wealth and luxury. For Muhammad Ahmad, Egypt was an example of wealth leading to impious behavior. Muhammad Ahmad's calls for an uprising found great appeal among the poorest communities along the Nile, as it combined a nationalist, anti-Egyptian agenda with fundamentalist religious certainty. Even after
11008-477: The high-ranking ulama (Muslim clergy), Syrian Christians , and most of the wealthiest members of society. In contrast, it had the support of most of the population, including lower-level ulama, the officer corps, and local leaders. Copts were divided: their close affiliation with Europeans angered many and sometimes made them a target, but the deep rivalry between Coptic and Syrian Christians led many to align with rebels. The Coptic Patriarch lent his support to
11136-504: The influential Abu Naddara . Published by Yaʻqūb Ṣanūʻ , a Jew of Italian and Egyptian origins also known as "James Sanua", this Paris-based publication was a political satire magazine that often mocked the establishment under European control, and it increasingly irritated the ruling powers as well as the Europeans as it favoured reform and revolutionary movements. It had a wide reach since, unlike many other publications, Abu Naddara
11264-431: The insurrection in southern Sudan began to grow. Rauf Pasha downplayed the "affray" in his report to Cairo , and sent the governor of Kordofan to Aba Island with 1,000 soldiers to crush the Mahdi. When they arrived, they found the Mahdi had fled to the southwest. The soldiers marched after him, but gave up the pursuit when the September rains flooded the roads and riverbeds; they returned to El-Obeid . The Mahdi established
11392-468: The khedive's service, at Dara. Slatin's dhimmi religion already depressed morale amongst his men, and his chief lieutenant had married a close relation to the Mahdi. Slatin was captured in 1883, and more Darfuri tribes consequently joined the revolutionaries. Mahdist forces soon took control of most of Darfur. At first, the regime change was very popular in Darfur. The Mahdiya's consistent military success also helped consolidate Ahmad's power. Following
11520-475: The land as "a burning country, dying and reeking of death". Early in 1882, the Ansar, armed with spears and swords, overwhelmed a British-led 7,000-man Egyptian force not far from Al Ubayyid and seized their rifles, field guns and ammunition. The Mahdi followed up this victory by laying siege to Al Ubayyid and starving it into submission after four months. The Ansar, 30,000 men strong, then defeated an 8,000-man Egyptian relief force at Sheikan . In these actions,
11648-402: The last years of the monarchy, authors became more critical of the old establishment and especially of the British, and ʻUrabi is sometimes portrayed as a hero of freedom and constitutionalism ʻUrabi's Revolt had a long-lasting significance as the first instance of Egyptian anti-colonial nationalism, which would later play a major role in Egyptian history . Especially under Gamal Abdel Nasser ,
11776-431: The most recent fair and free elections as of 2024, mainly on the support of the (modern) Ansar . The Mahdiyah (Mahdist regime) has become known as the first genuine Sudanese nationalist government. However, the Mahdi maintained that his movement was not a religious order that could be accepted or rejected at will, but that it was a universal regime, which challenged man to join or to be destroyed. The state's administration
11904-512: The people as Nasser. During Nasser's experiment with Arab socialism , the ʻUrabi revolt was also sometimes put in a Marxist context. Also during President Anwar Sadat 's infitah (economic liberalisation) period, in which there was growing, controlled, economic liberalization and growing ties with the Western European bloc, the government played up the desire of the ʻUrabists to draft a constitution and have democratic elections. After
12032-503: The poor, becoming a social services organization. Those women captured in the siege who had surviving male relatives or husbands were released to the same, but the many captives without a male guardian addled the Mahdist ideal of female seclusion. The Mahdi prescribed that they should be "married", and himself took three wives. The Mahdi also struggled to delegate responsibilities. Justice was slow, as court decisions required his personal approval; and he continued to command his officers in
12160-469: The population by more than half. Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi declared all people who did not accept him as the awaited Mahdi to be infidels ( kafir ), ordered their killing and took their women and property. The British reconquered Sudan in 1898, ruling it after that in theory as a condominium with Egypt but in practice as a colony. However, remnants of the Mahdist State held out in Darfur until 1909. From
12288-459: The province of Kordofan , west of Khartoum, where he visited with the notables of the capital, El-Obeid . They were enmeshed in a power struggle between two rival claimants to the governorship of the province. On 25 July 1878, Sheikh al-Qurashi died and his followers recognized Muhammad Ahmad as their new leader. Around this time, Muhammad Ahmad first met Abdallahi bin Muhammad al-Ta'aishi, who
12416-437: The reconquest of Sudan. The British thought they needed to occupy Sudan in part because of international developments. By the early 1890s, British, French, and Belgian claims had converged at the Nile headwaters. Britain feared that the other colonial powers would take advantage of Sudan's instability to acquire territory previously annexed to Egypt. Apart from these political considerations, Britain wanted to establish control over
12544-611: The rest were more akin to militia. The Mahdist armies also possessed limited artillery, including mountain guns and even machine guns. However, these were few in numbers, and thus only used as defenses for important towns and to the river steamers that acted as the state's navy. In general, the Mahdist armies were highly motivated by their belief system. Exploiting this, the Mahdist commanders used their riflemen to screen charges by their melee infantry and cavalry. Such attacks often proved effective, but also led to extremely high losses when employed "unimaginatively". The Europeans generally called
12672-476: The revolt is uncertain; both the Khedive and ʻUrabi have been blamed for starting it, but there is no proof of either allegation. As the city's garrison was maintaining the coastal defence batteries, an ultimatum was sent demanding the batteries be dismantled under threat of bombardment. The ultimatum was ignored, and the British fleet off Alexandria under Admiral Beauchamp Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester bombarded
12800-541: The revolt when it was at its peak, but later claimed that he was pressured into doing so. ʻUrabi and other leaders of the revolt acknowledged the Copts as potential allies and worked to prevent any targeting of the minority by nationalist Muslims, but were not always successful. An effort to court the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II began. Tewfik Pasha called on the sultan to quell the revolt, but
12928-468: The revolt would be regarded as a "glorious struggle" against foreign occupation. The ʻUrabi Revolution was seen by the Free Officers movement as a precursor to the 1952 revolution , and both Nasser and Muhammad Neguib were likened to ʻUrabi. Nasserist textbooks called the ʻUrabi Revolt a "national revolution," but ʻUrabi was seen as making great strategic mistakes and not being as much of a man of
13056-579: The revolt, roughly 8 million people lived in Sudan; an Egyptian census afterwards recorded barely 2.5 million. Moreover, none of the country's traditional institutions or loyalties remained intact. Tribes had been divided in their attitudes toward Mahdism, religious brotherhoods had been weakened, and orthodox religious leaders had vanished. Even though the Mahdist State factually ceased to exist after Umm Diwaykarat, some Mahdist holdouts continued to persist. One officer, Osman Digna , continued to resist
13184-418: The revolution cut across religious divides, despite its religious origins. The Mahdi was supported by non-Muslims and Muslims alike. This had important implications for the slave trade. Going against traditional Islamic injunctions, the Mahdi allowed the enslavement of free Muslims, if they did not support him, and forbade the enslavement of traditional victims, non-Muslims, if they supported him. Late in 1883,
13312-492: The revolution, although among the common people ʻUrabi remained a popular figure. The government used the state media and educational system to denounce him as a traitor, and the revolution as merely a military mutiny. Egyptian historian Mohammed Rif'at was one of the first to call the events a thawrah , or "revolution," but he claimed that it lacked popular support. Other historians in Egypt supported this thesis, and even expanded on it, sometimes suffering government censure. During
13440-827: The state's main army, based at the capital Omdurman. As the Mahdist State expanded, provincial commanders raised new armies with separate standards which were modelled on the main armies. The most elite forces within the Mahdist armies were the Mulazimiyya , Abdallahi ibn Muhammad's bodyguards. Commanded by Uthman Shaykh al-Din, these were based at the capital and 10,000 strong, most armed with rifles. The "flags" were further divided into rubs ("quarters") consisting of 800 to 1200 fighters. In turn, rubs were split into four sections, one administrative, one jihadiya , one sword- and spear-wielding infantry, and one cavalry. The jihadiya units were further split into "standards" of 100 led by officers known as ra's mi'a , and into muqaddamiyya of 25 under muqaddam . The Mahdist navy emerged during
13568-591: The three caliphs, each supported by people of his native region, continued to jockey until 1891, when Abdallahi achieved unchallenged supremacy, with the help primarily of the Baqqara Arabs. Abdallahi's new rule demanded a legitimating principle. Some of the Mahdiya's new conquests still hoped for a return of Turkish rule; others were rapidly alienated by increasing autocracy; and yet others claimed themselves new divinely-inspired prophets. Abdallahi—now called
13696-477: The title of Sheikh, and began to travel around the country on religious missions. He was permitted to give tariqa and Uhūd to new followers. In 1870, his family moved again in search for timber, returning to Aba Island . There, Muhammad Ahmad built a mosque and started to teach the Quran . He soon gained a notable reputation among the local population as an excellent speaker and mystic. The broad thrust of his teaching followed that of other reformers: his Islam
13824-472: The town of Berber in northern Sudan. Determined to live a life of asceticism, mysticism and worship, in 1861 he sought out Sheikh Muhammad Sharif Nur al-Dai'm, the grandson of the founder of the Samaniyya Sufi sect in Sudan. Muhammad Ahmad stayed with Sheikh Muhammad Sharif for seven years, during which time he was recognized for his piety and asceticism. Near the end of this period, he was awarded
13952-454: The uprising of the Beja soon after his arrival changed things considerably, reducing communications to runners. Gordon considered the routes northward to be too dangerous to extricate the garrisons and so pressed for reinforcements to be sent from Cairo to help with the withdrawal. He also suggested that his old enemy Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur , a fine military commander, be given tacit control of
14080-431: The world. For example, the Khalifa rejected an offer of an alliance against the Europeans by Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia (1871–1889). In 1887, a 60,000-man Ansar army invaded Ethiopia, penetrated as far as Gondar , and captured prisoners and booty. The Khalifa then refused to conclude peace with Ethiopia. In March 1889, an Ethiopian force, commanded by the emperor, marched on Metemma ; however, after Yohannes fell in
14208-472: Was a nationalist uprising in the Khedivate of Egypt from 1879 to 1882. It was led by and named for Colonel Ahmed Urabi and sought to depose the khedive , Tewfik Pasha , and end Imperial British and French influence over the country. The uprising was ended by the Anglo-Egyptian War and the British takeover of the country, beginning the history of Egypt under the British . Egypt in
14336-720: Was a Sudanese religious and political leader. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi , and led a war against Egyptian rule in Sudan which culminated in a remarkable victory over them in the Siege of Khartoum . He created a vast Islamic state extending from the Red Sea to Central Africa, and founded a movement that remained influential in Sudan a century later. From his announcement of the Mahdist State in June 1881 until its end in 1898,
14464-434: Was a democratic leader and Prime Minister of Sudan on two occasions: first briefly in 1966–1967, and then between 1986 and 1989. Further, the Mahdi is an ancestor of Sudanese-English actor Alexander Siddig , whose birth name was Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi. Urabi revolt The ʻUrabi revolt , also known as the ʻUrabi Revolution ( Arabic : الثورة العرابية ),
14592-604: Was allocated towards sustaining the extravagant lifestyles of the movement's leaders. The Mahdi outlawed foreign innovations, including Western medicine, and expulsed all doctors. His government reluctantly incorporated foreign military technology, and initially staffed itself with Ashraf and Copts only for lack of any other literate officials. Later, it severely persecuted Christians in Sudan, including Copts . Ottoman vices, including snuff and alcohol (the latter forbidden in Islam) were all part of contemporary Sudanese culture;
14720-420: Was assigned to General Charles George Gordon , who had been reappointed governor general with orders to return to Khartoum and organize a withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons there. Gordon reached Khartoum in February 1884. At first he was greeted with jubilation, as many of the tribes in the immediate area were at odds with the Mahdists. Transportation northward was still open and the telegraph lines intact. But
14848-474: Was born into a notable religious Arabized Nubian family tracing their lineage from the Prophet of Islam Muhammad through the lineage of his grandson Hassan . When Mohammed Ahmed was still a child, his family moved to the town of Karari, north of Omdurman . There his father, Ahmad bin Abdullah, managed to find enough supplies of wood for his work in boat-building, but died shortly after they arrived. After
14976-421: Was deposed by the British and replaced by his more pliable son Tewfik Pasha . The upper ranks of the civil service, the army, and the business world had become dominated by Europeans, who were paid more than native Egyptians. Within Egypt, a parallel legal system for suing Europeans separately from the natives was set up. This angered educated and ambitious Egyptians in the military and civil service who felt that
15104-570: Was dissolved following the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1899. Despite that, the Mahdi remains a respected figure in the history of Sudan . In the late 20th century, one of his direct descendants, Sadiq al-Mahdi , twice served as prime minister of Sudan (1966–1967 and 1986–1989), and pursued pro- democracy policies. Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Fahal was born on 12 August 1843 in Labab Island, Dongola in northern Sudan. He
15232-409: Was essential to true belief. The Mahdi also added the declaration "and Muhammad Ahmad is the Mahdi of God and the representative of His Prophet" to the recitation of the creed, the shahada . The government enforced mandatory salah , and also required twice-daily recitation of the Mahdi's rātib , or prayerbook. After the Mahdi's death, the Khalifa attempted to argue that a visit to his tomb replaced
15360-512: Was eventually rebuilt. Muhammed Ahmad's son, Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi , born after his father's death, whom the British considered important as a popular leader of the Mahdists, became a leader of the neo-Mahdist movement in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan . Some Sudanese considered Abd al-Rahman to qualify as future King of Sudan, as the country gained independence, but he declined the title for spiritual reasons. 'Abd al-Rahman sponsored
15488-399: Was first properly organized under Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad who attempted to use the Islamic law to unify the different peoples of Sudan. However, Khalifa Abdallahi maintained several commonalities with the (disorganized) regime of his predecessor. The Mahdist regime imposed traditional Sharia law . Zakat (almsgiving) became the tax paid to the state, a significant portion of which
15616-510: Was killed in his palace. The Mahdi did not live long after this victory, and his successor Abdallahi ibn Muhammad consolidated the new state, with administrative and judiciary systems based on their interpretation of Islamic law . The Coptic Christians , who composed a substantial portion of the country's population, were forced to convert to Islam . Sudan's economy was destroyed during the Mahdist War and famine, war and disease reduced
15744-498: Was mostly recruited from western Sudanese, mainly Baggara, and commanded by Abdallahi ibn Muhammad. The "Red Flag" was led by Muhammad al-Sharif and mostly consisted of riverine recruits from the north. The "Green Flag" under Ali Hilu included troops drawn from the southern tribes living between the White and Blue Nile . After the Mahdi's death, the command of the "Black Flag" was passed to Abdallahi ibn Muhammad's brother Yaqub and became
15872-502: Was one devoted to the words of Muhammad and based on a return to the virtues of strict devotion, prayer, and simplicity as laid down in the Quran. In 1872, Muhammad Ahmad invited Sheikh Sharif to move to al-Aradayb, an area on the White Nile neighboring Aba Island. Despite initially amicable relations, in 1878 the two religious leaders had a dispute motivated by Sheikh Sharif's resentment of his former student's growing popularity. As
16000-527: Was ordering Darfurians to migrate north to better defend the Mahdist State, while favoring the Baggara over other Darfurian ethnicities in regards to government positions. The main resistance was led by religious leader Abu Jimeiza of the Tama tribe in western Darfur. The opposition to the Mahdist government was also fuelled by many Mahdists behaving arrogantly and abusive towards the locals. Several states bordering
16128-408: Was to become his chief deputy and successor in the years to come. On 29 June 1881, Muhammad Ahmad claimed to be the Mahdi so as to prepare the way for the second coming of Jesus . In part, his claim was based on his status as a prominent Sufi sheikh with a large following in the Samaniyya Order and among the tribes in the area around Aba Island . Yet the idea of the Mahdiyya had been central to
16256-509: Was unwrapped at the Mahdi's feet, he ordered the head to be fixed between the branches of a tree "where all who passed it could look in disdain, children could throw stones at it and the hawks of the desert could sweep and circle above." When Wolseley's force arrived in Khartoum, they retreated after attempting to force their way to the center of the town on ships, where they were met by a hail of gunfire. The Mahdi Army continued its sweep of victories. Kassala and Sannar fell soon after and, by
16384-542: Was written in Egyptian Arabic rather than Modern Standard Arabic , making its satire and political pieces understandable to the masses, not just the educated elite. Yaʻqūb Ṣanūʻ claimed that his magazine reached a circulation of 10,000, which was a huge number in those days. During this time, Ahmed ʻUrabi, a native non-European army officer, had risen to the rank of colonel. Because of his peasant upbringing and traditional training, he came to be viewed by many as
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