Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1883-12-13
THE FALSE PROPHET.
His Remarkable Career and the Dis
tricts he has Conqured.


is Mohamned Ahmed. In his youth
he learned to read and write, and after
he had emigrated to SEMINAR he aban.
doned his trade as carpenter, and be-
came public reader OF the Koran.
lie was eloqent, imaginative, strong
willed, and apt at dissimulation. Pre-.
tending to be in direct communica-
ton with Allah, he frequently, in the
midst of his speeches, stopped sudden
ly, and appeared to fall into a sort OF
trance or stupor. When he recovered
he exclaimed, Il come from paradise,
where | have been with Allah and
His prophet How | would like to
tell you all / saw and heard, but you
would not be able to understand it. :"
BY these and similar means he gath
cred around himself thousands of in
fatuated and Jealous followers, to
whom he finally announced That AL
lab had chosen him to be his prophet.
He proclaimed that he was spiritual
and temporal ruler of the whole Sou
dan. FL Mehdi's followers organized
a court, formed an army, and became
so powerful that Egypt, large part Of
whose territory was claimed by the
prophet, began to interfere. Reuf
Pasha, governor of the Soudan sent
several hundred regular troups to ar.
rest him, but they were put to flight
and slaughtered. Infamed by sue
cess, the pretender set out upon ca
reer of conquest and began the war
now in progress. He met with vary
ing fortunes, sometimes being victori-
GUS over the Egyptians, and at times
suffering enormous losses. At Khar-
toum and Ell Obeid last year he left
10000 of his followers in the tren-
ches. Up TO that time his total loses
were estimated at 10000. Un-
daunted by reverses he gathered new
forces from all parts of Mohammedan
Africa and continued the war with
undlminished zeal.
The various districts Of Egypt over
which FL Mehdi, or the precursor"
as the false prophet is called, now ex-
excises sway comprise SEMINAR, Kor-
dofan, Darfoor, Donga, and Bahr-el.
Ghazel, the latter being strictly but a
division of Donga These contain
several hundred thousand square miles,
but their limits are poorly defined not
only as regards their outer frontiers, but
with respect to each other Speaking
roughly, they may be said to extend
from latitude 5 to north, with their
greatest breath between longitude %
and 35 west. Their population has
never been estimated with anything
like accuracy. Kordofan, which ex-
tends farther north than the others, is
supposed to be inhabited by l64,7O0
dwellers in towns, villages, and cult
yators of the soil, and about ia, 200
nomeds. SEMINAR supports popula-
tion of about l, 100000, and Darfoor
one numbering some 100000. OF
Donga not enough is known to enable
an estimate to be make. "Probablv it
is at least as populous as Darfoor. This
would make Ell Mehdi ruler over
something like nine and quarter mil.
lions of people.
Besides the districts referred to,
there would seem to be every reason
to believe that numbers Of the Mahdi's
followers come from the independent
regions of the Soudan, which are inhab
tied by mixed Arab and negro races,
Mohammedan in creed, and much CIV
en- to warfare. These districts have
reached higher developement than
those which have been brought under
Egyptian rule, large town being COM
mon, and a certain barbaric order hav-
ing superseded the tribe system to a
considerable extent. Mention is some
times made of bodies Of cavalry that
times made of bodies of cavalry that
form parts of the prophets forces, a
circumstance that lends additional
probability to the assumption that his
sway is very much more extended than
might at first be supposed, for the peo-
pie of the English Soudan are not, as a
rule, possessors of many horses while
those in the independent territories
are expert cavalrymen,
Islam is in ferment of expectation.
An important prophecy, in which all
devout followers of Mohammed believe
implicitly, was to have been fulfilled
this year. AS to fulfil it, Ell Mehdi
rose and announced his divine mission.
Had he been overcome the PREDICTION
of the triumph of Islam would have
been relegated to the category of false
prophecies. But he has himself been
victor, and that just few days previ-
GUS to the date which he had fixed for
the acknowledgement Of his suprema.
cy over the entire Soudan. What the
consequences will be can not be esti-
mated until it is seen what effect this
startling coincidence will produce upon
the Mohammedan populations of Asia
and Europe.
The ills which flesh is heir to are more
often due to impurities in the blood