Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
See also:BIBLIOG RA PAY .—C.R.See also:LepsiUS, Denkmaler aus Aegypten and Aethiopien (1849), Abb. vi., Briefe aus Aegypten, Aethiopien, (1852), Nubische Grammatik (188o) ; H. See also:Brugsch, Zeitschrift See also:fur aegyptische Sprache (1887) ; F. Cailliaud, Voyage a Ml See also:roe et an Fleuve See also:Blanc (1826); E. A. See also:Wallis Budge, The See also:Egyptian. See also:Sudan (1907); G. A. Reisner and C. M. See also:Firth, Reports on The Archaeological Survey of See also:Nubia; G. See also:Elliott See also: "The Human Remains" (191o) ; J. H. Breasted, See also:Ancient Records of See also:Egypt (1906-1907), A See also:History of Egypt (1905), Temples of See also:Lower ;'Nubia (1906), Monuments of Sudanese Nubia (1908); D. See also:Randall-Maclver and C. L. Woolley, Reports of the Eckley B. See also:Coxe, jun. expedition, viz. vol. i. Areika (1909), vols. iii., iv., v. Karanog (vol.. (iii. "The Romano-Nubian See also:Cemetery," See also:text, vol. iv. ibid., plates, 1910), vol. vii. Behen; G. S. Mileham, Reports of the Eckley B. Coxe, jun., expedition, vol. ii. Churches in Lower Nubia (1910); F. LI. See also:Griffith, Reports on the Eckley B. Coxe, jun., expedition, vol. vi. Meroitic See also:Inscriptions from Shablul and Karanog, Meroitic Inscriptions, and 2 vols. on Tombs of El Amarna; and the " Archaeological Survey " of the Egypt Exploration Fund. (D. R.-M.) Ancient Monuments See also:south of Halfa.—Ruins of pyramids, temples, churches and other monuments are found along both See also:banks of the See also:Nile almost as far south as the See also:Fourth See also:Cataract, and again in the " See also:Island of Meroe." In the following See also:list the ruins are named as met with on the See also:journey south from See also:Wadi Halfa. Opposite that See also:town on the See also:east See also:bank are the remains of Bohon, where was found the See also:stele, now at See also:Florence, commemorating the See also:conquest of the region by Senwosri (Usertesen) I. of Egypt (c. 2750 B.C.). See also:Forty-three See also:miles farther south are the ruins of the twin fortresses of Kumma and Semna. Here the Nile narrows and passes the Semna cataract, and graven on the rocks are ancient records of " high Nile." At Amara, some 8o m. above Semna, are the ruins of a See also:temple with Meroitic See also:hieroglyphics. At Sai Island, 130 M. above See also:Haifa, are remains of a town arid of a See also:Christian See also: From Old Dongola to Merawi (a distance of See also:loo m. by the river) are numerous ruins of monasteries, churches and fortresses of the Christian era in Nubia—notably at See also:Jebel Deka and Magal. In the immediate neighbourhood of Jebel Barkal (the " See also:holy See also:mountain " of the ancient Egyptians), a See also:flat-topped See also: Farther south still, at Ceteina on the See also: The Nubians—that is the dwellers in the Nile valley between Egypt and Abyssinia—did not embrace See also:Christianity until the 6th century, considerably later than their Abyssinian neighbours. The Arab invasion of North See also:Africa in the 7th century, which turned Egypt into a See also:Mahommedan See also:country, had not the same effect in Nubia, the Moslems, though they frequently raided the country, being unable to hold it. On the ruins of the ancient Ethiopian states arose Christian the Christian kingdoms of Dongola and Aloa, with Kingdoms of capitals at Dongola and Soba (corresponding roughly Nubia. to Napata and Meroe). These kingdoms continued to exist until the See also:middle of the 14th century or later (see DONGOLA: Mudiria). Meanwhile See also:Arabs of the Beni Omayya tribe, under pressure from the Beni Abbas, had begun to See also:cross the Red Sea as early as the 8th century and to See also:settle in the district around Sennar on the Blue Nile, a region which probably marked the southern limits of the kingdom of Aloa. The Omayya, who during the following centuries were reinforced by further immigrants from See also:Arabia, intermarried with the See also:negroid races, and gradually Arab influence became predominant and See also:Islam the nominal faith of all the inhabitants of Sennar. In this way a barrier was erected between the Christians of Nubia and those of See also:Abyssinia. By the 15th century the Arabized See also:negro races of the Blue Nile had grown into a powerful nation known as the See also:Funj (q.v.), and during that century they extended their conquests north to the See also:borders of Egypt. The kingdom of Dongola had already been reduced to a See also:condition of anarchy by Moslem invasions from the north. Christianity was still professed by some of the Nubians as See also:late as the 16th century, but the whole Sudan north of the lands of the See also:pagan negroes (roughly 12° N.) was then under Moslem sway. At that time the sultans of See also:Darfur (q.v.) in the See also:west and the sultans or See also:kings of Sennar (the Funj rulers) in the east were the most powerful of the Mahommedan potentates. The first of the Funj monarchs acknowledged king of the whole of the allied tribes, of which the Hameg were next in importance to the Funj, was Amara Dunkas, who ~PFre°/ reigned c. 1484–1526' During the reign of Adlan, c. 196-1603, the fame of Sennar attracted learned men to his See also:court from such distant places as See also:Cairo and See also:Bagdad. Adlan's great-See also:grandson Badi See also:Abu Daku attacked the See also:Shilluk negroes and raided See also:Kordofan. This monarch built the great See also:mosque at Sennar, almost the only building in the town to survive the ravages of the dervishes in the 19th century. In the early See also:part of the r8th century there was See also:war between the Sennari and the Abyssinians, in which the last named were defeated with great slaughter. It is said that the cause of See also:quarrel was the seizure by the king of Sennar of presents sent by the king of See also:France to the See also:Negus. The victory over the " infidel" Abyssinians became celebrated throughout the Mahommedan See also:world, and Sennar was visited by many learned and celebrated men from Egypt, Arabia and See also:India. Towards the end of the 18th century the Hameg wrested See also:power from the Funj and the kingdom See also:fell into decay, many of the tributary princes refusing to acknowledge the king of Sennar. These disorders continued up to the time of the conquest of the country by the Egyptians. B. From the Egyptian Conquest to the Rise of the See also:Mandi.—The conquest of Nubia was undertaken in 1820 by See also:order of Mehemet See also:Ali, the See also:pasha of Egypt, and was accomplished in conyuestbythe two years following. In its consequences this proved one of the most important events in the history of Africa. Mehemet Ali never stated the reasons which led him to order the occupation of the country, but his leading See also:motive was, probably, the See also:desire to obtain See also:possession of the mines of See also:gold and See also:precious stones which he believed the Sudan contained. He also saw that the See also:revenue of Egypt was falling through the diversion, since about 1800, of the See also:caravan routes from the Nile to the Red Sea ports, and may have wished to recapture the See also:trade, as well as to secure a country whence thousands of slaves could be brought annually. Mehemet Ali also wished to crush the remnant of the Mamelukes who in 1812 had established themselves at Dongola, and at the same time to find employment for the numerous Albanians and See also:Turks in his See also:army, of whose fidelity he was doubtful. Mehemet Ali gave the command of the army sent to Nubia to his son See also:Ismail, who at the See also:head of some 4000 men left Wadi Haifa in See also:October 1820. Following the Nile route he occupied Dongola without opposition, the Mamelukes fleeing before him. (Some of them went to Darfur and See also:Wadai, others made their way to the Red Sea. This was the final dispersal of the Ma melukes.) With the See also:nomad See also:Shagia, who dominated the district, 1 Various lists and See also:dates of reign of the rulers of Sennar are given; reference may be made in Stokvis's See also:Manuel d'histoire vol. i. (See also:Leiden, 1888), and to The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, vol. i. (London, 1905). Ismail had two See also:sharp encounters, one near Korti, the other higher up the river, and in both fights Ismail was successful. Thereafter the Shagia furnished useful See also:auxiliary See also:cavalry to the Egyptians. Ismail remained in the Dongola See also:province till See also:February 1821, when he crossed the Bayuda Desert and received the submission of the nicks (kings) of See also:Berber, Shendi and Halfaya, nominal vassals of the king of Sennar. Continuing his See also: A second Egyptian army, also about 4000 strong, had followed that of Ismail's up the Nile, and striking south-west from Debba had wrested, after a sharp See also:campaign, the province of Kordofan (1821) from the See also:sultan of Darfur. This army was commanded by Mahommed See also:Bey, the Defterdar, son-in-See also:law of Mehemet Ali. See also:Hearing of Ismail's murder the Defterdar marched to Shendi, defeated the forces of the mek, and took terrible revenge upon the inhabitants of Metemma and Shendi, most of the inhabitants, including See also:women and See also:children, being burnt alive. Nair Mimr escaped to the Abyssinian frontier, where he maintained his See also:independence. Having conquered Nubia, Sennar and Kordofan the Egyptians set up a See also:civil See also:government, placing at the head of the See also:administration a See also:governor-See also:general with practically unlimited power .2 About this See also:period Mehemet Ali leased from the sultan of See also:Turkey the Red Sea ports of See also:Suakin and See also:Massawa, and by this means got into his hands all the trade routes of the eastern Sudan. The pasha of Egypt practically monopolized the trade of the country except that in slaves, which became a vast " See also:industry," the lands inhabited by negro tribes on the borders of the conquered territories being raided annually for the purpose. From the negro See also:population the army was so largely recruited that in a few years the only non-Sudanese in it were officers. The Egyptian See also:rule proved harmful to the country. The See also:governors-general and the leading officials were nearly all Turks, Albanians or Circassians, and, with rare exceptions, the welfare of the See also:people formed no part of their conception of government d Numerous efforts were made to extend the authority of Egypt. In 184o—previous attempts having been unsuccessful—the fertile district of Taka, watered by the Atbara and Gash and near the Abyssinian frontier, was conquered and the town of 2 For a list of the governors-general see The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, i. p. 280 (London, 1905). Khurshid Pasha, governor-general for 13 years (1826-1839), was one of these exceptions. He gained a great reputation both for rectitude and vigour. He led expeditions up the White Nile against the Dinkas as far as See also:Fashoda; defeated the Abyssinians on the Sennar frontier, and taught the natives of Khartum to build houses of See also:brick.
See also:Kassala founded. In 1837 the pasha himself visited the Sudan,
going as far as Fazokl, where he inspected the goldfields.
In 1849 Abd-el-Latif Pasha became governor-general and
attempted to remedy some of the evils which disfigured the administration. He remained in See also:office, however, little more than a See also:year, too short a period to effect reforms. The Sudan was costing Egypt more See also:money than its revenue yielded, though it must not be forgotten that large sums found their way illicitly into the, hands of the pashas. The successors of Mehemet Ali, in an endeavour to make the country more profitable, extended their conquests to the south, and in 1853 and subsequent years trading posts were established on the Upper Nile, the See also:pioneer See also:European See also:merchant being See also: The Sudan at this time (c. 1862) is described by See also:Sir See also:Samuel See also:Baker as utterly ruined by Egyptian methods of government and the retention of the country only to be accounted for by the See also:traffic in slaves. The European merchants above Khartum had sold their posts to Arab agents, who oppressed the natives in every conceivable See also:fashion. Ismail Pasha, who became viceroy of Egypt in 1863, gave orders for the suppression of the slave trade, and to check the operations of the Arab traders a military force was stationed at Fashoda (1865), this being the most southerly point then held by the Egyptians. Ismail's efforts to put an end to the slave trade, if sincere, were ineffective, and, moreover, south of Kordofan the authority of the government did not extend beyond the posts occupied by their troops. Ismail, however, was ambitious to extend his dominions and to develop the Sudan on the lines he had conceived for the development of Egypt. He obtained (1865) from the sultan of Turkey a See also:firman assigning to him the administration of Suakin and Massawa; the See also:lease which Mehemet Ali had of these ports having lapsed after the death of that pasha. Ismail subsequently (1870-1875) extended his sway over the whole See also:coast from See also:Suez to Cape Guardafui and garrisoned the towns of See also:Berbera, See also:Zaila, &c., while in 1874 the important town of See also:Harrar, the entrepbt for southern Abyssinia, was seized by Egyptian troops. The See also:khedive had also seized See also:Bogos, in the See also:hinterland of Massawa, a province claimed by Abyssinia. This See also:action led to See also:wars with Abyssinia, in which the Egyptians were generally beaten. Egyptian authority was withdrawn from the coast regions south of Suakin in 1884 (see below and also ABYSSINIA; See also:ERITREA and See also:SOMALILAND). At the same time that Ismail annexed the seaboard he was extending his sway along the Nile valley to the See also:equatorial lakes, and conceived the See also:idea of annexing all the country between the Nile and the See also:Indian Ocean. An expedition was sent (1875) to the See also:Juba River with that See also:object, but it was withdrawn at the See also:request of the British government, as it infringed the rights of the sultan of See also:Zanzibar.2 The See also:control of all territories south of See also:Gondokoro had been given (See also:April 1, 1869) to Sir Samuel Baker, who, however, only left Khartum to take up his governor-The See also:ship in February 187o. Reaching Gondokoro on Equatorial the 26th of May following, he formally annexed Regions: that station, which he named See also:Ismailia, to the khedival Darfur domains. Baker remained as governor of the Equaconquered. tonal Provinces until See also:August 1873, and in March 1874 See also:Colonel C. G. See also:Gordon took up the same See also:post. Both Baker and ' The government See also:monopoly in trade ceased after the death of Mehemet Ali in 1849. 2 The Juba was quite unsuitable as a means of communication between the Indian Ocean and the Nile. The proposal made to Ismail by Gordon was to send an expedition to See also:Mombasa and thence up the See also:Tana River, but for some unexplained See also:reason, or perhaps by See also:mistake, the expedition was ordered to the Juba (see See also:Col. Gordon in Central Africa, 4th ed., 1885, pp. 65, 66, 150 and 151, and Geog. !ourn.. Feb. 1, 1909, p. 150). Gordon made strenuous efforts towards crushing the slave trade, but their endeavours were largely thwarted by, the inaction of the authorities at Khartum. Under Gordon the Upper Nile region as far as the borders of See also:Uganda came effectively under Egyptian control, though the power of the government extended on the east little beyond the banks of the See also:rivers. On the west the See also:Bahr-el-Ghazal had been overrun by Arab or semi-Arab slave-dealers. Nominally subjects of the khedive, they acted as See also:free agents, reducing the country over which they terrorized to a See also:state of abject misery. The most powerful of the slave traders was Zobeir Pasha, who, having defeated a force sent from Khartum to reduce him to obedience; invaded Darfur (1874). The khedive, fearing the power of Zobeir, also sent an expedition to Darfur, and that country, after a stout resistance, was conquered. Zobeir claimed to be made governor-general of the new province; his request being refused, he went to Cairo to urge his claim. At Cairo he was detained by the Egyptian authorities. Though spasmodic efforts were made to promote See also:agriculture and open up communications the Sudan continued to be a See also:constant drain on the Egyptian See also:exchequer. The khedive Ismail revived Said's project of a railway, and a survey for a See also:line from Wadi Halfa to Khartum was made (1871), while a See also:branch line to Massawa was also contemplated. As with Said's project these schemes came to naught.3 In October 1876 Gordon left the Equatorial Provinces and gave up his See also:appointment. In February 1877, under pressure from the British General and Egyptian governments, he went to Cairo, where Gordon he. was given the governorship of the whole of the Governor-Egyptian territories outside Egypt; namely, the genera'. Sudan provinces proper, the Equatorial Provinces, Darfur, and the Red Sea and Somali coasts. He replaced at Khartum Ismail Pasha Eyoub, a Turk made governor-general in. 1873, who had thwarted as much as he dared all Gordon's efforts to reform. Gordon remained in the Sudan until August 1879. During his See also:tenure of office he did much to give the Sudanese the benefit of a just and considerate government. In 1877 Gordon suppressed a revolt in Darfur and received the submission of Suliman Zobeir (a son of Zobeir Pasha), who was at the head of a gang of slave-traders on the Bahr-el-Ghazal frontier. In 1878 there was further trouble in Darfur and also in Kordofan, and Gordon visited both these provinces, breaking up many companies of slave-hunters. Meantime Suliman (acting on the instructions of his See also:father, who was still at Cairo) had broken out into open revolt against the Egyptians in the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The crushing of Suliman was entrusted by Gordon to Romolo Gessi (1831-1881), an See also:Italian who had previously served under Gordon "on the Upper Nile. Gessi, after a most arduous campaign (1878-79), in which he displayed great military skill, defeated and captured Suliman, whom, with other See also:ring-leaders, he executed. The slave-raiders were completely broken up and over ro,000 captives released. A remnant of Zobeir's troops under a chief named Rabah succeeded in escaping west- - ward, (see RABAH). Having conquered the province Gessi was made governor of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and given the See also:rank of pasha. When Gordon left the Sudan he was succeeded at Khartum by Raouf Pasha, under whom all the old abuses of the Egyptian administration were revived. At this time the high European officials in the Sudan, besides Gessi, included Emin Pasha (q.v.) —then a bey only—governor of the Equatorial Province since 1878, and See also:Slatin Pasha—then also a bey—governor of Darfur. Gessi, who had most successfully governed his province, found his position under Raouf intolerable, resigned his post in See also:September 188o and was succeeded by See also:Frank Lupton, an See also:English-man, and formerly See also:captain of a Red Sea merchant steamer, who was given the rank of bey. At this period (188o-1882) schemes for the reorganization and better administration of the Sudan were elaborated on See also:paper, but the revolt in Egypt under Arabi (see EGYPT: History) and the See also:appearance in the Sudan of a Mandi prevented these schemes from being put into 3 Up to 1877, when the See also:work was abandoned, some 5o m. of rails had been laid from Wadi Halfa at a cost of some £450,000. See also:Assuan and collected at Khartum troops from some of the out-lying stations. By this time the situation had altered for the worse and Mandism was gaining strength among tribes in the Nile valley at first hostile to its propaganda. As the only means of preserving authority at Khartum (and thus securing the peaceful withdrawal of the See also:garrison) Gordon repeatedly telegraphed to Cairo asking that Zobeir Pasha might be sent to him, his intention being to See also:hand over to Zobeir the government of the country. Zobeir (q.v.), a Sudanese Arab, was probably the one man who could have withstood successfully the Mandi. Owing to Zobeir's notoriety as a slave-raider Gordon's request was refused. All See also:hope of a peaceful See also:retreat of the Egyptians was thus rendered impossible. The Mandist See also:movement now swept northward and on the loth of May Berber was captured by the dervishes and Khartum isolated. From this time the energies of Gordon were devoted to the See also:defence of that town. After months of delay due to the vacillation of the British government a See also:relief expedition was sent up the Nile under the command of See also:Lord See also:Wolseley. It started too late to achieve its object, and on the 25th of See also:January 1885 Khartum was captured by the Mandi and Gordon killed. Colonel See also: The military operations are described elsewhere (see EGYPT: Military Operations), and here it is only necessary to consider the See also:internal situation and the See also:character of the khalifa's govern- The ment. The Mandi had been regarded by his adhe- Khailfa's rents as the only true See also:commander of the faithful, Rule. endued with divine power to conquer the whole world. He had at first styled his followers dervishes (i.e. religious mendicants) and given them the jibba as their characteristic garment or See also:uniform. Later on he commanded the faithful to See also:call them-selves ansar (helpers), a reference to the part they were to See also:play in his career of conquest, and at the time of his death he was planning an invasion of Egypt. He had liberated the Sudanese from the extortions of the Egyptians, but the people soon found that the Mandi's rule was even more oppressive than had been that of their former masters, and after the Mandi's death the situation of the peasantry in particular grew rapidly worse, neither See also:life nor See also:property being safe. Abdullah set himself steadily to crush all opposition to his own power. Mahommed Ahmed had, in accordance with the traditions which required the Mandi to have four khalifas (lieutenants), nominated, besides Abdullah, Ali wad Helu, a See also:sheikh of the Degheim and Kenana Arabs, and Mahommed esh Sherif, his son-in-law, as khalifas. (The other khalifaship was vacant having been declined by the sheikh es See also:Senussi [q.v.]). Wad Helu and Sherif were stripped of their power and gradually all chiefs and amirs not of the See also:Baggara tribe were got rid of except See also:Osman Digna, whose See also:sphere of operations was on the Red Sea coast. Abdullah's rule was a pure military despotism which brought the country to a state of almost See also:complete agricultural and commercial ruin. He was also almost constantly in conflict either with the Shilluks, Nuers and other negro tribes of the south; with the peoples of Darfur, where at one time an See also:anti-Mandi gained a great following; with the Abyssinians; with the See also:Kabbabish and other Arab tribes who See also:execution (assuming that the Egyptian authorities were sincere in proposing reforms). C. The Rise and Power of Mandism.—The Mandist movement, which was utterly to overthrow Egyptian rule, derived its strength from two different causes: the oppression under which the people suffered,' and the See also:measures taken to prevent the Baggara (See also:cattle-owning Arabs) from slave trading. Venality and the See also:extortion of the tax-gatherer flourished anew after the departure of Gordon, while the feebleness of his successors inspired in the Baggara a contempt for the authority which prohibited them pursuing their most lucrative traffic. When Mahommed Ahmed (q.v.), a Dongolese, proclaimed himself the See also:long-looked-for Mandi (See also:guide) of Islam, he found most of his See also:original followers among the grossly superstitious villagers of Kordofan, to whom he preached universal equality and a community of goods, while denouncing the Turks2 as unworthy Moslems on whom See also:God would execute See also:judgment. The Baggara perceived in this Mandi one who could be used to shake off Egyptian rule, and their See also:adhesion to him first gave importance to his " See also:mission." Mahommed Ahmed became at once the See also:leader and the agent of the Baggara. He married the daughters of their sheikhs and found in Abdullah, a member of the Taaisha See also:section of the tribe, his chief supporter. The first armed conflict The between the Egyptian troops and the Mandi's See also:Massacre of followers occurred in August 1881. In June 1882
See also:Hicks the Mandi gained his first considerable success.
Pasha's The See also:capture of El Obeid on the 17th of January
Army. 1883 and the annihilation in the See also:November following of an army of over 1o,00o men commanded by Hicks Pasha (Colonel See also: Stewart,' to Khartum to arrange the withdrawal of the
Egyptian civil and military population. Gordon's instructions,
based largely on his own suggestions, were not wholly consistent;
they contemplated vaguely the See also:establishment of some See also:form of
See also:stable government on the surrender of Egyptian
authority, and among the documents with which
he was furnished was a firman creating him governor-
general of the Sudan .4 Gordon reached Khartum on the 18th
of February 1884 and at first his mission, which had aroused
great See also:enthusiasm in See also:England, promised success. To smooth
the way for the retreat of the Egyptian garrisons and civilians
he issued proclamations announcing that the suppression of
the slave trade was abandoned, that the Mandi was sultan of
Kordofan, and that the Sudan was See also:independent of Egypt. He
enabled some thousands of refugees to make their See also:escape to
' See also:Writing from Darfur in April 1879 Gordon said: " The government of the Egyptians in these far-off countries is nothing else but one of See also:brigandage of the very worst description. It is so See also:bad that all hope of ameliorating it is hopeless."
2 The Sudanese spoke of all foreigners as " Turks." This arose from the fact that most of the higher Egyptian officials were of See also:Turkish See also:nationality and that the army was officered mainly by Turks, Albanians,. Circassians, &c., and included in the ranks many Bashi-Bazuks (irregulars) of non-Sudanese origin.
' Colonel Stewart had been sent to Khartum in 1882 on a mission of inquiry, and he See also:drew up a valuable See also:report, Egypt, No. ii (1883).
It is unnecessary here to enter upon a discussion of the precise nature of Gordon's instructions or of the measure in which he carried them out. The material for forming a judgment will he found in Gordon's See also:Journals (1885), See also:Morley's Life of See also:Gladstone (19o3), Fitzmaurice's Life of See also:Granville (1905), and See also:Cromer's See also:Modern Egypt (1908). (See also GORDON, See also: Gordon at Khartum. had never embraced Mandism, or with the Italians, Egyptians and British. Notwithstanding all this opposition the khalifa found in his own tribesmen and in his See also:black -troops devoted adherents and successfully maintained his position. The See also:attempt to conquer Egypt ended in the See also:total defeat of the See also:dervish army at Toski (Aug. 3, 1889). The attempts to subdue the Equatorial Provinces were but partly successful. Emin Pasha, to whose relief H. M. See also:Stanley had gone, evacuated See also:Wadelai in April 1889. The greater part of the region and also most of the Bahr-el-Ghazal relapsed into a state of complete savagery. In the country under his dominion the khalifa's government was carried on after the manner of other Mahommedan states, but pilgrimages to the Mandi's See also:tomb at Omdurman were substituted for pilgrimages to See also:Mecca. The See also:arsenal and dockyard and the See also:printing-See also:press at Khartum were kept busy (the workmen being Egyptians who had escaped massacre). Otherwise Khartum was deserted, the khalifa making Omdurman his See also:capital and compelling disaffected tribes to dwell in it so as to be under better control. While Omdurman grew to a huge size the population of the country generally dwindled enormously from constant warfare and the ravages of disease, small-pox being endemic. The Europeans in the country were kept prisoners at Omdurman. Besides ex-officials like Slatin and Lupton, they included several See also:Roman See also:Catholic priests and sisters, and See also:numbers of Greek merchants established at Khartum. Although several were closely imprisoned, loaded with chains and repeatedly flogged, it is a noteworthy fact that none was put to death. From time to time a prisoner made his escape, and from the accounts of these ex-prisoners knowledge of the character of Dervish rule is derived in large measure. The fanaticism with which the Mandi had inspired his followers remained almost unbroken to the end. The khalif a after the fatal See also:day of Omdurman fled to Kordofan where he was killed in See also:battle in November 1899. In January 1900 Osman Digna, a wandering fugitive for months, was captured. In 1902 the last surviving dervish amir of importance surrendered to the sultan of Darfur. Mandism as a vital force in the old Egyptian Sudan ceased, however, with the Anglo-Egyptian victory at Omdurman.' D. The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium.—Of the causes which led to the reconquest of the Sudan—the natural desire of the Egyptian government to recover lost territory, the equally natural desire in Great Britain to "avenge " the death of Gordon were among them—the most weighty was the See also:necessity of securing for Egypt the control of the Upper Nile, Egypt being wholly dependent on the See also:waters of the river for its prosperity. That control would have been lost had a European power other than Great Britain obtained possession of any part of the Nile valley; and at the time the Sudan was reconquered (1896–98) France was endeavouring to establish her authority on the river between Khartum and Gondokoro, as the Marchand expedition from the See also:Congo to Fashoda demonstrated. The Nile constitutes, in the words of Lord Cromer, the true See also:justification of the policy of re-occupation, and makes the Sudan a priceless possession for Egypt .2 The Sudan having been reconquered by " the See also:joint military and See also:financial efforts" of Great Britain and Egypt, the British government claimed " by right of conquest " to See also:share in the See also:settlement of the administration and legislation of the country. To meet these claims an agreement (which has been aptly called the constitutional See also:charter of the Sudan) between Great Britain and Egypt, was signed on the 19th of January 1899, establishing the joint See also:sovereignty of the two states throughout Ia the autumn of 1903 Mahommed-el-Amin, a native of See also:Tunis, proclaimed himself the Mandi and got together a following in Kordofan. He was captured by the governor of Kordofan and publicly executed at El Obeid. In April 1908 Abd-el-Kader, a Halowin Arab and ex-dervish, rebelled in the Blue Nile province, claiming to be the See also:prophet Issa (Jesus). On the 29th of that month he murdered Mr C. C. See also:Scott-Moncrieff, See also:deputy inspector of the province, and the Egyptian mamur. The rising was promptly suppressed, Abd-el-Kader was captured and was hanged on the 17th of May. 2 Egypt, No. 1 (1905), p. 119.the Sudan .3 The reorganization of the country had already begun, supreme power being centred in one See also:official termed the " governor-general of the Sudan." To this post was appointed Lord Kitchener, the See also:sirdar (commander-in-chief) of the Egyptian army, under whom the Sudan had been reconquered. On Lord Kitchener going to South Africa at the See also:close of 1899 he was succeeded as sirdar and governor-general by See also:Major-General Sir F. R. See also:Wingate, who had served with the Egyptian army since 1883. Under a just and See also:firm administration, which from the first was essentially civil, though the See also:principal officials were officers of the British army, the Sudan recovered in a surprising manner from the woes it suffered during the Mandia. At the head of every mudiria (province) was placed a British official, though many of the subordinate posts were filled by Egyptians. An exception was made in the See also:case of Darfur, which before the battle of Omdurman had thrown off the khalifa's rule and was again under a native See also:sovereign. This potentate, the sultan Ali Dinar, was recognized by the Sudan government, on condition of the See also:payment of an See also:annual See also:tribute. The first See also:duty of the new administration, the restoration of public order, met with comparatively feeble opposition, though tribes such as the Nuba mountaineers, accustomed from time immemorial to See also:raid their weaker neighbours, gave some trouble. In 1906, in 1908, and again in 1910 expeditions had to be sent against the Nubas. In the Bahr-el-Ghazal the Niam-Niams at first disputed the authority of the government, but Sultan Yambio, the recalcitrant chief, was mortally wounded in a fight in February 1905 and no further disturbance occurred. The delimitation (1903–1904) of the frontier between the Sudan and Abyssinia enabled order to be restored in a particularly lawless region, and slave-raiding on a large See also:scale ended in that See also:quarter with the capture and execution of a notorious offender in 1904. In Kordofan, Darfur and the Bahr-el-Ghazal the slave trade continued however for some years later. With See also:good administration and public See also:security the population increased steadily. The history of the country became one of peaceful progress marked by the growing content- The Bement of the people. The Sudan government devoted generative much See also:attention to the revival of agriculture and wort of See also:commerce, to the creation of an educated class of Britai Qreatn natives, and to the establishment of an adequate . judicial See also:system. Their task, though one of immense difficulty, was however (in virtue of the agreement of the 19th of January 1899) free from all the See also:international fetters that See also:bound the administration of Egypt. It was moreover rendered easier by the decision to govern, as far as possible, in accordance with native law and See also:custom, no attempt being made to Egyptianize or Anglicize the Sudanese. The results were eminently satisfactory. The Arab-speaking and Mahommedan population found their See also:religion and See also:language respected, and from the first showed a marked desire to profit by the new order. To the negroes of the southern Sudan, who were exceedingly suspicious of all strangers—whom hitherto they had known almost exclusively as slave-raiders—the very elements of See also:civilization had, in most cases, to be taught. In these pagan regions the Sudan government encouraged the work of missionary See also:societies, both See also:Protestant and Roman Catholic, while discouraging propaganda work among the Moslems. In their general policy the Sudan government adopted a system of very See also:light See also:taxation; See also:low taxation being in countries such as Egypt and the Sudan the See also:keystone of the See also:political See also:arch. This policy was amply justified by results. In 1899 the revenue derived from the country was E126,000, in 1909 it had risen to E1,o4o,000, despite slight reductions in taxation, a See also:proof of the growing prosperity of the See also:land. This prosperity was brought about largely by improving the See also:water-See also:supply, and thus bringing more land under cultivation, by the creation of new See also:industries, and by the improvement of means of communication. A-shorter route to the sea than that through Egypt being essential for the ' At first Suakin was excepted from some of the provisions of this agreement, but these exceptions were done away with by a supplementary agreement of the loth of See also:July 1899. commercial development of the country, a railway from the Nile near Berber to the Red Sea was built (1904-1906). This line shortened the distance from Khartum to the nearest seaport by nearly too() m., and by reducing the cost of See also:carriage of merchandise enabled Sudan produce to find a profitable outlet in the markets of the world. At the same time river communications were improved and the numbers of See also:wells on caravan roads increased. Steps were furthermore taken by means of See also:irrigation See also:works to regulate the Nile floods, and those of the river Gash. To the promotion of See also:education and sanitation, and in the administration of See also:justice, the government devoted much See also:energy with satisfactory results. Indeed the regenerative work of Great Britain in the Sudan has been fully as successful and even more remarkable than that of Great Britain in Egypt. A large part of this work has been accomplished by officers of the British army. Some of the most valuable suggestions about such matters as land settlement, agricultural loans, &c., emanated from officers who a short time before were performing purely military duties. Nevertheless civil servants gradually replaced military officers in the work of administration, army officers being liable to be suddenly removed for war or other service, often at times when the presence of officials possessed of See also:local experience was most important. In efficiency and devotion to duty the Egyptian officials under the new regime also earned high praise. The relations of the Sudan government with its Italian, Abyssinian and French neighbours was marked by cordiality, Bahr-el- but with the Congo Free State difficulties arose over Ghazal and claims made by that state to the Bahr-el-Ghazal Lado. (see AFRICA, § 5). Congo State troops were in 1904 stationed in Sudanese territory. The difficulty was adjusted in 1906 when the Congo State abandoned all claims to the Ghazal province (whence its troops were withdrawn during 1907), and it was agreed to See also:transfer the Lado See also:enclave (q.v.) to the Sudan six months after the death of the king of the Belgians. Under the terms of this agreement the Lado enclave was incorporated in the Sudan in 1910. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
[back] BIBLIOG RA |
[next] BIBLIOG RA PH |