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KHARTUM

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 773 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KHARTUM , the See also:

capital of the Anglo-See also:Egyptian See also:Sudan, on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Blue See also:Nile immediately above its junction with the See also:White Nile in 15° 36' N., 32° 32' E., and 1252 ft. above the See also:sea. It is 432 M. by See also:rail S.W. of See also:Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, and 1345 M. S. of See also:Cairo by rail and steamer. Pop. (1907) with suburbs, but excluding See also:Omdurman, 69,349. The See also:city, laid out on a See also:plan See also:drawn up by See also:Lord See also:Kitchener in 1898, has a picturesque aspect with its numerous handsome See also:stone and See also:brick buildings surrounded by gardens and its groves of palms and other trees. The See also:river esplanade, 2 M. See also:long, contains the See also:chief buildings. Parallel with it is See also:Khedive See also:Avenue, of equal length. The See also:rest of the city is in squares, the streets forming the See also:design of the See also:union See also:jack. In the centre of the esplanade is the See also:governor-See also:general's See also:palace, occupying the site of the palace destroyed by the Mandists in 1885. It is a three-storeyed See also:building with arcaded verandas and a See also:fine See also:staircase leading to a loggia on the first See also:floor. Here a tablet indicates the spot in the old palace where General See also:Gordon See also:fell.

In the gardens, which See also:

cover six acres, is a See also:colossal stone " See also:lamb " brought from the ruins of Soba, an See also:ancient See also:Christian city on the Blue Nile. The " lamb " is in reality a See also:ram of See also:Ammon, and has an inscription in Ethiopian hieroglyphs. In front of the See also:southern See also:facade, which looks on to Khedive Avenue, is a See also:bronze statue of General Gordon seated on a See also:camel, a copy of the statue by See also:Onslow See also:Ford at See also:Chatham, See also:England. See also:Government offices and private villas are on either See also:side of the palace, and beyond, on the See also:east, are the Sudan See also:Club, the military See also:hospital, and the Gordon Memorial See also:College. The college, the chief educational centre in the Sudan, is a large, many-windowed building with See also:accommodation for several See also:hundred scholars and See also:research laboratories and an economic museum. At the western end of the esplanade are the zoological gardens, the chief hotel, the Coptic See also:church and the Mudiria See also:House (See also:residence of the governor of Khartum). See also:Running See also:south from Khedive Avenue at the spot where the Gordon statue stands, is See also:Victoria Avenue, leading to Abbas Square, in the centre of which is the See also:great See also:mosque with two minarets. On the See also:north-east side of the square are the public markets. The See also:Anglican church, dedicated to All See also:Saints, the See also:principal See also:banks and business houses, are in Khedive Avenue. There are Maronite and See also:Greek churches, an See also:Austrian See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:mission, a large and well-equipped See also:civil hospital and a museum for Sudan See also:archaeology. Outside the city are a number of See also:model villages (each of the principal tribes of the Sudan having its own See also:settlement) in which the dwellings are built after the tribal See also:fashion. Adjacent are the See also:parade ground and racecourse and the See also:golf-links.

A See also:

line of fortifications extends south of the city from the Blue to the White Nile. The buildings are used as See also:barracks. Barracksfor See also:British troops occupy the end of the line facing the Blue Nile. On the right (See also:northern) bank of the Blue Nile is the suburb of Khartum North, formerly called Halfaya,' where is the principal railway station. It is joined to the city by a See also:bridge (completed 1910) containing a roadway and the railway, Khartum itself being served by See also:steam trams and rickshaws. The steamers for the White and the Blue Nile start from the See also:quay along the esplanade. See also:West of the zoological gardens is the point of junction of the Blue and White See also:Niles and here is a See also:ferry across to Omdurman (q.v.) on the west bank of the White Nile a mile or two below Khartum. In the river immediately below Khartum is Tuti See also:Island, on which is an old fort and an Arab See also:village. From its See also:geographical position Khartum is admirably adapted as a commercial and See also:political centre. It is the great entrep&t for the See also:trade of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. By the Nile See also:water-ways there is easy transport from the southern and western See also:equatorial provinces and from See also:Sennar and other eastern districts. Through Omdurman come the exports of See also:Kordofan and See also:Darfur, while by the Red Sea railway there is ready See also:access to the markets of the See also:world.

The only important manufacture is the making of bricks. The See also:

population is heterogeneous. The See also:official class is composed chiefly of British and Egyptians; the traders are mostly Greeks, Syrians and See also:Copts, while nearly all the tribes of the Sudan are represented in the See also:negro and Arab inhabitants. At the See also:time of the occupation of the Sudan by the Egyptians a small fishing village existed on the site of the See also:present city. In 1822 the Egyptians established a permanent See also:camp here and out of this See also:grew the city, which in 183o was chosen as the capital of the Sudanese possessions of See also:Egypt. It got its name from the resemblance of the promontory at the confluence of the two Niles to an See also:elephant's See also:trunk, the meaning of khartum in the See also:dialect of Arabic spoken in the locality. The city rapidly acquired importance as the Sudan was opened up by travellers and traders, becoming, besides the seat of much legitimate See also:commerce, a great slave mart. It was chosen as the headquarters of See also:Protestant and Roman Catholic See also:missions, and had a population of 50,000 or more. Despite its See also:size it contained few buildings of any architectural merit; the most important were the palace of the governor-general and the church of the Austrian mission. The See also:history of the city is intimately See also:bound up with that of the Sudan generally, but it may be recalled here that in 1884, at the time of the Mandist rising, General Gordon was sent to Khartum to arrange for the evacuation by the Egyptians of the Sudan. At Khartum he was besieged by the Mandists, whose headquarters were at Omdurman. Khartum was captured and Gordon killed on the 26th of See also:January 1885, two days before the arrival off the See also:town of a small British See also:relief force, which withdrew on seeing the city in the hands of the enemy.

Nearly every building in Khartum was destroyed by the Mandists and the city abandoned in favour of Omdurman, which See also:

place remained the headquarters of the See also:mandi's successor, the See also:khalifa Abdullah, till See also:September 1898, when it was taken by the Anglo-Egyptian forces under General (afterwards Lord) Kitchener, and the seat of government again transferred to Khartum. It speedily arose from its ruins, being rebuilt on a much finer See also:scale than the See also:original city. In 1899 the railway from See also:Wadi Halfa was completed to Khartum, and in 1906 through communication by rail was established with the Red Sea.

End of Article: KHARTUM

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