# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sudan

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​SUDAN (Arabic Bilad-es-Sudan, country of the blacks), that region of Africa which stretches, south of the Sahara and Egypt, from Cape Verde on the Atlantic to Massawa on the Red Sea. It is bounded S. (1) by the maritime countries of the west coast of Africa, (2) by the basin of the Congo, and (3) by the equatorial lakes, and E. by the Abyssinian and Galla highlands. The name is often used in Great Britain in a restricted sense to designate only the eastern part of this vast territory, but it is properly applied to the whole area indicated, which corresponds roughly to that portion of negro Africa north of the equator under Mahommedan influence. The terms Nigritia and Negroland, at one time current, referred to the same region. The Sudan has an ethnological rather than a physical unity, and politically it is divided into a large number of states, all now under the control of European powers. These countries being separately described, brief notice only is required of the Sudan as a whole.
* Emery Walker sc.
Within the limits assigned it has a length of about 4000 m., extending southwards at some points 1000 m., with a total area of over 2,000,000 sq. m., and a population, approximately, of 40,000,000. Between the arid and sandy northern wastes and the well-watered and arable Sudanese lands there is a transitional zone of level grassy steppes (partly covered with mimosas and acacias) with a mean breadth of about 60 m. The zone lies between 17° and 18° N., but towards the centre reaches as far south as 15° N. Excluding this transitional zone, the Sudan may be described as a moderately elevated region, with extensive open or rolling plains, level plateaus, and abutting at its eastern and western ends on mountainous country. Crystalline rocks, granites, gneisses and schists, of the Central African type, occupy the greater part of the country. Towards the south-east, slates, quartzites and iron-bearing schists occur, but their age is not known. The Congo sandstones do not appear to extend as far north. The Nubian sandstone borders the Libyan desert on the south and south-west, but it is doubtful if this sandstone is of Cretaceous or earlier date.
The Sudan contains the basin of the Senegal and parts of three other hydrographic systems, namely: the Niger, draining southwards to the Atlantic; the central depression of Lake Chad; and the Nile, flowing northwards to the Mediterranean. Lying within the tropics and with an average elevation of not more than 1500 to 2000 ft. above the sea, the climate of the Sudan is hot and in the river valleys very unhealthy. Few parts are suitable for the residence of Europeans. Cut off from North Africa by the Sahara desert, the inhabitants, who belong in the main to the negro family proper, are thought to have received their earliest civilization from the East. Arab influence and the Moslem religion began to be felt in the western Sudan as early as the 9th century and had taken deep root by the end of the 11th. The existence of native Christian states in Nubia hindered for some centuries the spread of Islam in the eastern Sudan, and throughout the country some tribes have remained pagan. It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that the European nations became the ruling force.
The terms western, central and eastern Sudan are indicative of geographical position merely. The various states are politically divisible into four groups: (1) those west of the Niger; (2) those between the Niger and Lake Chad; (3) those between Lake Chad and the basin of the Nile; (4) those in the upper Nile valley.
The first group includes the native states of Bondu, Futa Jallon, Masina, Mossi and all the tribes within the great bend of the Niger. In the last quarter of the 19th century they fell under the control of France, the region being styled officially the French Sudan. In 1900 this title was abandoned. The greater part of what was the French Sudan is now known as the Upper Senegal and Niger Colony (See Senegal, French West Africa, &c.)
The second group of Sudanese states is almost entirely within the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria. It includes the sultanate of Sokoto and its dependent emirates of Kano, Bida, Zaria, &c., and the ancient sultanate of Bornu, which, with Adamawa, is partly within the German colony of Cameroon (see Nigeria and Cameroon).
The third or central group of Sudanese states is formed of the sultanates of Bagirmi (q.v.) with Kanem and Wadai (q.v.). Wadai was the last state of the Sudan to come under European influence, its conquest being effected in 1909. This third group is included in French Congo (q.v.).
The fourth group consists of the states conquered during the 19th century by the Egyptians and now under the joint control of Great Britain and Egypt. These countries are known collectively as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (see below).
For the regions west of Lake Chad the standard historical work is the Travels of Dr Heinrich Barth (5 vols., London, 1857–1858). Consult also P. C. Meyer, Erforschungsgeschichte und Staatenbildungen des Westsudan (Gotha, 1897), an admirable summary with bibliography and maps; Karl Kumm, The Sudan (London, 1907); Lady ​Lugard, A Tropical Dependency (London, 1905); and the bibliographies given under the various countries named. For sources and history see Timbuktu. For the central Sudan the most important work is that of Gustav Nachtigal, Sahara und Sudan (3 vols., Berlin 1879–1889). See also Boyd Alexander, From the Niger to the Nile (2 vols., London, 1907); Karl Kumm, From Haussaland to Egypt (London, 1910). For the eastern Sudan see the bibliographies under the following section. A good general work is P. Paulitschke’s Die Sudânländer (Freiburg, 1885).
The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
The region which before the revolt of the Arabized tribes under the Mahdi Mahommed Ahmed in 1881–84 was known as the Egyptian Sudan has, since its reconquest by the Anglo-Egyptian expeditions of 1896–98, been under the joint sovereignty of Great Britain and Boundaries and Area. Egypt. The limits of this condominium differ slightly from those of the Egyptian Sudan of the pre-Mahdi period. It is bounded N. by Egypt (the 22nd parallel of N. lat. being the dividing line), E. by the Red Sea, Eritrea and Abyssinia, S. by the Uganda Protectorate and Belgian Congo, W. by French Congo. North of Darfur is the Libyan Desert, in which the western and northern frontiers meet. Here the boundary is undefined.
As thus constituted the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan forms a compact territory which, being joined southwards by the Uganda Protectorate, brings the whole of the Nile valley from the equatorial lakes to the Mediterranean under the control of Great Britain. The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan extends north to south about 1200 m. in a direct line, and west to east about 1000 m. also in a direct line. It covers 950,000 sq. m., being about one-fourth the area of Europe. In what follows the term Sudan is used to indicate the Anglo-Egyptian condominium only.
Physical Features.—The Sudan presents many diversified features. It may be divided broadly into two zones. The northern portion, from about 16° N., is practically the south-eastern continuation of the Saharan desert; the southern region is fertile, abundantly watered, and in places densely forested. West of the Nile there is a distinctly marked intermediate zone of steppes. In the southern district, between 5° and 10° N., huge swamps extend on either side of the Nile and along the Bahr-el-Ghazal.
From south to north the Sudan is traversed by the Nile (q.v.), and all the great tributaries of that river are either partly or entirely within its borders. The most elevated district is a range of mountains running parallel to the Red Sea. These mountains, which to the south join the Abyssinian highlands, present their steepest face eastward, attaining heights within the Sudan of 4000 to over 7000 ft. Jebel Erba, 7480 ft., and Jebel Soturba, 6889 ft. (both between 21° and 22° N.), the highest peaks, face the Red Sea about 20 m. inland. Westward the mountains slope gradually to the Nile valley, which occupies the greater part of the country and has a general level of from 600 to 1600 ft. In places, as between Suakin and Berber and above Roseires on the Blue Nile, the mountains approach close to the river. Beyond the Nile westward extend vast plains, which in Kordofan and Dar Nuba (between 10° and 15° N.) are broken by hills reaching 2000 ft. Farther west, in Darfur, the country is more elevated, the Jebel Marra range being from 5000 to 6000 ft. high. In the south-west, beyond the valley of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, the country gradually rises to a ridge of hills, perhaps 2000 ft. high, which running south-east and north-west form the water-parting between the Nile and the Congo.
Apart from the Nile system, fully described elsewhere, the Sudan has two other rivers, the Gash and the Baraka. These are intermittent streams rising in the eastern chain of mountains in Eritrea and flowing in a general northerly direction. The Gash enters the Sudan near Kassala and north of that town turns west towards the Atbara, but its waters are dissipated before that river is reached. The Gash nevertheless fertilizes a considerable tract of country. The Khor Baraka lies east of the Gash. It flows towards the Red Sea in the neighbourhood of Trinkitat (some 50 m. south of Suakin), but about 30 m. from the coast forms an inland delta. Except in seasons of great rain its waters do not reach the sea.
The Coast Region.—The coast extends along the Red Sea north to south from 22° N. to 18° N., a distance following the indentations of the shore of over 400 m. These indentations are numerous but not deep, the general trend of the coast being S.S.E. The most prominent headland is Ras Rawaya (21° N.) which forms the northern shore of Dokhana Bay. There are few good harbours, Port Sudan and Suakin being the chief ports. South of Suakin is the shallow bay of Trinkitat. A large number of small islands lie off the coast. A belt of sandy land covered with low scrub stretches inland ten to twenty miles, and is traversed by khors (generally dry) with ill-defined shifting channels. Beyond this plain rise the mountain ranges already mentioned. Their seaward slopes often bear a considerable amount of vegetation.
The Desert Zone.—The greater part of the region between the coast and the Nile is known as the Nubian Desert. It is a rugged, rocky, barren waste, scored with khors or wadis, along whose beds there is scanty vegetation. The desert character of the country increases as the river is neared, but along either bank of the Nile is a narrow strip of cultivable land. West of the Nile there are a few oases—those of Selima, Zaghawa and El Kab—but this district, part of the Libyan Desert, is even more desolate than the Nubian Desert.
The Intermediate Zone and the Fertile Districts.—East of the Nile the region of absolute desert ceases about the point of the Atbara confluence. The country enclosed by the Nile, the Atbara and the Blue Nile, the so-called Island of Meroë, consists of very fertile soil, and along the eastern frontier, by the upper courses of the rivers named, is a district of rich land alternating with prairies and open forests. The fork between the White and Blue Niles, the Gezira, is also fertile land. South of the Gezira is Sennar, a well-watered country of arable and grazing land.
West of the Nile the desert zone extends farther south than on the east, and Kordofan, which comes between the desert and the plains of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, is largely barren and steppe land. South of 10° N. there is everywhere abundance of water. Darfur is mainly open, steppe-like country with extensive tracts of cultivable land and a central mountain massif, the Jebel Marra (see Sennar, Kordofan, Darfur).
Climate.—The country lies wholly within the tropics, and as the greater part of it is far removed from the ocean and less than 1500 ft. above the sea it is extremely hot. The heat is greatest in the central regions, least in the desert zone, where the difference between summer and winter is marked. Even in winter, however, the day temperatures are high. Of this region the Arabs say “the soil is like fire and the wind like a flame.” Nevertheless, the dryness of the air renders the climate healthy. The steppe countries, Kordofan and Darfur, are also healthy except after the autumn rains. At Khartum, centrally situated, the minimum temperature is about 40° F., the maximum 113°, the mean annual temperature being 80°. January is the coldest and June the hottest month. Violent sandstorms are frequent from June to August. Four rain zones may be distinguished. The northern (desert) region is one of little or no rain. There are perhaps a few rainy days in winter and an occasional storm in the summer. In the central belt, where “the rainy season” is from mid-June to September, there are some 10 in. of rain during the year. The number of days on which rain falls rarely exceeds, however, fifteen. The rainfall increases to about 20 in. per annum in the eastern and south-eastern regions. In the swamp district and throughout the Bahr-el-Ghazal heavy rains (40 in. or more a year) are experienced. The season of heaviest rain is from April to September. In the maritime district there are occasional heavy rains between August and January. In the sudd region thunderstorms are frequent. Here the temperature averages about 85° F., the air is always damp and fever is endemic.
Flora.—In the deserts north of Khartum vegetation is almost confined to stunted mimosa and, in the less arid districts, scanty herbage. Between the desert and the cultivated Nile lands is an open growth of samr, hashab (Acacia verek) and other acacia trees. Between Khartum and 12° N. forest belts line the banks of the rivers and khors, in which the most noteworthy tree is the sant or sunt (Acacia arabica). Farther from the rivers are open woods of heglig (Balanites aegyptiaca), hashab, &c., and dense thickets of laot (Acacia nubica) and kittr (Acacia mellifera). These open woods cover a considerable part of Kordofan, the hashab and talh trees being the chief producers of gum arabic. South of 12° N. the forest lands of the White Nile as far south as the sudd region are of similar character to that described. On the Blue Nile the forest trees alter, the most abundant being the babanus (Sudan ebony) and the silag (Anogeissus leiocarpus), while gigantic baobabs, called tebeldi in the Sudan, and tarfa (Sterculia cinerea) are numerous. In southern Kordofan and in the higher parts of the Bahr-el-Ghazal the silag and ebony are also common, as well as African mahogany (homraya, Khaya senegalensis) and other timber trees. In the Ghazal province also are many rubber-producing lianas, among them the Landolphia owariensis. There are also forest regions in the Bahr-el-Jebel, in the Mongalla mudiria and along the Abyssinian-Eritrean frontier. East of the Bahr-el-Jebel and north of the Bahr-el-Jebel are vast prairies covered with tall coarse grass. Cotton is indigenous in the valley of the Blue Nile, and in some districts bamboos are plentiful. The castor-oil plant grows in almost every province. (See also § Agriculture, and, for the vegetation of the swamp region, Nile.)
Fauna.—Wild animals and birds are numerous. Elephants are abundant in the Bahr-el-Ghazal and Bahr-el-Jebel forests, and are found in fewer numbers in the upper valley of the Blue Nile. ​The hippopotamus and crocodile abound in the swamp regions, which also shelter many kinds of water-fowl. The lion, leopard, giraffe and various kinds of antelope are found in the prairies and in the open woods. In the forests are numerous bright-plumaged birds and many species of monkeys, mostly ground monkeys—the trees being too prickly for climbing. Snakes are also plentiful, many poisonous kinds being found. In the steppe regions of Kordofan, Darfur, &c., and in the Nubian Desert ostriches are fairly plentiful. Insect life is very abundant, especially south of 12° N., the northern limit of the tsetse fly. The chief pests are mosquitoes, termites and the serut, a brown fly about the size of a wasp, with a sharp stab, which chiefly attacks cattle. Locusts are less common, but, especially in the eastern districts, occasionally cause great destruction. For domestic animals see § Agriculture.
Inhabitants.—The population, always sparse in the desert and steppe regions, was never dense even in the more fertile southern districts. During the Mahdia the country suffered severely from war and disease. Excluding Darfur the population before the Mahdist rule was estimated at 8,500,000. In 1905 an estimate made by the Sudan government put the population at 1,853,000 only, including 11,000 foreigners, of whom 2800 were Europeans. Since that year there has been a considerable natural increase and in 1910 the population was officially estimated at 2,400,000. There has also been a slight immigration of Abyssinians, Egyptians, Syrians and Europeans—the last named chiefly Greeks.
The term “Bilad-es-Sudan” (“country of the blacks”) is not altogether applicable to the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, the northern portion being occupied by Hamitic and Semitic tribes, chiefly nomads, and classed as Arabs. In the Nile valley north of Khartum the inhabitants are of very mixed origin. This applies particularly to the so-called Nubians who inhabit the Dongola mudiria (see Nubia). Elsewhere the inhabitants north of 12° N. are of mixed Arab descent. In the Nubian Desert the chief tribes are the Ababda and Bisharin, the last named grazing their camels in the mountainous districts towards the Red Sea. In the region south of Berber and Suakin are the Hadendoa. The Jaalin, Hassania and Shukria inhabit the country between the Atbara and Blue Nile; the Hassania and Hassanat are found chiefly in the Gezira. The Kabbabish occupy the desert country north of Kordofan, which is the home of the Baggara tribes. In Darfur the inhabitants are of mixed Arab and negro blood.
Of negro Nilotic tribes there are three or four main divisions. The Shilluks occupy the country along the west side of the Nile northward from about Lake No. The country east of the Nile is divided between the Bari, Nuer and Dinka tribes. The Dinkas are also widely spread over the Bahr-el-Ghazal province. South of Kordofan and west of the Shilluk territory are the Nubas, apparently the original stock of the Nubians. In the south-west of the Bahr-el-Ghazal are the Bongos and other tribes, and along the Nile-Congo water-parting are the A-Zande or Niam-Niam, a comparatively light-coloured race. (All the tribes mentioned are separately noticed.)
Social Conditions.—In contrast with the Egyptians, a most industrious race, the Sudanese tribes, both Arab and negro, are as a general rule indolent. Where wants are few and simple, where houses need not be built nor clothes worn to keep out the cold, there is little stimulus to exertion. Many Arabs “clothed in rags, with only a mat for a house, prefer to lead the life of the free-born sons of the desert, no matter how large their herds or how numerous their followings” (Egypt, No. 1 [1904], p. 147). Following the establishment of British control slave-raiding and the slave trade were stopped, but domestic slavery continues. A genuine desire for education is manifest among the Arabic-speaking peoples and slow but distinct moral improvement is visible among them. Among the riverain “Arabs” some were found to supply labour for public works, and with the money thus obtained cattle were bought and farms started. The Dongolese are the keenest traders in the country. The Arab tribes are all Mahommedans, credulous and singularly liable to fits of religious excitement. Most of the negro tribes are pagan, but some of them who live in the northern regions have embraced Islam.
Divisions and Chief Towns.—Darfur is under native rule. The rest of the Sudan is divided into mudirias (provinces) and these are subdivided into mamuria. The mudirias are Halfa, Red Sea, Dongola and Berber in the north (these include practically all the region known as Nubia); Khartum, Blue Nile and White Nile in the centre; Kassala and Sennar in the east; Kordofan in the west; and Bahr-el-Ghazal, Upper Nile (formerly Fashoda) and Mongalla in the south. The mudirias vary considerably in size.
The capital, Khartum (q.v.), pop. with suburbs about 70,000, is built in the fork formed by the junction of the White and Blue Niles. Opposite Khartum, on the west bank of the White Nile, is Omdurman (q.v.), pop. about 43,000, the capital of the Sudan during the Mahdia. On the Nile north of Khartum at the towns of Berber, Abu Hamed, Merawi (Merowe), Dongola and Wadi Halfa. On the Red Sea are Port Sudan and Suakin. Kassala is on the river Gash east of the Atbara and near the Eritrean frontier. (These towns are separately noticed.) On the Blue Nile are Kamlin, Sennar, Wad Medani (q.v.), pop. about 20,000, a thriving business centre and capital of the Blue Nile mudiria, and Roseires, which marks the limit of navigability by steamers of the river. Gallabat is a town in the Kassala mudiria close to the Abyssinian frontier, and Gedaref lies between the Blue Nile and Atbara a little north of 14° N. El Obeid, the chief town of Kordofan, is 230 m. south-west by south of Khartum. Duiem, capital of the White Nile mudiria, is the river port for Kordofan. El Fasher, the capital of Darfur, is 500 m. W.S.W. of Khartum. All the towns named, except Roseires, are situated north of 13° N. In the south of the Sudan there are no towns properly so called. The native villages are composed of straw or palm huts; the places occupied by Europeans or Egyptians are merely “posts” where the administrative business of the district is carried on. Fashoda (q.v.), renamed Kodok, is the headquarters of the Upper Nile mudiria.
Communications.—North of Khartum the chief means of communication is by railway; south of that city by steamer. There are two trunk railways, one connecting the Sudan with Egypt, the other affording access to the Red Sea. The first line runs from the Nile at Wadi Halfa across the desert in a direct line to Abu Hamed, and from that point follows more or less closely the right (east) bank of the Nile to Khartum. At Khartum the Blue Nile is bridged and the railway is continued south through the Gezira to Sennar. Thence it turns west, crosses the White Nile near Abba Island, and is continued to El Obeid. The length of the line from Halfa to Khartum is 575 m.; from Khartum to Obeid 350 m. The railway from the Nile to the Red Sea starts from the Halfa-Khartum line at Atbara junction, a mile north of the Atbara confluence. It runs somewhat south of the Berber-Suakin caravan route. At Sallom, 278 m. from Atbara Junction, the line divides, one branch going north to Port Sudan, the other south to Suakin. The total distance to Port Sudan from Khartum is 493 m., the line to Suakin being 4 m. longer. Besides these main lines a railway, 138 m. long, runs from Abu Hamed on the right bank of the Nile to Kareima (opposite Merawi) in the Dongola mudiria below the Fourth Cataract. (The railway which started from Halfa and followed the right bank of the Nile to Kerma, 201 m. from Halfa, was abandoned in 1903.) The railways are owned and worked by the state.
In connexion with the Khartum-Halfa railway steamers ply on the Nile between Halfa and Shellal (Assuan) where the railway from Alexandria ends. The distance by rail and steamer between Khartum and Alexandria is about 1490 m. Steamers run on the Nile between Kerma and Kareima, and above Khartum the government maintains a regular service of steamers as far south as Gondokoro in the Uganda Protectorate. During flood season there is also a steamship service on the Blue Nile. Powerful dredgers and sudd-cutting machines are used to keep open communications in the upper Nile and Bahr-el-Ghazal.
The ancient caravan routes Korosko-Abu Hamed and Berber-Suakin have been superseded by the railways, but elsewhere wells and rest-houses are maintained along the main routes between the towns and the Nile. On some of these roads a motor car service is maintained.
From Port Sudan and Suakin there is a regular steamship service to Europe via the Suez Canal. There are also services to Alexandria, the Red Sea ports of Arabia, Aden and India.
There is an extensive telegraphic system. Khartum is connected by land lines with Egypt and Uganda, thus affording direct telegraphic connexion between Alexandria and Mombasa (2500 m.). From Khartum other lines go to Kassala and the Red Sea ports. In some places the telegraph wires are placed 16 ft. 6 in. above the ground to protect them from damage by giraffes.
Agriculture and other Industries.—North of Khartum agricultural land is confined to a narrow strip on either side of the Nile and to the few oases in the Libyan Desert. In the Gezira and in the plains of Gedaref between the Blue Nile and the Atbara there are wide areas of arable land, as also in the neighbourhood of Kassala along the banks of the Gash. In Kordofan and Darfur cultivation is confined to the khors or valleys. The chief grain crop is durra, the staple food of the Sudanese. Two crops are obtained yearly in several districts. On lands near the rivers the durra is sown after the flood has gone down and also at the beginning of the rainy season. Considerable quantities of wheat and barley are also ​grown. Other foodstuffs raised are lentils, beans, onions and melons. The date-palm is cultivated along the Nile valley below Khartum, especially on the west bank in the Dongola mudiria and in the neighbouring oases. Dates are also a staple product in Darfur and Kordofan. Ground-nuts and sesame are grown in large quantities for the oil they yield, and cotton of quality equal to that grown in the Delta is produced. The Sudan was indeed the original home of Egyptian cotton.
For watering the land by the river banks sakias (water-wheels) are used, oxen being employed to turn them. There are also a few irrigation canals. In 1910, apart from the date plantations, about 1,500,000 acres were under cultivation. In 1910 a system of basin irrigation was begun in Dongola mudiria.
Gum and rubber are the chief forest products. The gum is obtained from eastern Kordofan and in the forests in the upper valley of the Blue Nile, the best gum coming from Kordofan. It is of two kinds, hashab (white) and talh (red), the white being the most valuable. Rubber is obtained from the Bahr-el-Ghazal—where there are Para and Ceara rubber plantations—and in the Sobat district. The wood of the sunt tree is used largely for boat-building and for fuel, and the mahogany tree yields excellent timber. Fibre is made from several trees and plants. Elephants are hunted for the sake of their ivory. The wealth of the Arab tribes consists largely in their herds of camels, horses and cattle. They also keep ostrich farms, the feathers being of good quality. The Dongola breed of horses is noted for its strength and hardness. The camels are bred in the desert north of Berber, between the Nile and Red Sea, in southern Dongola, in the Hadendoa country and in northern Kordofan. The Sudanese camel is lighter, faster and better bred than the camel of Egypt. The camel, horse and ostrich are not found south of Kordofan and Sennar. The negro tribes living south of those countries possess large herds of cattle, sheep and goats. The cattle are generally small and the sheep yield little wool. The Arabs use the cattle as draught-animals as well as for their milk and flesh; the negro tribes as a rule do not eat their oxen. Fowls are plentiful, but of poor quality. Donkeys are much used in the central regions; they make excellent transport animals.
Mineral Wealth.—In ancient times Nubia, i.e. the region between the Red Sea and the Nile south of Egypt and north of the Suakin-Berber line, was worked for gold. Ruins of an extensive goldmine exist near Jebel Erba at a short distance from the sea. In 1905 gold mining recommenced in Nubia, in the district of Um Nabardi, which is in the desert, about midway between Wadi Halfa and Abu Hamed. A light railway, 30 m. long, opened in June 1905, connects Um Nabardi with the government railway system. The producing stage was reached in 1908, and between September 1908 and August 1909 the mines yielded 4500 oz. of gold. Small quantities of gold-dust are obtained from Kordofan, and gold is found in the Beni-Shangul country south-west of Sennar, but this region is within the Abyssinian frontier (agreement of the 15th of May 1902). There is lignite in the Dongola mudiria and iron ore is found in Darfur, southern Kordofan and in the Bahr-el-Ghazal. In the last-named mudiria iron is worked by the natives. The district of Hofrat-el-Nahas (the copper mine) is rich in copper, the mines having been worked intermittently from remote times.
Trade.—The chief products of the Sudan for export are gum, ivory, ostrich feathers, dates and rubber. Cotton, cotton-seed and grain (durra, wheat, barley) sesame, livestock, hides and skins, beeswax, mother-of-pearl, senna and gold are also exported. Before the opening (1906) of the railway to the Red Sea the trade was chiefly with Egypt via the Nile, and the great cost of carriage hindered its development. Since the completion of the railway named goods can be put on the world's markets at a much cheaper rate. Besides the Egyptian and Red Sea routes there is considerable trade between the eastern mudirias and Abyssinia and Eritrea, and also some trade south and west with Uganda and the Congo countries. The Red Sea ports trade largely with Arabia and engage in pearl fishery. The principal imports are cotton goods, food-stuffs (flour, rice, sugar, provisions), timber, tobacco, spirits (in large quantities), iron and machinery, candles, cement and perfumery. The value of the trade, which during the Mahdist rule (1884–1898) was a few thousands only, had increased in 1905 to over £1,500,000. In 1908 the exports of Sudan produce were valued at £E515,000; the total imports at £E1,892,000.
Government.—The administration is based on the provisions of a convention signed on the 19th of January 1899 between the British and Egyptian governments. The authority of the sovereign powers is represented by a governor-general appointed by Egypt on the recommendation of Great Britain. In 1910 a council consisting of four ex officio members and from two to four non-official nominated members was created to advise the governor-general in the exercise of his executive and legislative functions. Subject to the power of veto retained by the governor-general all questions are decided by a majority of the council. Each of the mudirias into which the country is divided is presided over by a mudir (governor) responsible to the central government at Khartum. The governor-general, the chiefs of the various departments of state and the mudirs are all Europeans, the majority being British military officers. The minor officials are nearly all Egyptians or Sudanese. Revenue is derived as to about 60% from the customs and revenue-earning departments (i.e. steamers, railways, posts and telegraphs), and as to the rest from taxes on land, date-trees and animals, from royalties on gum, ivory and ostrich feathers, from licences to sell spirits, carry arms, &c., and from fees paid for the shooting of game. Expenditure is largely on public works, education, justice and the army. Financial affairs are managed from Khartum, but control over expenditure is exercised by the Egyptian financial department. The revenue, which in 1898 was £E35,000, for the first time exceeded a million in 1909, when the amount realized was £E1,040,200. The expenditure in 1909 was £E1,153,000. Financially the government had been, up to 1910, largely dependent upon Egypt. In the years 1901–1909 £E4,378,000 was advanced from Cairo for public works in the Sudan; in the same period a further sum of about £E2,750,000 had been found by Egypt to meet annual deficits in the Sudan budgets (see Egypt, No. 1 [1910], pp. 5–6).
Justice.—The Sudan judicial codes, based in part on those of India and in part on the principles of English law and of Egyptian commercial law, provide for the recognition of “customary law” so far as applicable and “not repugnant to good conscience.” In each mudiria criminal justice is administered by a court, consisting of the mudir (or a judge) and two magistrates, which has general competence. The magistrates are members of the administrative staff, who try minor cases without the help of the mudir (or judge). The governor-general possesses revising powers in all cases. Civil cases of importance are heard by a judge (or where no judge is available by the mudir or his representative); minor civil cases are tried by magistrates. From the decision of the judges an appeal lies to the legal secretary of the government, in his capacity of judicial commissioner. Jurisdiction in all legal matters as regards personal status of Mahommedans is administered by a grand cadi and a staff of subordinate cadis. The police force of each mudiria is independently organized under the control of the mudirs.
Education.—Education is in charge of the department of public instruction. Elementary education, the medium of instruction being Arabic, is given in kuttabs or village schools. There are primary schools in the chief towns where English, Arabic, mathematics, and in some cases land-measuring is taught. There are also government industrial workshops, and a few schools for girls. The Gordon College at Khartum trains teachers and judges in the Mahommedan courts and has annexed to it a secondary school. The college also contains the Wellcome laboratories for scientific research. Among the pagan negro tribes Protestant and Roman Catholic missions are established. These missions carry on educational work, special attention being given to industrial training.
Defence.—The defence of the country is entrusted to the Egyptian army, of which several regiments are stationed in the Sudan. The governor-general is sirdar (commander-in-chief) of the army. A small force of British troops is also stationed in the Sudan—chiefly at Khartum. They are under the command of the governor-general in virtue of an arrangement made in 1905, having previously been part of the Egyptian command.
For topography, &c., see The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, a compendium prepared by officers of the Sudan government and edited by Count Gleichen (2 vols., London, 1905); for administration, finance and trade the annual Reports [by the British agent at Cairo] on Egypt and the Sudan, since 1898; and the special report (Blue Book Egypt, No. ii., 1883) by Colonel D. H. Stewart. Consult also J. Petherick, Travels in Central Africa (2 vols., London, 1862); W. Junker, Travels in Africa, 1875-1886 (3 vols., London, 1890–1892); G. Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa (2 vols., London, 1873); J. Baumgarten, Ostafrika, der Sudan und das Seengebiet (Gotha, 1890); E. D. Schoenfeld, Erythräa und der ägyptische Sudân (Berlin, 1904); C. E. Muriel, Report on the Forests of the Sudan (Cairo, 1901); H. F. Witherby, Bird Hunting on the White Nile (London, 1902). For ethnology, ​&c., see A. H. Keane, Ethnology of the Egyptian Sudan (London, 1884); H. Frobenius, Die Heiden-Neger des ägyptischen Sudan (Berlin, 1893). Scientific and medical subjects are dealt with in the Reports of the Wellcome Research Laboratories, Gordon College, Khartum. The Sudan Almanac is a valuable official publication. (F. R. C.)
Archaeology.—Archaeological study in the Sudan was retarded for many years by political conditions. The work which had been begun by Cailliaud, Champollion, Lepsius and others was interrupted by the rise of the Mahdist power; and with the frontiers of Egypt itself menaced by dervishes, the country south of Aswan (Assuan) was necessarily closed to the student of antiquity. Even after the dervishes had been overthrown at the battle of Omdurman (1898) it was some time before archaeologists awoke to a sense of the historical importance of the regions thus made accessible to them. Dr Wallis Budge visited several of the far southern sites and made some tentative excavations, but no extensive explorations were undertaken until an unexpected event produced a sudden outburst of activity. This was the resolution adopted by the Egyptian government to extend the great reservoir at the First Cataract by raising the height of the Aswan dam. As a result of this measure all sites bordering the river banks from Aswan to Abu Simbel were threatened with inundation and the scientific world took alarm. A large sum of money was assigned by the government, partly for the preservation of the visible temples in the area to be submerged, partly for an official expedition under the charge of Dr G. A. Reisner which was to search for all remains of antiquity hidden beneath the ground. At the same time the University of Pennsylvania dispatched the Eckley B. Coxe, jun., expedition, which devoted its attention to the southern half of Lower Nubia from Halfa to Korosko, while the government excavators explored from Korosko to Aswan. Thus in the five years 1907–1911 inclusive an immense mass of new material was acquired which throws a flood of light on the archaeology at once of Egypt and the Sudan. For it must be clearly appreciated that though all except the southern twenty miles of Lower Nubia has been attached for purposes of administration of Egypt proper, yet this political boundary is purely artificial. The natural geographical and ethnical southern frontier of Egypt is the First Cataract; Egyptian scribes of the Old Empire recognized this truth no less clearly than Diocletian, and Juvenal anticipates the verdict of every modern observer when he describes the “porta Syenes” as the gate of Africa. It is the more necessary to emphasize this fact as the present article must unavoidably be concerned principally with the most northern regions of the country of the Blacks—for since the days of Lepsius there has been little new investigation south of Halfa. The hasty reconnaissances of Dr Wallis Budge, Professor A. H. Sayce, Mr Somers Clarke and Professor J. Garstang must be followed by more thorough and intensive study before it can be possible to write in more than very general terms of anything but the well-known monuments left by Egyptian kings whose history is already tolerably familiar from other sources. The inscriptions of these kings and their officials have been collected by Professor J. H. Breasted and some account of the temples and fortresses from Halfa to Khartum will be found in the following section, Ancient Monuments south of Halfa, while the history of the early and medieval Christian kingdoms is outlined in the articles Ethiopia and Dongola. The central and southern Sudan is therefore almost a virgin field for the archaeologist, but the exploration of Lower Nubia has made it possible to write a tentative preface to the new chapters still unrevealed.
The Sudan was well named by the medieval Arab historians, for it is primarily and above all the country of the black races, of those Nilotic negroes whose birthplace may be supposed to have been near the Great Lakes. But upon this aboriginal stock were grafted in very early times fresh shoots of more vigorous and intellectual races coming probably from the East (cf. Africa: Ethnology). Lower Nubia was one of the crucibles in which several times was formed a mixed nation which defied or actually dominated Egypt. There is some scientific ground for dating the earliest example of such a fusion to the exact period of the Egyptian Old Empire. It is certain in any case that the process was constantly repeated at different dates and in different parts of the country from Aswan to Axum, and to the stimulation which resulted from it must be ascribed the principal political and intellectual movements of the Sudanese nations. Thus the Ethiopians who usurped the crown of the Pharaohs from 740–660 B.C. were of a mixed stock akin to the modern Barabra; the northern Nubians who successfully defied the Roman emperors were under the lordship of the Blemyes (Blemmyes), an East African tribe, and the empire of the Candace dynasty, no less than the Christian kingdoms which succeeded it, included many heterogeneous racial elements (see also Nubia). The real history of the Sudan will therefore be concerned with the evolution of what may be called East African or East Central African civilizations.
Up to the present, however, this aspect has been obscured, for until 1907 scholars had little opportunity of studying ancient Ethiopia except as a colonial extension of Egypt. From the purely Egyptological standpoint there is much of value to be learned from the Sudan. The Egyptian penetration of the country began, according to the evidence of inscriptions, as early as the Old Empire. Under the XIIth Dynasty colonies were planted and fortresses established down to the Batn-el-Hagar. During the XVIIIth Dynasty the political subjugation was completed and the newly won territories were studded with cities and temples as far south as the Fourth Cataract. Some two hundred years later the priests of Amen (Ammon), flying from Thebes, founded a quasi-Egyptian capital at Napata. But after this date Egypt played no part in the evolution of Ethiopia. Politically moribund, it succumbed to the attacks of its virile southern neighbours, who, having emerged from foreign tutelage, developed according to the natural laws of their own genius and environment. The history of Ethiopia therefore as an independent civilization may be said to date from the 8th century B.C., though future researches may be able to carry its infant origins to a remoter past.
Of the thousand years or more of effective Egyptian occupation many monuments exist, but on a broad general view it must be pronounced that they owe their fame more to the accident of survival than to any special, intrinsic value. For excepting Philae, which belongs as much to Egypt as to Ethiopia, Abu Simbel is the only temple which can be ranked among first rate products of Egyptian genius. The other temples, attractive as they are, possess rather a local than a universal interest. Similarly while the exploration of the Egyptian colonies south of the First Cataract has added many details to our knowledge of political history, of local cults and provincial organization, yet with one exception it has not affected the known outlines of the history of civilization. This exception is the discovery made by Dr G. A. Reisner that the archaic culture first detected at Nagada and Abydos and then at many points as far north as Giza extended southwards into Nubia at least as far as Gerf Husein. This was wholly unexpected, and if, as seems probable, the evidence stands the test of criticism, it is a new historical fact of great importance. The government expedition found traces between Aswan and Korosko of all the principal periods from this early date down to the Christian era. The specimens obtained are kept in a separate room of the Cairo Museum, where they form a collection of great value.
The work of the Pennsylvanian expedition, however, while adding only a few details to the archaeology of the Egyptian periods, has opened a new chapter in the history of the African races. No records indeed were discovered of the founders of the first great Ethiopian kingdom from Piankhi to Tirhakah, nor has any fresh light been thrown upon the relations which that remarkable king Ergamenes maintained with the Egyptian Ptolemies. But the exploration of sites in the southern half of Lower Nubia has revealed the existence of a wholly unsuspected independent civilization which grew up during the first six centuries after Christ. The history of the succeeding periods, moreover, has been partially recovered and the study ​of architecture enriched by the excavation of numerous churches dating from the time of Justinian, when Nubia was first Christianized, down to the late medieval period when Christianity was extirpated by Mahommedanism.
The civilization of the first six centuries A.D. may be called “Romano-Nubian,” a term which indicates its date and suggests something of its character. It is the product of a people living on the borders of the Roman Empire who inherited much of the Hellenistic tradition in minor arts but combined it with a remarkable power of independent origination. The sites on which it has been observed range from Dakka to Halfa, that is to say within the precise limits which late Latin and Greek writers assign to the Blemyes, and there is good reason to identify the people that evolved it with this hitherto almost unknown barbarian nation. Apart from this, however, the greatest value of the new discoveries will consist in the fact that they may lay the foundations for a new documentary record of past ages. For the graves yielded not only new types of statues, bronzes, ivory carvings and painted pottery—all of the highest artistic value—but also a large number of stone stelae inscribed with funerary formulae in the Meroitic script.
In the course of sixty years the small collection of Meroitic inscriptions made by Lepsius had not been enlarged and no progress had been made towards decipherment. But the cemeteries of Shablul and Karanog alone yielded 170 inscriptions on stone, besides some inscribed ostraka. This mass of material brought the task of decipherment within the range of possibility, and even without any bilingual record to assist him, Mr F. Ll. Griffith rapidly succeeded in the first stages of translation. As further explorations bring more inscriptions to light the records of Ethiopia will gradually be placed on a firm documentary basis and the names and achievements of its greatest monarchs will take their place on the roll of history.
Bibliography.—C. R. Lepsius, Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien (1849), Abh. vi., Briefe aus Aegypten, Aethiopien, &c. (1852), Nubische Grammatik (1880); H. Brugsch, Zeitschrift fur aegyptische Sprache (1887); F. Cailliaud, Voyage à Méroé et au Fleuve Blanc (1826); E. A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Sudân (1907); G. A. Reisner and C. M. Firth, Reports on The Archaeological Survey of Nubia; G. Elliott Smith and F. Wood Jones, ibid. vol. ii. “The Human Remains” (1910); J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt (1906–1907), A History of Egypt (1905), Temples of Lower Nubia (1906), Monuments of Sudanese Nubia (1908); D. Randall-MacIver and C. L. Woolley, Reports of the Eckley B. Coxe, jun. expedition, viz. vol. i. Areika. (1909), vols. iii., iv., v. Karanog (vol. iii. “The Romano-Nubian Cemetery,” 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. Ll. Griffith, Reports on the Eckley B. Coxe, jun., expedition, vol. vi. Meroitic 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 south of Halfa.—Ruins of pyramids, temples, churches and other monuments are found along both banks of the Nile almost as far south as the Fourth Cataract, and again in the “Island of Meroë.” In the following list the ruins are named as met with on the journey south from Wadi Halfa. Opposite that town on the east bank are the remains of Bohon, where was found the stele, now at Florence, commemorating the conquest of the region by Senwosri (Usertesen) I. of Egypt (c. 2750 B.C.). Forty-three 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 80 m. above Semna, are the ruins of a temple with Meroitic hieroglyphics. At Sai Island, 130 m. above Halfa, are remains of a town and of a Christian church. Thirteen miles south of Sai at Soleb are the ruins of a fine temple commemorating Amenophis (Amenhotep) III. (c. 1414 B.C.) to whose queen Taia was dedicated a temple at Sedeinga, a few miles to the north. At Sesebi, 40 m. higher up the Nile, is a temple of the heretic king Akhenaton re-worked by Seti I. (c. 1327 B.C.). Opposite Hannek at the Third Cataract on Tombos Island are extensive ancient granite quarries, in one of which lies an unfinished colossus. On the east side of the river near Kerma are the remains of an Egyptian city. Argo Island, a short distance higher up, abounds in ruins, and those at Old Dongola, 320 m. from Halfa, afford evidence of the town having been of considerable size during the time of the Christian kingdom of Dongola. From Old Dongola to Merawi (a distance of 100 m. by the river) are numerous ruins of monasteries, churches and fortresses of the Christian era in Nubia—notably at Jebel Deka and Magal. In the immediate neighbourhood of Jebel Barkal (the “holy mountain” of the ancient Egyptians), a flat-topped hill which rises abruptly from the desert on the right bank of the Nile a mile or two above the existing village of Merawi (Merowe), are many pyramids and six temples, the pyramids having a height of from 35 to 60 ft. Pyramids are also found at Zuma and Kurru on the right bank, and at Tangassi on the left bank of the river, these places being about 20 m. below Merawi. That village is identified by some archaeologists with the ancient Napata, which is known to have been situated near the “holy mountain.” On the left bank of the Nile opposite Merawi are the pyramids of Nuri, and a few miles distant in the Wadi Ghazal are the ruins of a great Christian monastery, where were found gravestones with inscriptions in Greek and Coptic. Ruins of various ages extend from Merawi to the Fourth Cataract.
Leaving the Nile at this point and striking direct across the Bayuda Desert, the river is regained at a point above the Atbara confluence. Thirty miles north of the town of Shendi are the pyramids of Meroë (or Assur) in three distinct groups. From one of these pyramids was taken “the treasure of Queen Candace,” now in the Berlin Museum. Many of the pyramids have a small shrine on the eastern side inscribed with debased Egyptian or Meroite hieroglyphics. These pyramids are on the right bank of the Nile, that is in the “Island of Meroë.” Portions (including a harbour) of the site of the city of Meroë, at Begerawia, not far from the pyramids named, were excavated in 1909–1910 (see Meroë). In this region, and distant from the river, are the remains of several cities, notably Naga, where are ruins of four temples, one in the Classic style. On the east bank of the Blue Nile, about 13 m. above Khartum at Soba, are ruins of a Christian basilica. Farther south still, at Ceteina on the White Nile (in 1904), and at Wad el-Hadad, some miles north of Sennar, on the Blue Nile (in 1908), Christian remains have been observed.
Between the Nile at Wadi Halfa and the Red Sea are the remains of towns inhabited by the ancient miners who worked the district. The most striking of these towns is Deraheib (Castle Beautiful), so named from the picturesque situation of the castle, a large square building with pointed arches. The walls of some 500 houses still stand.
For a popular account (with many illustrations) of these ruins see J. Ward, Our Sudan: Its Pyramids and Progress (London, 1905). (F. R. C.)
History
A. From the Earliest Time to the Egyptian Conquest.—The southern regions of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan are without recorded history until the era of the Egyptian conquest in the 19th century. In the northern regions, known as Ethiopia or Nubia, Egyptian influence made itself felt as early as the Old Empire. In process of time powerful states grew up with capitals at Napata and Meroë (see ante § Archaeology and Ethiopia and Egypt). The Nubians—that is the dwellers in the Nile valley between Egypt and Abyssinia—did not embrace Christianity until the 6th century, considerably later than their Abyssinian neighbours. The Arab invasion of North Africa in the 7th century, which turned Egypt into a Mahommedan country, had not the same effect in Nubia, the Moslems, though they frequently raided the country, being unable to hold it. Christian Kingdoms of Nubia. On the ruins of the ancient Ethiopian states arose the Christian kingdoms of Dongola and Aloa, with capitals at Dongola and Soba (corresponding roughly to Napata and Meroë). These kingdoms continued to exist until the middle of the 14th century or later (see Dongola: Mudiria). Meanwhile Arabs of the Beni Omayya tribe, under pressure from the Beni Abbas, had begun to cross the Red Sea ​as early as the 8th century and to 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 Arabia, intermarried with the negroid races, and gradually Arab influence became predominant and 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 Abyssinia. By the 15th century the Arabized negro races of the Blue Nile had grown into a powerful nation known as the Funj (q.v.), and during that century they extended their conquests north to the borders of Egypt. The kingdom of Dongola had already been reduced to a condition of anarchy by Moslem invasions from the north. Christianity was still professed by some of the Nubians as late as the 16th century, but the whole Sudan north of the lands of the pagan negroes (roughly 12° N.) was then under Moslem sway. At that time the sultans of Darfur (q.v.) in the west and the sultans or 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 reigned c. 1484–1526. During the reign of Adlan, c. 1596–1603, the fame of Sennar attracted learned The Funj Empire. men to his court from such distant places as Cairo and Bagdad. Adlan's great-grandson Badi Abu Daku attacked the Shilluk negroes and raided Kordofan. This monarch built the great mosque at Sennar, almost the only building in the town to survive the ravages of the dervishes in the 19th century. In the early part of the 18th century there was war between the Sennari and the Abyssinians, in which the last named were defeated with great slaughter. It is said that the cause of quarrel was the seizure by the king of Sennar of presents sent by the king of France to the Negus. The victory over the “infidel” Abyssinians became celebrated throughout the Mahommedan world, and Sennar was visited by many learned and celebrated men from Egypt, Arabia and India. Towards the end of the 18th century the Hameg wrested power from the Funj and the kingdom 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 Mahdi.—The conquest of Nubia was undertaken in 1820 by order of Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, and was accomplished in the two years following. In its consequences this proved one of the most important events in the Conquest by Egypt. history of Africa. Mehemet Ali never stated the reasons which led him to order the occupation of the country, but his leading motive was, probably, the desire to obtain possession of the mines of gold and precious stones which he believed the Sudan contained. He also saw that the revenue of Egypt was falling through the diversion, since about 1800, of the caravan routes from the Nile to the Red Sea ports, and may have wished to recapture the 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 Turks in his army, of whose fidelity he was doubtful.
Mehemet Ali gave the command of the army sent to Nubia to his son Ismail, who at the head of some 4000 men left Wadi Halfa in October 1820. Following the Nile route he occupied Dongola without opposition, the Mamelukes fleeing before him. (Some of them went to Darfur and Wadai, others made their way to the Red Sea. This was the final dispersal of the Mamelukes.) With the nomad Shagia, who dominated the district, Ismail had two sharp encounters, one near Korti, the other higher up the river, and in both fights Ismail was successful. Thereafter the Shagia furnished useful auxiliary cavalry to the Egyptians. Ismail remained in the Dongola province till February 1821, when he crossed the Bayuda Desert and received the submission of the meks (kings) of Berber, Shendi and Halfaya, nominal vassals of the king of Sennar. Continuing his march south Ismail reached the confluence of the White and Blue Niles and established a camp at Ras Khartum. (This camp developed into the city of Khartum.) At this time Badi, the king of Sennar, from whom all real power had been wrested by his leading councillors, determined to submit to the Egyptians, and as Ismail advanced up the Blue Nile he was met at Wad Medani by Badi who declared that he recognized Mehemet Ali as master of his kingdom. Ismail and Badi entered the town of Sennar together on the 12th of June 1821, and in this peaceable manner the Egyptians became rulers of the ancient empire of the Funj. In search of the gold-mines reported to exist farther south Ismail penetrated into the mountainous region of Fazokl, where the negroes offered a stout resistance. In February 1822 he set out on his return to Sennar and Dongola, having received reports of risings against Egyptian authority. The Egyptian soldiery had behaved throughout with the utmost barbarity, and their passage up the Nile was marked by rapine, murder, mutilation and fire. Of the rulers who had submitted to Ismail, Nair Mimr, the mek of Shendi, had been compelled to follow in the suite of the Egyptians as a sort of hostage, and this man entertained deep hatred of the pasha. On Ismail's return to Shendi, October 1822, he demanded of the mek 1000 slaves to be supplied in two days. The mek, promising compliance, invited Ismail and his chief officers to a feast in his house, around which he had piled heaps of straw. Whilst the Egyptians were feasting the mek set fire to the straw and Ismail and all his companions were burnt to death.
Ismail's death was speedily avenged. 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 campaign, the province of Kordofan (1821) from the sultan of Darfur. This army was commanded by Mahommed Bey, the Defterdar, son-in-law of Mehemet Ali. Hearing of Ismail's murder the Defterdar marched to Shendi, defeated the forces of the mek, and took terrible revenge upon the inhabitants of Meternma and Shendi, most of the inhabitants, including women and children, being burnt alive. Nair Mimr escaped to the Abyssinian frontier, where he maintained his independence. Having conquered Nubia, Sennar and Kordofan the Egyptians set up a civil government, placing at the head of the administration a governor-general with practically unlimited power. About this period Mehemet Ali leased from the sultan of Turkey the Red Sea ports of Suakin and 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 “industry,” the lands inhabited by negro tribes on the borders of the conquered territories being raided annually for the purpose. From the negro population the army was so largely recruited that in a few years the only non-Sudanese in it were officers. The Egyptian rule proved harmful to the country. The governors-general and the leading officials were nearly all Turks, Albanians or Circassians, and, with rare exceptions, the welfare of the people formed no part of their conception of government. Numerous efforts were made to extend the authority of Egypt. In 1840—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 ​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 office, however, little more than a year, too short a period to effect reforms. The Sudan was costing Egypt more 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 pioneer European merchant being John Petherick, British consular agent at Khartum. Petherick sought for ivory only, but those who followed him soon found that slave-raiding was more profitable than elephant hunting. The viceroy Said, who made a rapid tour through the Sudan in 1857, found it in a deplorable condition. The viceroy ordered many reforms to be executed and proclaimed the abolition of slavery. The reforms were mainly inoperative and slavery continued. The project which Said also conceived of linking the Sudan to Egypt by railway remained unfulfilled. The Sudan at this time (c. 1862) is described by Sir Samuel Baker as utterly ruined by Egyptian methods of government and the retention of the country only to be accounted for by the traffic in slaves. The European merchants above Khartum had sold their posts to Arab agents, who oppressed the natives in every conceivable 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 firman assigning to him the administration of Suakin and Massawa; the 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 coast from Suez to Cape Guardafui and garrisoned the towns of Berbera, Zaila, &c., while in 1874 the important town of Harrar, the entrepôt for southern Abyssinia, was seized by Egyptian troops. The khedive had also seized Bogos, in the hinterland of Massawa, a province claimed by Abyssinia. This action led to 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; Eritrea and Somaliland).
At the same time that Ismail annexed the seaboard he was extending his sway along the Nile valley to the equatorial lakes, and conceived the idea of annexing all the country between the Nile and the Indian Ocean. An expedition was sent (1875) to the Juba River with that object, but it was withdrawn at the request of the British government, as it infringed the rights of the sultan of Zanzibar. The control of all territories south of Gondokoro had been given (April 1, 1869) to Sir Samuel Baker, who, however, only left Khartum to take up his governorship The Equatorial Regions: Darfur conquered. in February 1870. Reaching Gondokoro on the 26th of May following, he formally annexed that station, which he named Ismailia, to the khedival domains. Baker remained as governor of the Equatorial Provinces until August 1873, and in March 1874 Colonel C. G. Gordon took up the same post. Both Baker and 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 Uganda came effectively under Egyptian control, though the power of the government extended on the east little beyond the banks of the rivers. On the west the Bahr-el-Ghazal had been overrun by Arab or semi-Arab slave-dealers. Nominally subjects of the khedive, they acted as free agents, reducing the country over which they terrorized to a 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 agriculture and open up communications the Sudan continued to be a constant drain on the Egyptian exchequer. The khedive Ismail revived Said's project of a railway, and a survey for a line from Wadi Halfa to Khartum was made (1871), while a branch line to Massawa was also contemplated. As with Said's project these schemes came to naught. In October 1876 Gordon left the Equatorial Provinces and gave up his appointment. General Gordon Governor-general. In February 1877, under pressure from the British and Egyptian governments, he went to Cairo, where he was given the governorship of the whole of the Egyptian territories outside Egypt; namely, the 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 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 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 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 ringleaders, he executed. The slave-raiders were completely broken up and over 10,000 captives released. A remnant of Zobeir's troops under a chief named Rabah succeeded in escaping westward (see Rabah). Having conquered the province Gessi was made governor of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and given the 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 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 September 1880 and was succeeded by Frank Lupton, an Englishman, and formerly captain of a Red Sea merchant steamer, who was given the rank of bey. At this period (1880–1882) schemes for the reorganization and better administration of the Sudan were elaborated on paper, but the revolt in Egypt under Arabi (see Egypt: History) and the appearance in the Sudan of a Mahdi prevented these schemes from being put into ​execution (assuming that the Egyptian authorities were sincere in proposing reforms).
C. The Rise and Power of Mahdism.—The Mahdist movement, which was utterly to overthrow Egyptian rule, derived its strength from two different causes: the oppression under which the people suffered, and the measures taken to prevent the Baggara (cattle-owning Arabs) from slave trading. Venality and the 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 long-looked-for Mahdi (guide) of Islam, he found most of his original followers among the grossly superstitious villagers of Kordofan, to whom he preached universal equality and a community of goods, while denouncing the Turks as unworthy Moslems on whom God would execute judgment. The Baggara perceived in this Mahdi one who could be used to shake off Egyptian rule, and their adhesion to him first gave importance to his “mission.” Mahommed Ahmed became at once the leader and the agent of the Baggara. He married the daughters of their sheikhs and found in Abdullah, a member of the Taaisha section of the tribe, his chief supporter. The first armed conflict The Massacre of Hicks Pasha's Army. between the Egyptian troops and the Mahdi's followers occurred in August 1881. In June 1882 the Mahdi gained his first considerable success. The capture of El Obeid on the 17th of January 1883 and the annihilation in the November following of an army of over 10,000 men commanded by Hicks Pasha (Colonel William Hicks [q.v.] formerly of the Bombay army) made the Mahdi undisputed master of Kordofan and Sennar. The next month, December 1883, saw the surrender of Slatin in Darfur, whilst in February 1884 Osman Digna, his amir in the Red Sea regions, inflicted a crushing defeat on some 4000 Egyptians at El Teb near Suakin. In April following Lupton Bey, governor of Bahr-el-Ghazal, whose troops and officials had embraced the Mahdist cause, surrendered and was sent captive to Omdurman, where he died on the 8th of May 1888.
On learning of the disaster to Hicks Pasha's army, the British government (Great Britain having been since 1882 in military occupation of Egypt) insisted that the Egyptian government should evacuate such parts of the Sudan as they still held, and General Gordon was dispatched, with Lieut.-Colonel Donald H. 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 establishment of some form of Gordon at Khartum. 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. Gordon reached Khartum on the 18th of February 1884 and at first his mission, which had aroused great enthusiasm in 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 Mahdi was sultan of Kordofan, and that the Sudan was independent of Egypt. He enabled some thousands of refugees to make their escape to Assuan and collected at Khartum troops from some of the outlying stations. By this time the situation had altered for the worse and Mahdism 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 garrison) Gordon repeatedly telegraphed to Cairo asking that Zobeir Pasha might be sent to him, his intention being to 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 Mahdi. Owing to Zobeir's notoriety as a slave-raider Gordon's request was refused. All hope of a peaceful retreat of the Egyptians was thus rendered impossible. The Mahdist movement now swept northward and on the 20th of May Berber was captured by the dervishes and Khartum isolated. From this time the energies of Gordon were devoted to the defence of that town. After months of delay due to the vacillation of the British government a relief expedition was sent up the Nile under the command of Lord Wolseley. It started too late to achieve its object, and on the 25th of January 1885 Khartum was captured by the Mahdi and Gordon killed. Colonel Stewart, Frank Power (British consul at Khartum) and M. Herbin (French consul), who (accompanied by nineteen Greeks) had been sent down the Nile by Gordon in the previous September to give news to the relief force, had been decoyed ashore and murdered (Sept. 18, 1884). The fall of Khartum was followed by the withdrawal of the British expedition, Dongola being evacuated in June 1885. In the same month Kassala capitulated, but just as the Mahdi had practically completed the destruction of the Egyptian power he died, in this same month of June 1885. He was at once succeeded by the khalifa Abdullah, whose rule continued until the 2nd of September 1898, when his army was completely overthrown by an Anglo-Egyptian force under Sir H. (afterwards Lord) Kitchener. The military operations are described elsewhere (see Egypt: Military Operations), and here it is only necessary to consider the internal The Khalifa's Rule. situation and the character of the khalifa's government. The Mahdi had been regarded by his adherents as the only true commander of the faithful, 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 uniform. Later on he commanded the faithful to call themselves ansar (helpers), a reference to the part they were to 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 Mahdi's rule was even more oppressive than had been that of their former masters, and after the Mahdi's death the situation of the peasantry in particular grew rapidly worse, neither life nor 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 Mahdi to have four khalifas (lieutenants), nominated, besides Abdullah, Ali wad Helu, a 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 Senussi [q.v.]). Wad Helu and Sherif were stripped of their power and gradually all chiefs and amirs not of the Baggara tribe were got rid of except Osman Digna, whose 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 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 anti-Mahdi gained a great following; with the Abyssinians; with the Kabbabish and other Arab tribes who ​had never embraced Mahdism, or with the Italians, Egyptians and British. Notwithstanding all this opposition the khalifa found in his own tribesmen and in his black troops devoted adherents and successfully maintained his position. The attempt to conquer Egypt ended in the total defeat of the 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. Stanley had gone, evacuated 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 Mahdi's tomb at Omdurman were substituted for pilgrimages to Mecca. The arsenal and dockyard and the printing-press at Khartum were kept busy (the workmen being Egyptians who had escaped massacre). Otherwise Khartum was deserted, the khalifa making Omdurman his 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 Roman Catholic priests and sisters, and 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 Mahdi had inspired his followers remained almost unbroken to the end. The khalifa after the fatal day of Omdurman fled to Kordofan where he was killed in 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. Mahdism 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 necessity of securing for Egypt the control of the Upper Nile, Egypt being wholly dependent on the 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 Congo to Fashoda demonstrated. The Nile constitutes, in the words of Lord Cromer, the true justification of the policy of re-occupation, and makes the Sudan a priceless possession for Egypt.
The Sudan having been reconquered by “the joint military and financial efforts” of Great Britain and Egypt, the British government claimed “by right of conquest” to share in the settlement of the administration and legislation of the country. To meet these claims an agreement (which has been aptly called the constitutional charter of the Sudan) between Great Britain and Egypt, was signed on the 19th of January 1899, establishing the joint sovereignty of the two states throughout the Sudan. The reorganization of the country had already begun, supreme power being centred in one official termed the “governor-general of the Sudan.” To this post was appointed Lord Kitchener, the sirdar (commander-in-chief) of the Egyptian army, under whom the Sudan had been reconquered. On Lord Kitchener going to South Africa at the close of 1899 he was succeeded as sirdar and governor-general by Major-General Sir F. R. Wingate, who had served with the Egyptian army since 1883. Under a just and firm administration, which from the first was essentially civil, though the principal officials were officers of the British army, the Sudan recovered in a surprising manner from the woes it suffered during the Mahdia. 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 case of Darfur, which before the battle of Omdurman had thrown off the khalifa's rule and was again under a native sovereign. This potentate, the sultan Ali Dinar, was recognized by the Sudan government, on condition of the payment of an annual tribute.
The first 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 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 scale ended in that 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 good administration and public security the population increased steadily. The history of the country became one of The Regenerative Work of Great Britain. peaceful progress marked by the growing contentment of the people. The Sudan government devoted much attention to the revival of agriculture and commerce, to the creation of an educated class of natives, and to the establishment of an adequate judicial 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 international fetters that 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 custom, no attempt being made to Egyptianize or Anglicize the Sudanese. The results were eminently satisfactory. The Arab-speaking and Mahommedan population found their religion and 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 civilization had, in most cases, to be taught. In these pagan regions the Sudan government encouraged the work of missionary societies, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, while discouraging propaganda work among the Moslems.
In their general policy the Sudan government adopted a system of very light taxation; low taxation being in countries such as Egypt and the Sudan the keystone of the political 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 £E1,040,000, despite slight reductions in taxation, a proof of the growing prosperity of the land. This prosperity was brought about largely by improving the water-supply, and thus bringing more land under cultivation, by the creation of new industries, and by the improvement of means of communication. A shorter route to the sea than that through Egypt being essential for the ​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 1000 m., and by reducing the cost of 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 wells on caravan roads increased. Steps were furthermore taken by means of irrigation works to regulate the Nile floods, and those of the river Gash.
To the promotion of education and sanitation, and in the administration of justice, the government devoted much 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 local experience was most important. In efficiency and devotion to duty the Egyptian officials under the new régime also earned high praise.
The relations of the Sudan government with its Italian, Abyssinian and French neighbours was marked by cordiality, but with the Congo Free State difficulties arose over claims made by that state to the Bahr-el-Ghazal (see Africa, § 5). Congo State troops were in 1904 Bahr-el-Ghazal and Lado. 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 transfer the Lado 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. As to the general state of the country Sir Eldon Gorst after a tour of inspection declared in his report for 1909, “I do not suppose that there is any part of the world in which the mass of the population have fewer unsatisfied wants.”
Authorities.—Summaries of ancient and medieval history will be found in E. A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Sudan (2 vols., 1907) and The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1905), edited by Count Gleichen. The story of the Egyptian conquest and events up to 1850 are summarized in H. Deherain’s Le Soudan égyptien sous Mehemet Ali (Paris, 1898). For the middle period of Egyptian rule see Sir Samuel Baker’s Ismailia (1874); Col. Gordon in Central Africa, edited by G. Birkbeck Hill (4th ed., 1885), being extracts from Gordon’s diary, 1874–1880; Seven Years in the Soudan, by Romolo Gessi Pasha (1892); and Der Sudan unter ägyptischer Herrschaft, by R. Buchta (Leipzig, 1888). The rise of Mahdism and events down to 1900 are set forth in (Sir) F. R. Wingate’s Mahdiism and the Egyptian Sudan (1891). This book contains translations of letters and proclamations of the Mahdi and Khalifa. For this period the Journals of Major General Gordon at Khartoum (1885); F. Power’s Letters from Khartoum during the Siege (1885), and the following four books written by prisoners of the dervishes are specially valuable: Slatin Pasha, Fire and Sword in the Sudan (1896); Father J. Ohrwalder (from the MSS. of, by F. R. Wingate), Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi’s Camp (1882–1892) (1892); Father Paolo Rosignoli, I miei dodici anni di prigionia in mezzo ai dervice del Sudan (Mondovi, 1898); C. Neufeldt, A Prisoner of the Khaleefa (1899). See also G. Dujarric, L’État mahdiste du Soudan (Paris, 1901). For the “Gordon Relief” campaign, &c., see the British official History of the Sudan Campaign (1890); for the campaigns of 1896–98, H. S. L. Alford and W. D. Sword, The Egyptian Soudan, its Loss and Recovery (1898); G. W. Steevens, With Kitchener to Khartum (Edinburgh, 1898); Winston S. Churchill, The River War (revised ed., 1902). The story of the Fashoda incident is told mainly in British and French official dispatches; consult also for this period G. Hanotaux, Fachoda (Paris, 1910); A. Lebon, La Politique de la France 1896–1898 (Paris, 1901); and R. de Caix, Fachoda, la France et l’Angleterre (Paris, 1899). Lord Cromer’s Modern Egypt (1908) covers Sudanese history for the years 1881–1907. Consult also the authorities cited under Egypt): Modern History, and H. Pensa, L’Egypte et le Soudan égyptien (Paris, 1895). Unless otherwise stated the place of publication is London. (F. R. C.)
* ↑ It was supposed to be indicated by the line which, according to the Turkish firman of 1841, describes a semicircle from the Siwa Oasis to Wadai, approaching the Nile between the Second and Third Cataracts. This line is disregarded by the Sudan government.
* ↑ A £E (pound Egyptian) is equal to £1, 0s. 6d. British currency.
* ↑ Various lists and dates of reign of the rulers of Sennar are given; reference may be made in Stokvis's Manuel d'histoire vol. i. (Leiden, 1888), and to The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, vol. i. (London, 1905).
* ↑ 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 Fashoda; defeated the Abyssinians on the Sennar frontier, and taught the natives of Khartum to build houses of brick.
* ↑ The government monopoly on trade ceased after the death of Mehemet Ali in 1849.
* ↑ 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 Mombasa and thence up the Tana River, but for some unexplained reason, or perhaps by mistake, the expedition was ordered to the Juba (see Col. Gordon in Central Africa, 4th ed., 1885, pp. 65, 66, 150 and 151, and Geog. Journ., Feb. 1, 1909, p. 150).
* ↑ Up to 1877, when the work was abandoned, some 50 m. of rails had been laid from Wadi Halfa at a cost of some £450,000.
* ↑ Writing from Darfur in April 1879 Gordon said: “The government of the Egyptians in these far-off countries is nothing else but one of brigandage of the very worst description. It is so bad that all hope of ameliorating it is hopeless.”
* ↑ The Sudanese spoke of all foreigners as “Turks." This arose from the fact that most of the higher Egyptian officials were of Turkish 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 drew up a valuable report, Egypt, No. 11 (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 be found in Gordon's Journals (1885), Morley's Life of Gladstone (1903), Fitzmaurice's Life of Granville (1905), and Cromer's Modern Egypt (1908). (See also Gordon, Charles George.)
* ↑ Sennar town held out until the 19th of August, while the Red Sea ports of Suakin and Massawa never fell into the hands of the Mahdists. The garrisons of some other towns were rescued by the Abyssinians.
* ↑ This period in the history of the Sudan is known as the Mahdia.
* ↑ In the autumn of 1903 Mahommed-el-Amin, a native of Tunis, proclaimed himself the Mahdi 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 prophet Issa (Jesus). On the 29th of that month he murdered Mr C. C. Scott-Moncrieff, 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.
* ↑ Egypt, No. 1 (1905), p. 119.
* ↑ At first Suakin was excepted from some of the provisions of this agreement, but these exceptions were done away with by a supplementary agreement on the 10th of July 1899.